What was the first war in which hand-held guns or rifles were used?
If I recall correctly, the first war with hand-held gunpowder firearms was the Hundred Years’ War between France and England. The first war fought with rifles was the American Revolution.
Guns have been around much longer than the hundred years war though, haven’t they? I recall reading something that they developed in China (not sure when) and were based on rockets, and later arrived in Europe. Marco Polo may have brought them.
Do you mean the first war in which they were used at all, or the first in which they were a significant factor?
The Great Zamboni wrote:
Sorry I don’t have any cites at the moment, but here’s the commonly held thought on the subject:
The Chinese had what could be called gunpowder, though they weren’t really using it for guns. It was used to make rockets, and not even particularly dangerous ones – most of China’s rocketry was used against cavalry because the loud bangs and bright flashes would spook the horses.
Gunpowder made its way to Europe c. 1180-1220 (very approximate, and based on my shaky recall), and was mostly a curiosity for a while. Then somebody got the bright idea of putting a whole mess of powder with a fuse into a bucket, attaching it to the door or gate of a castle, lighting it, and running like hell, in order to breach the defenses. This device was called a petard, from which we get the phrase “hoist on one’s own petard” – blowing yourself up while tying the bomb to the castle gate.
The first guns (actually “gonnes” in Middle and Modern English)were developed in Europe, AFAIK. These were cannon and mortars. They were horribly expensive, and since metallurgy wasn’t an exact science (nor was gunsmithing) they tended to blow themselves up quite messily. They were usually made of bronze, and used not to toss cannonballs, but to hurl masses of arrows, grapeshot, and other debris.
Eventually, somebody else got the bright idea to shoot a heavy-ass stone (yes, stone) ball directly at the walls, breaching them and allowing besieging troops to enter.
The first man-portable firearms were called, not surprisingly, “hand-gonnes,” and were miniature versions of the cannon, mounted on a stick. You’d light the fuse, plant the stick in the ground, and aim. They weren’t very accurate, but then again no firearm was accurate at the time.
I don’t know if what they used in the American Revolution can accurately be described as “rifles,” inasmuch as I don’t think anybody had come up with the idea of stabilizing a projectile by spinning it. Those weapons, AFAIK, were smoothbore. It’s why they all lined up shoulder to shoulder and fired en masse; it was the only way to hit something 50 yards or greater.
In the American Civil War, most weapons were rifled, therefore more accurate, which contributed greatly to the horrendous number of casualties – tactics hadn’t advanced significantly since the Revolution.
Again, I have to say that this is all off the top of my head, but I’m also reasonably sure it’s close enough to the truth of the matter.
The earliest reference I can find to “guns” comes from around 1326 (at which time they were already a few years old). The oldest appear to have been “iron pots” used to hurl large incendiary arrows, but in 1326 the City of Florence commissioned the manufacture of weapons to hurl iron pellets or balls. A French document dating to 1338 still refers to firing steel “flaming arroes.” By the late 1300s, they were being used to hurl stone balls at fortifications.
Miniaturization came quickly. A number of guns have been found from the 14th century that were less than a foot in length and were either mounted on a horizontal pole to be braced when fired or were manufactured with a hook-like projection beneath the muzzle that, presumably, was used to hold it against a wall or fence to steady it while reducing recoil.
BTW, the handgonne came into use (I believe) by 1310 or so. I could be wrong – it may be later, but definitely no earlier than about 1280-1290 or no later than 1330.
Listen to the people with the info. I am not entirely right, and defer to the post that seems more accurate. Tomndebb is rifled, apparently. 
I believe the Japanese were the first to use guns in warfare. I don’t know what war it was in, but I know it was in the 13-1400s.
The Pennsylvania Rifle and the Kentucky Rifle were very much rifles. They were extremely dangerous to the British in the hands of good marksmen.
American mythology has tended to overstate their use, as the average miltiaman or recruit from the settled seaboard did not generally own one and they were issued muskets because of the simpler/cheaper construction and their ability to fire three times while a rifle could be fired once.
The original rifle was invented in the late 15th century, as sporting guns, and the earliest example dates to 1500. A specific variety of hunter (or jaeger) gun was developed in the region of Switzerland and Southern Germany and came with settlers from that region who became the “Pennsylvania Dutch.” The hunting aspect (greater accuracy) of the rifle was not lost on the emigrants to Kentucky, for whom powder was an expensive commodity and making every shot count was important, and the rifles were soon being built (in Pennsylvania) and sold to Kentucky settlers at a good rate.
Cap’n Crude, I would not contest your 1310 date. I have Tarassuk and Blair’s Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons, but while I consider it good, I do not consider it infallible.
(Apologies if this is a dupe. I reviewed/refreshed the thread and did not see this post from the submission from which I got a screen error.)