It's probably been posted here before but never the less. I was surfing the web at the beginning of this week and came across some really good series on Guns and History of the gun,on the You Tube. I have a 4vhs tape series on Tales of the Gun I got for Christmas some time back. I must have watched that series twice in one day when I first got it. Everyday this week I have been watching two or three hours of these little you tube series on Tales of the Gun. I have learned a lot about guns, early gunsmiths, designers, their company history, some of the problems they faced while trying to make guns, how they solved some of these early problems, etc.

Yesterday I was watching a series on this called History of the gun and I would like some clarification on this. Here goes: In the particular series I was watching it said that Eli Whitney was not the creator/inventor of interchangable parts, a big problem with early gun designs and especially during battle or being isolated in the west. The video series said that it was three men somewhere in the northeast that bought an old machine tool factory and these three men were responsibile for actually putting interchangable parts to practical use. Well I don't remember any of their names or details, but one can find the video I watched if one went to You tube and typed in Tales of the gun.

ETA: I might have been wrong on A & E, I just watched another one, and this one was by the History Channel, Maybe both A & E, History Channel did these.....

Now what I want to know is this: The history books of yesteryear, and I would assume today's history books also, usually say that Eli Whitney is the inventor of interchangable parts, but the video says other. Who is right on this? I know Eli invented the cotton gin, and other nice stuff. Eli, also tryed to manufacture guns on a massive scale too, but he was not successful at it. It seemed like to me overall, the greatest contribution to US gun manufacture other than all the great gun designers of yesteryear and today, was the precission machine tools and precise measuring tools. How many here would agree with that? I do.