What guns were used in the Revolutionary War?

Answer 1

Answer

cannons, bayonets, and the musket

Addition:

The rifle had yet to be invented, or at least established enough for military use. The common foot soldier used a musket. A smooth bore muzzleloader that was extremely inaccurate; hence the shoulder to shoulder volleys fired at other soldiers doing the same while standing shoulder to shoulder.

Cannon would fire solid, fused and canister shot, the latter being sort of a huge shotgun. Infantry would fire a few volleys before commencing a bayonet charge. The British bayonet was a feared weapon by the Americans, razor sharp, long and deadly.

This is another person. I found rifles were invented, just not widely used. I advise to go to this website for further information.

http://military.discovery.com/history/revolutionary-war/weapons/weapons.html

Answer 2

some of the guns that were used during the revolutionary war are muskets like the brown bess and the charleyville. Also cannons, rifles, and flintlock pistols.
The British had the Brown Bess musket as a standard-issue weapon to them. They often used bayonet charges to scatter the colonists early in the war. This was useful for two reasons: one, the Americans didn't have an effective means of defending against a row of bayonets, though some might carry tools or farm weapons they weren't organized enough to stand against the British troops' charge. Secondly, many of the Americans participating the in war who did bring guns knew how to use them well and were excellent marksmen at range.

In most cases, the weapons used at the time were exceptionally inaccurate. You get the term "hit the broadside of a barnyard" from this era, and with a musket, you couldn't. It required lining up in rows to cast a large volley of shots at opponents to get hits. This is why drilling and discipline was important to keep men in line and shooting quickly. The British were excellent at this type of warfare developed back in Europe.

British officers often carried various flintlock pistols and sabers (swords) as tokens of office. The sword was an even better hand-to-hand weapon than the knife or spear-like bayonet. The pistol was used for very short range; when the British charge, most of the colonists didn't hold their ground and were not shooting giving a good opportunity to the officers to shoot.

The Americans were loaned the French Charleville Musket that became quite common, though not necessarily "standard-issue". Early minutemen were trained and equipped by local gun shop owners.

Later during the war, the American frontiersman brought with him a tool of the trade: the hatchet as a means for desperate close combat utensil. But used effectively and timely, a man could block the musket of a redcoat and then strike with the hatchet.

For range, the Pennsylvania (Kentucky) long rifle became popularized. As a rifle, it has a rifled bore, grooves in the barrel that spin the projectile allowing it to fly faster and straighter rather than tumbling like in a smoothbore weapon (like a musket). The first snipers in war used these to assassinate British officers that instilled morale and order in the British troops. When drawn into the thick woods, the officers stood out on high on their horse. This was the type of warfare developed by the colonists to combat the Native Americans, and it was considered a repulsive and brutal thing to do. But by the middle of the war, the Americans had dragged the British into fighting on their terms, i.e. not on open ground. In Europe, most battle was done in the open battlefield in an organized manner where your met your opponents in battle.

This allows the British to bring to bear their field artillery. This didn't just include cannons, but mortars and early Howitzers (a cannon with a rifled bore). There are three primary types of rounds used for these weapons, a standard cannonball, a "bomb[ard]", and Lagrange or basically any sharp metallic objects you could stuff into the barrel to create a large shotgun. The last type I mentioned was mostly used at sea, but were probably used as improvised ammunition to the American colonists.

Later in the war, particularly at Valley Forge, the Americans were disciplined and trained to stand together and shoot, quickly, and how to utilize bayonets they had acquired over time and from willing allies.

There's various other weapons that were employed. The British troops even used early forms of the grenade!

Answer 3

They didn't use rifles. They used smoothbore muskets and flintlocks

Answer 4

Yes, but on a very limited scale. Rifles did not begin to replace muskets until about the 1850's.

Answer 5

No, they used muskets.