Whilst it is known that the first rifles appeared in the late 15th century, it is not known who invented the first one. The earliest known rifle was a hunting rifle owned by Emperor Maximilian in 1500. There are many theories concerning how they evolved, a popular one being that archers discovered how to cut the feathers on their arrows to make them spin, giving them much greater accuracy, this theory then being applied to hand guns.
During the 16th century more rifles appeared, although the process of cutting the grooves in the barrel (known as rifling) made them affordable only by wealthy hunters and sportsmen. There were some problems early on, with the owners having to cast the bullets with great accuracy to match the grooves in the barrel. Also the rifle had to be cleaned after every few shots to remove the burnt gunpowder residue.
Although there were difficulties, it was soon realised that the rifle could be a very effective weapon in battle. The first to employ the rifle for this purpose was thought to be King Christian IV of Denmark, although many others quickly followed. The early rifles bear very little resemblance to their modern counterparts. Not only is it now unnecessary to ram the bullet down the barrel, most modern rifles store large amounts of bullets in a magazine.
In 1947 a Russian called Mikhail Kalashnikov laid the foundations for what is thought to be the most widely used rifle in the world today - the Automat Kalashnikov (AK) assault rifle. This, along with most other modern rifles, is automatic in operation. After the gun is fired the empty cartridge is ejected and a new one from the magazine is placed in the barrel ready for the next shot to be fired. Accuracy and range have increased and they are lighter and easier to handle. They are now so simple to operate that ordinary members of the public in many countries use them for sport in gun clubs.
