This significant tome, with over 1500 photographs, covers the subject of portable firearms from muzzle-loaders to machine guns; from revolvers to machine pistol

TIME-LIFE presents the History of the Rifle from the first hand-held versions were Chinese fire lances invented in the 10th century through the Americans and th

Describes in text and pictures weapons used through the ages, from the stones of prehistoric man to the bombs of modern times.

LIFE Explores History of the Rifle begins with a bang with the discovery of the explosive combination of charcoal, potassium nitrate, and sulfur. From 10th Cent