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117-471: The Brescia Arsenal was a small arms factory located in Brescia , Italy , and active from the early 19th century to the end of World War II . Initially it was built as a convent for Servite monks in the 15th century, and maintained a religious destination until the end of the 18th century. Following Napoleonic suppressions the convent was turned into barracks and, in 1812, the production of small arms

234-553: A retronym to differentiate older full-powered rifles of these configurations like the M1 Garand , from newer assault rifles using intermediate cartridges like the Heckler & Koch HK33 , but it is sometimes used to describe similar modern rifles such as the FN SCAR . Battle rifles serve similar purposes as assault rifles, as they both are usually employed by ground infantry for essentially

351-445: A riot gun or breaching rounds to function as a door breaching shotgun. Shotgun munitions, regardless of type, are packed into shotgun shells (cartridges designed specifically for shotguns) that are loaded into the shotgun for use; these shells are commonly loose and manually loaded one-by-one, though some shotguns accept magazines. Shotguns share many qualities with rifles, such as both being descendants of early long guns such as

468-663: A broad class of rifles generally summed up as short, lightweight, portable sniper rifles; and designated marksman rifles , semi-automatic high-precision rifles, usually chambered in intermediate or full-power cartridges, that fill the range gap between sniper rifles and regular rifles and are designed for designated marksmen in squads. Examples of sniper and scout rifles include the M40 rifle , Heckler & Koch PSG1 , Walther WA 2000 , Accuracy International AWM , M24 Sniper Weapon System , Steyr Scout , Sako TRG , and CheyTac Intervention . Examples of anti-materiel and anti-tank rifles include

585-574: A double action revolver to compete with European manufacturers was the Colt Model 1877, which earned lasting notoriety for its complex, expensive, and fragile trigger mechanism, which in addition to failing frequently, also had a heavy trigger pull. In 1889, Colt introduced the Model 1889 , the first double action revolver with a "swing-out" cylinder, as opposed to a "top-break" or "side-loading" cylinder. Swing-out cylinders quickly caught on, because they combined

702-405: A flick of the wrist can actually cause the crane to bend over time, throwing the cylinder out of alignment with the barrel. Lack of alignment between chamber and barrel is dangerous, as it can impede the bullet's transition from chamber to barrel. This causes higher pressures in the chamber, bullet damage, and the potential for an explosion if the bullet becomes stuck. The shock of firing can exert

819-423: A full one. In many of the first generation of cartridge revolvers (especially those that were converted after manufacture), the base pin on which the cylinder revolved was removed, and the cylinder taken out from the revolver for loading. Most revolvers using this method of loading are single-action revolvers, although Iver Johnson produced double-action models with removable cylinders. The removable-cylinder design

936-423: A full-power caliber and a certain weight that can be operated by an individual but tend to work best with a crew; and heavy machine guns , machine guns that are too large and heavy to be carried and are thus mounted to something (like a tripod or military vehicle ), and require a crew to operate. A general-purpose machine gun combines these categories under a single flexible machine gun platform, often one that

1053-625: A full-size rifle with a shortened carbine-style barrel for close-quarters use. The small size of a carbine provides lighter weight and better maneuverability, making them ideal for close-quarters combat and storage in compact areas. This makes them popular firearms among special forces and police tactical units alongside submachine guns , considerably so since the late 1990s due to the familiarity and better stopping power of carbines compared to submachine guns. They are also popular with (and were originally mostly intended for) military personnel in roles that are expected to engage in combat, but where

1170-452: A full-size rifle would be an impediment to the primary duties of that soldier ( logistical personnel, airborne forces , military engineers , officers , etc.), though since the turn of the millennium these have been superseded to a degree in some roles by personal defense weapons . Carbines are also common among civilian firearm owners who have size, space, and power concerns similar to military and police users. Examples of carbines include

1287-530: A great deal of stress on the crane, as in most designs the cylinder is only held closed at one point, the rear of the cylinder. Stronger designs, such as the Ruger Super Redhawk , use a lock in the crane as well as the lock at the rear of the cylinder. This latch provides a more secure bond between cylinder and frame, and allows the use of larger, more powerful cartridges. Swing-out cylinders are not as strong as fixed cylinders, and great care must be taken with

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1404-793: A method of effective self-defense against skirmishers and infiltrators who cannot effectively be defeated by low-powered submachine guns and handguns, often the only firearms suitable for those personnel (while they could be issued rifles or carbines, those would become unnecessary burdens in their normal duties, during which the likelihood of hostility is fairly rare regardless, making their issuance questionable). Thus, per their name, personal defense weapons allow these personnel to effectively defend themselves from enemies and repel attacks themselves or at least until support can arrive. They are not intended for civilian self-defense due to their nature as automatic firearms (which are usually prohibited from civilian purchase), though some semi-automatic PDWs exist for

