What is your choice of the most important gun in American history and why?

[AKguy1985]

M1 garand, the greatest battle implement ever produced.

 

[Duncandl]

This one because it’s mine and second most important is the one to the left of it.

 

[SoonerP226]

I'll go off the board and pick the 1873 Trapdoor Springfield and the shotgun, as those are the two guns that actually won the west, with a nod to the buffalo rifles like the Sharps. The Sharps was used to virtually eliminate a primary resource of the Plains tribes, the Trapdoor was used to force them into submission (despite Hollyweird telling us it was the Colt Peacemaker and the Winchester '94), and the lowly scattergun was used by the pioneers to feed and defend themselves.

 

[xseler]

I'm gonna go off the rails and pick any single shot .22 rifle. This has probably fed more people than any of the others listed. JMO

 

[gerhard1]

The S&W Model 10 should be on the list.

 

[Prairie Traveler]

Got to go with the American Flintlock; because without it we might not be US citizens: the Colt 1911; John Moses Browning, what else is there to say: the M1; as the General said, "...best battle implement...".