20th Century Weaponry - History that Inspired RDR

Learn a little more about the Old West and the true history that helped inspire Red Dead Redemption, courtesy of Rockstar Games.



Many advances spurred the end of the rustic American frontier era and the beginning of the modern 20th century, but no component proved to be more significant in the decades that led up to World War I than the explosion of technology and innovation in the field of weaponry. Industrialization, and with it the mass-manufacturing and parts-standardization of millions of firearms, reduced demand for local gunsmiths and their meticulous craftsmanship, and relegated them to mostly sales and maintenance. As with the parts comprising the firearms themselves, the ammunition they used also became standardized, and more efficient “smokeless” gunpowder replaced the black gunpowder in the bullets fired.

Following the historic carnage of the US Civil War, and with it, the demand for faster and more effective ways to kill, American inventors like Dr. Richard J. Gatling, John Moses Browning, and expatriates Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim and Benjamin Hotchkiss also began experimenting with the mechanisms by which weapons were loaded. It wasn’t long before a wave of self-loading weapons began revolutionizing firearms. Unlike the comparatively slow shoot-recoil-reload cycle of most older weapons, these new semi-automatic and automatic weapons allowed users to fire and reload multiple rounds with frightening speed and ease.

John Marston’s skill with a revolver may have kept him alive (or “above snakes,” as the saying went in the Wild West) for many years; but the following guns were fairly new on the scene at the time of Red Dead Redemption, and they offer Marston some exciting and deadly new tools in his arsenal to work with in his quest to tame the West...

Semi-automatic pistol (inspired by the BorchardtC93) - The granddaddy of self-loading pistols, this revolutionary German-produced handgun was the first semi-auto to see significant mass-production. Very costly to make, much less purchase, and with a kick like a mule, gunslingers at the time still couldn’t resist the attraction of its amazing self-feeding mechanism that enabled it to fire in rapid succession.

Mauser pistol (inspired by the Mauser C96) – Its distinctive box magazine in front of the trigger and even more unique wooden walnut handle (earning it the nickname the “broom handle”) only partly explains why this pistol acquired such cachet as an elite and exotic firearm. The power and penetration of its 7.63mm rounds went unrivalled for decades, and its range was excellent as well. Winston Churchill was among this pistol’s many loyal fans.



High power pistol (inspired by the Browning M1903) - This key forerunner of the modern semi-automatic pistol was designed by legendary gunmaker John Browning for military purposes and became very popular for civilian-self defense (and with outlaws) due to its accuracy, light weight, quick reload and most of all reliability, as soldiers from Belgium, Holland and Sweden to Turkey, Russia and the US could attest.

Bolt-action rifle (inspired by the Krag Jorgensen) – Invented in Denmark, this weapon won a competition held by the US Military on New York’s Governors Island and beat out several dozen competitors, including domestic weapons manufacturers who howled in protest. Among its attractive features was its improvement upon the standard top-loading rifle models of the time - the bolt-action loaded rounds much more quickly, smoothly and efficiently.



Pump-action shotgun (inspired by the Winchester M1897 – aka “the ol’ ‘97”) – A classic of American firearms, the pump-action shotgun surpassed its predecessors with an easily removable barrel (for those preferring varying lengths), a slide lock that greatly reduced misfires and jams, and an overall sturdier frame. Nearly a million such rifles were produced during the first half of the 20th century.

Browning Machine Gun (inspired by the Browning M1917 prototype) - Invented in 1890 by John Moses Browning, and ultimately with later models becoming a fixture of World War I combat – the Browning Machine Gun is a water-cooled, recoil-operated, fully automatic piece of bullet-firing mayhem; and one of the most cutting-edge, rare and indeed deadly of all the weapons John Marston lays his trigger finger on.



Discuss your favorite weapon in the Red Dead Redemption forum topic here.