Bolt Rifles

Before World War Two, bolt-action repeaters were the standard for armies worldwide. Only Russia and the United States had managed to deploy a significant number of semi-automatic weapons, while France was on the verge of introducing the world's best rifle in that category, the MAS 1940.

However, bolt-action rifles had been the dominant military rifles since Europe adopted the lead of France and Germany, exploring how these weapons, combined with metallic cartridges, could be utilized by mass armies that were emerging after the United States Civil War. These weapons drew inspiration from the French Chassepot Model 1866 but employed drawn brass cases. Eventually, they included magazines, sights optimistically set for ranges up to kilometers, and often, a means of rapid reloading. When black powder was replaced by smokeless powder, the entire inventory of European rifles had to be upgraded or replaced to use the same ammunition.

But more important for the author and historian of technology, these weapons represent the coming of a modern age that included advances in chemistry, metallurgy, mass production, and the slow march of democracy. His own weapon collection, while not impressive or extensive, is part of an effort to tell how technology changed society.