American Guns

It is not known when the first gunpowder charge exploded, sending a projectile down a barrel, to a distant target. Since then, firearm designers and manufacturers have been driven to make guns more accurate, improve reliability, extend their range, and ultimately make guns more alluring. Nearly 400 years has passed since European settlers traveled across the Atlantic, carrying a wheel-lock carbine single-shot musket, now known as the Mayflower Gun, to the new world. From that moment on, guns and America would be forever linked. This 13-part series explores the history of firearms - which began as a survival tool and became part of the American experience. This documentary chronicles how American firearms innovation propelled the nation to the pinnacle of the industrialized world while designing and manufacturing the most effective and beautiful guns the world had ever seen.