1521-440: A partnership (S&W), then developed and manufactured a revolver chambered for a self-contained metallic cartridge. In 1993, U.S. patent 5,333,531 was issued to Roger C. Field for an economical device for minimizing the flash gap of a revolver between the barrel and the cylinder. A revolver has several firing chambers arranged in a circle in a cylindrical block; one at a time, these chambers are brought into alignment with

1638-418: A repeating rifle, such as lever-action , had been developed. Loading a cylinder in this manner was a slow and awkward process and generally could not be done in the midst of battle. Some soldiers avoided this by carrying multiple revolvers in the field. Another solution was to use a revolver with a detachable cylinder design. These revolvers allowed the shooter to quickly remove a cylinder and replace it with

1755-536: A revolver is by means of the swing-out cylinder . The first swing-out cylinder revolver was patented in France and Britain at the end of December in 1858 by Devisme. The cylinder is mounted on a pivot that is parallel to the chambers, and the cylinder swings out and down (to the left in most cases). An extractor is fitted, operated by a rod projecting from the front of the cylinder assembly. When pressed, it will push all fired rounds free simultaneously (as in top-break models,

1872-743: A revolver only the chambers rotate, while in a rotary weapon there are multiple full firearm actions with their own barrels which rotate around a common ammunition feed. Famous revolver models include the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver , the Webley , the Colt Single Action Army , the Colt Official Police , Smith & Wesson Model 10 , the Smith & Wesson Model 29 of Dirty Harry fame, the Nagant M1895 , and

1989-561: A shot, the user would raise their pistol vertically while cocking the hammer back for their next shot, so the fragments of the burst percussion cap would fall clear of the weapon and not jam the mechanism. Some of the most popular cap-and-ball revolvers were the Colt Model 1851 "Navy" model, 1860 "Army" model , and Colt Pocket Percussion Revolvers , all of which saw extensive use in the American Civil War . Although American revolvers were

2106-697: A single barrel and four chambers held at the Tower of London is believed to have been invented some time in the 15th century. A revolving three-barrelled matchlock pistol in Venice is dated from at least 1548. During the late 16th century in China, Zhao Shi-zhen invented the Xun Lei Chong , a five-barreled musket revolver spear. Around the same time, the earliest examples of the modern revolver were made in Germany. These weapons featured

2223-437: A single barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder and ball. They would soon be made by many European gun-makers, in numerous designs and configurations. However, these weapons were complicated, difficult to use and prohibitively expensive to make, and thus not widely distributed. In the early 19th century, multiple-barrel handguns called " pepper-boxes " were popular. Originally they were muzzleloaders , but in 1837,

2340-469: A single soldier, though some are crew-served weapons that require a dedicated crew of soldiers to operate, usually between two and six soldiers depending on the machine gun's operation and the crew members' roles (ammunition bearers, spotters, etc.). Machine guns can be divided into three categories: light machine guns , individual-served machine guns of an intermediate cartridge that are usually magazine-fed; medium machine guns , belt-fed machine guns of

2457-507: A time as they rotated the cylinder to line each chamber up with the side-mounted loading gate. Smith & Wesson followed seven years later with the Hand Ejector, Model 1896 in .32 S&W Long caliber, followed by the very similar, yet improved, Model 1899 (later known as the Model 10), which introduced the new .38 Special cartridge. The Model 10 went on to become the best selling handgun of

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2574-410: A time by the user, rather than automatically. Manual action firearms can be divided into two basic categories: single-shot firearms that can only be fired once per barrel before it must be reloaded or charged via an external mechanism or series of steps; and repeating firearms that can be fired multiple times per barrel, but can only be fired once with each subsequent pull of the trigger or ignite, and

2691-551: Is a long gun that has a predominantly smoothbore barrel—meaning it lacks rifling—designed to fire a number of shot pellets in each discharge. These shot pellet sizes commonly range between 2 mm #9 birdshot and 8.4 mm #00 (double-aught) buckshot, and produce a cluster of impact points with considerably less range and accuracy, since shot spreads during flight. Shotguns are also capable of firing single solid projectiles called slugs , or specialty (often " less lethal ") munitions such as bean bags or tear gas to function as

