What gun invention revolutionized warfare

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what ultimately made line infantry tactics obsolete

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The machine gun.

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The machine gun.

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Period. Dot. End of story.

rifling

They were using hollow points in the Civil War.

Now, we can only shoot nice bullets.

Times sure have changed.

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They were using hollow points in the Civil War.

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What?

Minie balls are not "hollow points"

the self contained cartridge and auto-loading firearms

Machine gun hands down. At the time it was introduced to the battle field armies were still doing human wave attacks similar to civil war type battle although not marching in formation. It led to battle field gridlock and trenches since new tactics had to be devised.

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the self contained cartridge

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This. The self-contained small arms cartridge reshaped the landscape of warfare.

rifled barrel

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They were using hollow points in the Civil War.

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What?

Minie balls are not "hollow points"

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I like history.

"Unlike a solid ball, which could pass through the human body nearly intact, leaving an exit wound not much larger than the entrance wound, the soft, hollow-based Minié ball flattened and deformed upon impact, while creating a shock wave that emanated outward."

"The Minié ball didn’t just break bones, it shattered them. It didn’t just pierce tissue and internal organs, it shredded them. And if the ragged, tumbling bullet had enough force to cleave completely through the body, which it often did, it tore out an exit wound several times the size of the entrance wound. Civil War surgeons were quickly overwhelmed by the gaping wounds, mangled bodies and mutilated limbs they were asked to repair as the scope of the war broadened and casualties mounted. Though often accused of being too partial to their bone saws, amputating arms and legs as quickly as the men could be placed on their operating tables and subdued with chloroform or ether, the surgeons really had no choice. Even if they’d had the skills and resources to attempt reconstructive surgery, in the heat of battle they didn’t have the time."