- 01: Introduction
- 02: History
- 03: Propellants, Firearms, and Ammunition Development
- 04: Modern Firearms Manufacture
- 05: Small Arms Ammunition
- 06: Evidence Handling Procedures
- 07: Equipment and Instrumentation
- 08: Examination of Firearms
- 09: Cartridge and Shotshell Examination
- 10: Characterization and Evaluation of Fired Projectiles
- 11: Bullet Comparison and Identification
- 12: Gunshot Residue and Distance Determination
- 13: Toolmark Identification
- 14: Communicating Results
- Resources
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice ProgramsNational Institute of JusticeThe Research, Development, and Evaluation Agency of the U.S. Department of Justice
Components
Home > Propellants, Firearms, and Ammunition Development > Evolution of Firearms > Components
Ancient petard
The gun barrel probably evolved from the medieval petard. The petard was a bell-shaped metal device open at one end and filled with explosive material. It was placed with the open end touching the door or wall to be breeched. A fuse was lit and the main charge ignited. The shaped metal body of the petard concentrated the force of the explosion on a small area. The principle was a precursor of modern shaped-charge devices used to pierce armor plate.
Large petards were mounted to a framework to hold them against the door or wall. Smaller petards were mounted on long sticks, held by a combat engineer, and used to break smaller items, such as metal locks or door hinges. A hollow tube supported on a stick is similar to our example of a simple firearm. The large petards evolved into cannon and the smaller ones into hand-held firearms.