2808-616: Is a magazine-fed carbine chambered in a small-caliber handgun cartridge (such as 9×19mm Parabellum , .45 ACP , .22 Long Rifle , and .40 S&W ). They cannot be considered machine guns due to their small-caliber, hence the prefix " sub- " to differentiate them from proper machine guns. Submachine guns are commonly associated with high rates of fire, automatic fire capabilities, and low recoil, though many submachine guns differentiate from this in various ways, such as having fairly low rates of fire or including burst and semi-automatic modes available through selective fire. Most submachine guns are

2925-417: Is any firearm with a notably long barrel, typically a length of 10 to 30 inches (250 to 760 mm) (there are restrictions on minimum barrel length in many jurisdictions; maximum barrel length is usually a matter of practicality). Unlike a handgun, long guns are designed to be held and fired with both hands, while braced against either the hip or the shoulder for better stability. The receiver and trigger group

3042-468: Is considered one of the major advancements in revolver history because the frame was previously always metal alloy and mostly a one-piece design. Another 21st century development in revolver technology is the Chiappa Rhino , a revolver introduced by Italian manufacturer Chiappa in 2009, and first sold in the U.S. in 2010. The Rhino, built with the U.S. concealed carry market in mind, is designed so that

3159-426: Is employed in some modern "micro-revolvers" (usually chambered in .22 rimfire and small enough to fit in the palm of the hand) to simplify their design. Later single-action revolver models with a fixed cylinder used a loading gate at the rear of the cylinder that allowed insertion of one cartridge at a time for loading, while a rod under the barrel could be pressed rearward to eject a fired case. The loading gate on

3276-429: Is exposed at a time to the loading gate. In a top-break revolver, the frame is hinged at the bottom front of the cylinder. Releasing the lock and pushing the barrel down exposes the rear face of the cylinder. In most top-break revolvers, this act also operates an extractor that pushes the cartridges in the chambers back far enough that they will fall free, or can be removed easily. Fresh rounds are then inserted into

3393-503: Is in doubt, as similar designs were patented in the same year by Artemus Wheeler in the United States, and by Cornelius Coolidge in France. Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and a U.S. patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836, for a Revolving gun , and made the first production model on March 5 of that year. Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. The February 25, 1836, patent

3510-540: Is most suitable as a light or medium machine gun but fares well as a heavy machine gun. A closely related concept is the squad automatic weapon , a portable light machine gun or even a modified rifle that is designed and fielded to provide a squad with rapid direct fire . Examples of machine guns include the Maxim gun , M2 Browning , Bren light machine gun , MG 42 , PK machine gun , FN MAG , M249 light machine gun , RPK , IWI Negev , and M134 Minigun . A submachine gun

3627-467: Is mounted into a stock made of wood, plastic, metal, or composite material, which has sections that form a foregrip, rear grip, and optionally (but typically) a shoulder mount called the butt . Early long arms, from the Renaissance up to the mid-19th century, were generally smoothbore firearms that fired one or more ball shot, called muskets or arquebuses depending on caliber and firing mechanism. Since

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3744-467: Is not safe to do so, due to differences in cartridge pressures and the fact that .22 WMR does not shoot a "heeled" bullet, along with differences in rim diameter that can allow high pressure gases to escape behind the cartridge and seriously injure the user. However, some .22 revolvers come with interchangeable cylinders so that .22 Long Rifle can be shot from a .22 WMR revolver. In 1996, the Medusa Model 47

3861-431: Is not very dependent on lubrication for proper firing. Additionally, in the case of double-action-only revolvers there is no risk of accidental discharge from dropping alone, as the hammer is cocked by the trigger pull. However, the revolver's clockwork-like internal parts are relatively delicate and can become misaligned after a severe impact, and its revolving cylinder can become jammed by excessive dirt or debris. Over

3978-412: Is superior ergonomics, particularly for users with small hands. A revolver's grip does not hold a magazine, and it can be designed or customized much more than the grip of a typical semi-automatic. Partially because of these reasons, revolvers still hold significant market share as concealed carry and home-defense weapons. A revolver can be kept loaded and ready to fire without fatiguing any springs and

4095-728: The .45 Colt , used in the Colt revolver of the Wild West . Introduced in 2003, the Smith & Wesson Model 500 is one of the most powerful revolvers, utilizing the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. Because the rounds in a revolver are headspaced on the rim, some revolvers are capable of chambering more than one type of ammunition. Revolvers chambered in .44 Magnum will also chamber .44 Special and .44 Russian , likewise revolvers in .357 Magnum will safely chamber .38 Special , .38 Long Colt , and .38 Short Colt ; while revolvers in .22 WMR can chamber .22 Long Rifle , .22 Long , and .22 Short , it

