How to Buy a Firearm Online. The origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest practical experiments seem to have been carried out in Europe during the 15th century. Archers had long realized that a twist added to the tail feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy. Early muskets produced large quantities of smoke and soot, which had to be cleaned from the action and bore of the musket frequently, either through the action of repeated bore scrubbing, or a deliberate attempt to create “soot grooves” that would allow for more shots to be fired from the firearm. This might also have led to a perceived increase in accuracy, although no one knows for sure. The grooved gun barrel is considered by many to have been invented as early as 1440 and further developed by Gaspard Kollner of Vienna, Austria, circa 1498. The spirally grooved gun barrel is considered German in origin, invented by Augustus Kotter of Nuremberg circa 1520.[1][2] Military commanders preferred smooth bore weapons for infantry use because rifles were much more prone to problems due to powder fouling the barrel and because they took longer to reload and fire than muskets. Buy Rifles for sale online