In The Best Gun in the World, Robert S. Seigler explains how South Carolina created its own armory and then enlisted the help of a weapons technology inventor to meet the demand.

George Woodward Morse, originally from New Hampshire, was a machinist and firearms innovator, who settled in Louisiana in the 1840s. He invented a reliable breechloading firearm in the mid-1850s to replace muzzleloaders that were ubiquitous throughout the world. Essential to the successful operation of any breechloader was its ammunition, and Morse perfected the first metallic, center-fire, pre-primed cartridge, his most notable contribution to the development of modern firearms.

The South Carolina State Military Works originally designed to cast cannon, produced Morse's carbine and modified muskets, brass cartridges, cartridge boxes, and other military accoutrements. The armory ultimately produced only about 1,350 Morse firearms. For the next 20 years, Morse sought to regain his legacy as the inventor of the center-fire brass cartridges that are today standard ammunition for military and sporting firearms.

The book is published by University of South Carolina Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Anyone interested in Civil War small arms and their relationship to modern weaponry will want to read this book."(The Journal of Southern History)

"Seigler's well-written and exhaustively researched book finally does justice to one of the greatest stories in American firearms history." (Gordon L. Jones, Atlanta History Center)

"Excellent and well-researched book..." (Patrick McCawley, South Carolina Department of Archives and History)