4212-520: The AK-74 and AKS-74U . However, some carbines, such as the M1 carbine , are not a variant of any existing design and are their own firearm model. Carbines are regardless very similar to rifles and often have the same actions (single-shot, lever-action, bolt-action, semi-automatic, automatic, etc.). This similarity has given carbines the alternate name of short barreled rifle (SBR), though this more accurately describes

4329-460: The Belgian gunsmith Mariette invented a hammerless pepperbox with a ring trigger and turn-off barrels that could be unscrewed. In 1836, American Samuel Colt patented a popular revolver which led to the widespread use of the revolver. According to Colt, he came up with the idea for the revolver while at sea, inspired by the capstan , which had a ratchet and pawl mechanism on it, a version of which

4446-742: The Beretta M9 and the SIG Sauer M17 , especially in circumstances where faster reload times and higher cartridge capacity are important. In 1815, (sometimes incorrectly dated as 1825) a French inventor called Julien Leroy patented a flintlock and percussion revolving rifle with a mechanically indexed cylinder and a priming magazine. Elisha Collier of Boston, Massachusetts, patented a flintlock revolver in Britain in 1818, and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822. The origination of this invention

4563-456: The Chiappa Rhino (.357 Magnum, 9×19mm , .40 S&W , or 9×21mm ) except for the 2" and 3" models, respectively. However, certain revolvers, such as the Taurus Judge and Charter Arms revolvers, can be fitted with accessory rails. Revolvers most commonly have 6 chambers, hence the common names of "six-gun" or "six-shooter". However, some revolvers have more or less than 6, depending on

4680-512: The Colt Python . Although largely surpassed in convenience and ammunition capacity by semi-automatic pistols , revolvers still remain popular as back-up and off-duty handguns among American law enforcement officers and security guards and are still common in the American private sector as defensive, sporting, and hunting firearms. In the development of firearms , an important limiting factor

4797-587: The FG 42 , Gewehr 43 , FN FAL , Howa Type 64 , and Desert Tech MDR . A sniper rifle is, per widespread definition, a high-powered precision rifle, often bolt-action or semi-automatic, with an effective range farther than that of a standard rifle. Though any rifle in a sniper configuration (usually with a telescopic sight and bipod ) can be considered a sniper rifle, most sniper rifles are purpose-built for their applications, or are variants of existing rifles that have been modified to function as sniper rifles, such as

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4914-524: The Glock , Browning Hi-Power , M1911 pistol , Makarov pistol , Walther PP , Luger pistol , Mauser C96 , and Beretta 92 . Examples of revolvers include the Colt Single Action Army , Smith & Wesson Model 10 , Colt Official Police , Colt Python , New Nambu M60 , and Mateba Autorevolver . Examples of derringers include the Remington Model 95 , FP-45 Liberator , and COP .357 Derringer . A long gun

5031-500: The M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System . Shotguns are still popular with civilians for the suitability of their shot spread in hunting, clay pigeon shooting , and home defense. Double-barreled shotguns are break-action shotguns with two parallel barrels (horizontal side-by-side or vertical over-and-under), allowing two single shots that can be loaded and fired in quick succession. Examples of shotguns include

5148-509: The MP 18 , MP 40 , Thompson submachine gun , M3 submachine gun , Uzi , Heckler & Koch MP5 , Spectre M4 , Steyr TMP , Heckler & Koch UMP , PP-2000 , KRISS Vector , and SIG MPX . A personal defense weapon is, in simplest terms, a submachine gun that is designed to fire ammunition with ballistic performance that is similar to (but not actually a type of) rifle cartridges, often called "sub-intermediate" cartridges. In this way, it combines

5265-649: The Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 , Boys anti-tank rifle , PTRS-41 , Barrett M82 , Gepárd anti-materiel rifle , and McMillan TAC-50 . Examples of designated marksman rifles include the SVD , SR-25 , Dragunov SVU , Marine Scout Sniper Rifle , Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle , and M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System . An automatic rifle is a magazine-fed rifle that is capable of automatic fire. They include most assault rifles and battle rifles, but originated as their own category of rifles capable of automatic fire, as opposed to

5382-733: The National Firearms Act and Firearm Owners Protection Act define a "machine gun" in United States Code Title 26, Subtitle E, Chapter 53, Subchapter B, Part 1, § 5845 as "... any firearm which shoots ... automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger". "Machine gun" is therefore largely synonymous with "automatic weapon" in American civilian parlance, covering all automatic firearms. In most jurisdictions, automatic rifles, as well as automatic firearms in general, are prohibited from civilian purchase or are at least heavily restricted; in

