Gaspard Kollner

Gaspard Kollner was a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century gunsmith based in Vienna. He is credited with having discovered that by rifling, that is, adding spiral grooves to the insides of the smoothbore muskets then in use, it was possible to make the gun not only shoot straighter but that its effective range would also increase.[1]

Some authorities, however, point out that Kollner's barrels had straight, parallel grooves[2] and that it was Augustus Kotter, of Nuremberg, who introduced the spiral-grooved barrels, in 1520.[3]

The premise is that the principle was adapted from the crossbows of the day, much more precise weapons than the musket, and which shot the bolt through a spiral-grooved guiding tube. However, it is not clear whether these crossbows were designed before or after the introduction of spiral grooving in firearms.[3]