5499-450: The Ruger LCR , Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 38, and Taurus Protector Polymer. The new design incorporates polymer technology that lowers weight significantly, helps absorb recoil, and is strong enough to handle .38 Special +P and .357 Magnum loads. The polymer is only used on the lower frame and is joined to an upper frame, barrel, and cylinder that are made of metal alloy. Polymer technology

5616-656: The Single Action Army , the "Colt .45" (not to be confused with Colt-made models of the M1911 semi-automatic ), and "the Peacemaker", one of the most famous handguns ever made. This popular design, which was a culmination of many of the advances introduced in earlier weapons, fired 6 metallic cartridges and was offered in over 30 different calibers and various barrel lengths. It is still in production, along with numerous clones and lookalikes, and its overall appearance has remained

5733-638: The Springfield Armory (United States), the Royal Small Arms Factory (United Kingdom), Mauser (Germany), Steyr-Daimler-Puch (Austria), and Rock Island Armory under Armscor (Philippines). As of 2018 the Small Arms Survey reported that there were over one billion firearms distributed globally, of which 857 million (about 85 percent) were in civilian hands. U.S. civilians alone account for 393 million (about 46 percent) of

5850-464: The StG 44 produced by Nazi Germany during World War II , assault rifles have since become extremely popular among militaries and other armed groups due to their universal versatility, and they have made up the vast majority of standard-issue military service rifles since the mid-20th century. Various configurations of assault rifle exist, such as the bullpup , in which the firing grip is located in front of

5967-539: The Type 97 sniper rifle , which was essentially a standard Type 38 rifle that was modified to be lighter and come with a telescopic sight. Related developments are anti-materiel rifles , large-caliber rifles designed to destroy enemy materiel such as vehicles, supplies, or hardware; anti-tank rifles , anti-materiel rifles that were designed specifically to combat early armoured fighting vehicles , but are now largely obsolete due to advances in vehicle armour ; scout rifles ,

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6084-520: The Winchester Model 1892 , Rifle No. 5 Mk I , SKS , M1 carbine , Ruger Mini-14 , M4 carbine , and Kel-Tec SUB-2000 . An assault rifle is commonly defined as a selective-fire rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge (such as 5.56×45mm NATO , 7.62×39mm , 5.45×39mm , and .300 AAC Blackout ) and fed with a detachable magazine . Assault rifles are also usually smaller than full-sized rifles such as battle rifles . Originating with

6201-425: The Winchester Model 1897 , Browning Auto-5 , Ithaca 37 , Remington Model 870 , Mossberg 500 , Benelli M4 , Franchi SPAS-12 , Atchisson AA-12 , and Knight's Armament Company Masterkey . A carbine is a long gun, usually a rifle, that has had its barrel shortened from its original length or is of a certain size smaller than standard rifles, but is still large enough to be considered a long gun. How considerable

6318-533: The blowback of the preceding shot to automatically cock the hammer and index the next chamber, although these self-loading revolvers (known as automatic revolvers , despite technically being semi-automatic ) never gained any widespread usage. Though the majority of weapons using a revolver mechanism are handguns, other firearms may also have a revolver action . These include some models of rifles , shotguns , grenade launchers , and autocannons . Revolver weapons differ from Gatling-style rotary weapons in that in

6435-633: The breech instead of behind it. Examples of assault rifles include the Kalashnikov rifles of Soviet and Russian origin (such as the AK-47 , AKM , and AK-74 ), as well as the American M4 carbine and M16 rifle . A battle rifle is commonly defined as a semi-automatic or selective-fire rifle that is larger or longer than an assault rifle and is chambered in a "full-power" cartridge (e.g. 7.62×51mm NATO , 7.92×57mm Mauser , 7.62×54mmR ). The term originated as

6552-425: The firing pin mechanism, expelling the old cartridge and loading a new one. Revolver Before firing, cocking the revolver's hammer partially rotates the cylinder, indexing one of the cylinder chambers into alignment with the barrel, allowing the bullet to be fired through the bore. By sequentially rotating through each chamber, the revolver allows the user to fire multiple times until having to reload

6669-865: The 19th and 20th centuries, various types of long guns have been created for different purposes. A rifle is a long gun that has riflings (spiral grooves) machined into the bore (inner) surface of its barrel, imparting a gyroscopically stabilizing spin to the bullets that it fires. A descendant of the musket, rifles produce a single point of impact with each firing with a long range and high accuracy. For this reason, as well as for their ubiquity, rifles are very popular among militaries as service rifles , police as accurate long-range alternatives to their traditional shotgun long guns, and civilians for hunting , shooting sports , and self-defense . Many types of rifles exist owing to their wide adoption and versatility, ranging from mere barrel length differences as in short-barreled rifles and carbines , to classifications per

6786-566: The 20th century, at 6,000,000 units, and the .38 Special is still the most popular chambering for revolvers in the world. These new guns were an improvement over the Colt 1889 design since they incorporated a combined center-pin and ejector rod to lock the cylinder in position, whereas the Colt 1889 did not use a center pin and the cylinder was prone to move out of alignment. Revolvers have remained popular in many areas, although for law enforcement and military personnel, they have largely been supplanted by magazine-fed semi-automatic pistols , such as

6903-426: The 20th century, but have since been superseded in most combat roles by rifles, carbines, and personal defense weapons due to their low effective range and poor penetration against most body armor developed since the late 20th century. However, they remain popular among special forces and police for their effectiveness in close-quarters and low likelihood to overpenetrate targets. Examples of submachine guns include

7020-515: The Ministry of Defence to be turned into flats and offices. Small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions ). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China , when bamboo tubes containing gunpowder and pellet projectiles were mounted on spears to make

7137-479: The U.S. for instance, most automatic rifles are Title II weapons that require certain licenses and are greatly regulated. Examples of automatic rifles include the Cei-Rigotti , Lewis gun , Fedorov Avtomat , and M1918 Browning automatic rifle . A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm, chambered in intermediate or full-power rifle cartridges, designed to provide sustained automatic direct fire as opposed to

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7254-417: The action to remove the errant round, as cycling the action normally depends on the energy of a cartridge firing. With a revolver, this is not necessary as none of the energy for cycling the revolver comes from the firing of the cartridge, but is instead supplied by the user either through cocking the hammer or, in a double-action design, by just squeezing the trigger. Another significant advantage of revolvers

7371-566: The barrel pivoted upwards, hinged on the forward end of the topstrap. On the S&;W tip-up revolvers, the barrel release catch is located on both sides of the frame in front of the trigger. Smith & Wesson discontinued it in the third series of the Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2 but it was fairly widely used in Europe in the 19th century after a patent by Spirlet in 1870, which also included an ejector star. The most modern method of loading and unloading

7488-421: The barrel. Pulling the lever would drive a rammer into the chamber, pushing the ball securely in place. Finally, the user would place percussion caps on the nipples on the rear face of the cylinder. After each shot, a user was advised to raise the revolver vertically while cocking back the hammer so as to allow the fragments of the spent percussion cap to fall out safely. Otherwise, the fragments could fall into

7605-413: The best features of earlier designs. Top-break actions had the ability to eject all empty shells simultaneously and exposed all chambers for easy reloading, but having the frame hinged into two halves weakened the gun and negatively affected accuracy due to the lack of rigidity. "Side-loaders", like the earlier Colt Model 1871 and 1873, had a rigid frame, but required the user to eject and load one chamber at

7722-839: The bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles commonly issued to infantry at the time of their invention. They usually have smaller magazine capacities than machine guns ; the French Chauchat had a 20-round box magazine, while the Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine gun , the French Army 's standard machine gun at the time, was fed by a 250-round ammunition belt . Though automatic rifles are sometimes considered to be their own category, they are also occasionally considered to be other types of firearms that postdated their invention, usually as light machine guns . Automatic rifles are sometimes confused with machine guns or vice versa, or are defined as such by law;

7839-607: The building was named after Sottotenente Serafino Gnutti, an Alpini officer who had earned a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor in the Greco-Italian War . The Headquarters and Signals section of Brigata Meccanizzata "Brescia" were accommodated there. Following the post- Cold War reorganization of the Italian Army , the Brigata was disbanded and the barracks were left empty. As of August 2010, they have been alienated by

7956-440: The bullet fires from the bottom chamber of the cylinder instead of the top chamber, as is typical in revolvers. This is intended to reduce muzzle flip , allowing for faster and more accurate repeat shots. In addition, the cylinder cross-section is hexagonal instead of circular, further reducing the weapon's profile. The first revolvers were front loading (also referred to as muzzleloading ), and were similar to muskets in that

8073-495: The civilian market, albeit often with longer barrels. Examples of personal defense weapons include the FN P90 , Heckler & Koch MP7 , AAC Honey Badger , and ST Kinetics CPW . Types aside, firearms are also categorized by their "action", which describes their loading, firing, and unloading cycle. Manual action or manual operation is essentially any type of firearm action that is loaded, and usually also fired, one cartridge at

8190-485: The cylinder in place, with the chamber aligned with the barrel. When the trigger is pulled, it releases the hammer, which fires the round in the chamber. To fire again, the hammer must be manually cocked again. This is called "single-action" because the trigger only performs a single action, of releasing the hammer. Because only a single action is performed and trigger pull is lightened, firing a revolver in this way allows most shooters to achieve greater accuracy. Additionally,

8307-455: The cylinder when loading, so as not to damage the crane. One unique design was designed by Merwin Hulbert in which the barrel and cylinder assembly were rotated 90° and pulled forward to eject shells from the cylinder. In a single-action revolver, the hammer is manually cocked, usually with the thumb of the firing or supporting hand. This action advances the cylinder to the next round and locks

8424-593: The cylinder. The barrel and cylinder are then rotated back and locked in place, and the revolver is ready to fire. Top-break revolvers are able to be loaded more rapidly than fixed frame revolvers, especially with the aid of a speedloader or moon clip. However, this design is much weaker and cannot handle high pressure rounds. While this design has become mostly obsolete, supplanted by the stronger yet equally convenient swing-out cylinder design, manufacturers still make reproductions of late 19th century designs for use in cowboy action shooting . The first top-break revolver

8541-699: The design's primary intended use (e.g. hunting rifle), or to the commonly accepted name for a particular variation (e.g. Gatling gun ). Shooters aim firearms at their targets with hand-eye coordination , using either iron sights or optical sights . The accurate range of pistols generally does not exceed 100 metres (110 yd; 330 ft), while most rifles are accurate to 500 metres (550 yd; 1,600 ft) using iron sights, or to longer ranges whilst using optical sights. Purpose-built sniper rifles and anti-materiel rifles are accurate to ranges of more than 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). (Firearm rounds may be dangerous or lethal well beyond their accurate range;

8658-507: The difference is between a rifle and a carbine varies; for example, the standard Heckler & Koch G36 's barrel has a length of 480 mm (18.9 in), the G36K carbine variant's barrel is 318 mm (12.5 in), and the G36C compact variant's barrel is 228 mm (9.0 in). Some carbines are also redesigned compared to their rifle counterparts, such as the aforementioned G36/G36K and G36C, or

8775-423: The firearm's action must be reloaded or charged via an internal mechanism between trigger pulls. Types of manual actions include lever action, bolt action, and pump action. Lever action is a repeating action that is operated by using a cocking handle (the "lever") located around the trigger guard area (often incorporating it) that is pulled down then back up to move the bolt via internal linkages and cock

8892-428: The firing mechanism and barrel. In contrast, other repeating firearms, such as bolt-action , lever-action , pump-action , and semi-automatic , have a single firing chamber and a mechanism to load and extract cartridges into it. A single-action revolver requires the hammer to be pulled back by hand before each shot, which also revolves the cylinder. This leaves the trigger with one "single action" to perform—releasing

9009-717: The first revolver to use self-contained metallic cartridges rather than loose powder, pistol ball , and percussion caps. It is a single-action , pinfire revolver holding six rounds. On November 17, 1856, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson signed an agreement for the exclusive use of the Rollin White Patent at a rate of 25 cents for every revolver. Smith & Wesson began production late in 1857, and enjoyed years of exclusive production of rear-loading cartridge revolvers in America due to their association with Rollin White, who held

9126-498: The front and rear of the frame, and the frame is typically full thickness all the way around, fixed cylinder revolvers are inherently strong designs. Accordingly, many modern large caliber hunting revolvers tend to be based on the fixed cylinder design. Fixed cylinder revolvers can fire the strongest and most powerful cartridges, but at the price of being the slowest to load or unload since they cannot use speedloaders or moon clips to load multiple cartridges at once, as only one chamber

9243-432: The front of the cylinder rather than having to be loaded down the whole length of the barrel. Importantly, this allowed the barrel itself to be rifled , since the user was not required to force the tight-fitting bullet down the barrel in order to load it (a traditional muzzle-loading pistol had a smoothbore barrel and the shot was relatively loose-fitting, which allowed easy loading, but was much less accurate). After firing

9360-403: The global total of small arms. A handgun is, as defined generally and in many gun laws , a firearm that can be used with a single hand. They are the smallest of all firearms, and are common as sidearms , concealed carry weapons, or as backup weapons for self-defense . Handguns can be categorized into two broad types: pistols , which have a single fixed firing chamber machined into

9477-439: The gun, unlike older single-shot firearms that had to be reloaded after each shot. The hammer cocking in nearly all revolvers is manually driven and can be cocked either by the user using the thumb to directly pull back the hammer (as in single-action ), or via internal linkage relaying the force of the trigger-pull (as in double-action ), or both (as in double-action/single-action ). Some rare revolver models can utilize

9594-595: The hammer to fire the shot. In contrast, with a self-cocking, or double-action, revolver, one long squeeze of the trigger pulls back the hammer and revolves the cylinder, then finally fires the shot, thus requiring more force and distance to pull the trigger than in a single-action revolver. They can generally be fired faster than a single-action, but with reduced accuracy in the hands of most shooters. Most modern revolvers are "traditional double-action", which means they may operate either in single-action or self-cocking mode. The accepted meaning of "double-action" has come to be

9711-457: The high automatic rate of fire, reliable low recoil, and lightweight compact maneuverability of submachine guns with the versatility, penetration, and effective range of rifles, effectively making them an "in-between" of submachine guns and carbines. Personal defense weapons were developed to provide rear and "second-line" personnel not otherwise armed with high-caliber firearms (vehicle and weapon crews, engineers, logistical personnel, etc.) with

9828-491: The late 19th century. In Europe, however, arms makers were quick to adopt the double-action trigger. While the U.S. was producing weapons like the Model 1873, European manufacturers were building double-action models like the French MAS Modèle 1873 and the later British Enfield Mk I and II revolvers . (Britain relied on cartridge conversions of the earlier Beaumont–Adams double-action prior to this.) Colt's first attempt at

9945-432: The long period of development of the revolver, many calibers have been used. Some of these have proved more durable during periods of standardization and some have entered general public awareness. Among these are the .22 Long Rifle , a caliber popular for target shooting and teaching novice shooters; .38 Special and .357 Magnum, known for police use; the .44 Magnum , famous from Clint Eastwood 's Dirty Harry films; and

10062-836: The minimum distance for safety is much greater than the specified range for accuracy.) A firearm is a barreled ranged weapon that inflicts damage on targets by launching one or more projectiles driven by rapidly expanding high-pressure gas produced by exothermic combustion ( deflagration ) of a chemical propellant , historically black powder , now smokeless powder . In the military, firearms are categorized into heavy and light weapons regarding their portability by infantry . Light firearms are those that can be readily carried by individual foot soldier , though they might still require more than one individual ( crew-served ) to achieve optimal operational capacity. Heavy firearms are those that are too large and heavy to be transported on foot, or too unstable against recoil , and thus require

10179-530: The most common, European arms makers were making numerous revolvers by that time as well, many of which found their way into the hands of the American forces. These included the single-action Lefaucheux and LeMat revolvers , as well as the Beaumont–Adams and Tranter revolvers—early double-action weapons in spite of being muzzle-loaders. In 1854, Eugene Lefaucheux introduced the Lefaucheux Model 1854 ,

10296-512: The musket; both having single-shot , break-action , bolt-action , lever-action , pump-action , semi-automatic , and automatic variants; and both being popular with militaries, police, and civilians for largely the same reasons. However, unlike rifles, shotguns are less favored in combat roles due to their low accuracy and limited effectiveness in modern warfare , with combat shotguns often only used for breaching or close-quarters combat and sometimes limited to underbarrel attachments such as

10413-436: The next half century. Early revolvers were caplock muzzleloaders: the user had to pour black powder into each chamber, ram down a bullet on top of it, then place a percussion cap on the nipple at the rear of each chamber, where the hammer would fall on it and ignite the powder charge. This was similar to loading a traditional single-shot muzzle-loading pistol, except that the powder and shot could be loaded directly into

10530-399: The notable exception of smoothbore shotguns ) have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stability. Modern firearms can be described by their caliber (i.e. bore diameter). For pistols and rifles this is given in millimeters or inches (e.g. 7.62mm or .308 in.); in the case of shotguns, gauge or bore (e.g. 12 ga. or .410 bore.). They are also described by

10647-405: The original Colt designs (and on nearly all single-action revolvers since, such as the famous Colt Single Action Army) is on the right side, which was done to facilitate loading while on horseback; with the revolver held in the left hand with the reins of the horse, the cartridges can be ejected and loaded with the right hand. Because the cylinders in these types of revolvers are firmly attached at

10764-501: The patent and vigorously defended it against any perceived infringement by other manufacturers (much as Colt had done with his original patent on the revolver). Although White held the patent, other manufacturers were able to sell firearms using the design, provided they were willing to pay royalties. After White's patent expired in April 1869, a third extension was refused. Other gun-makers were then allowed to produce their own weapons using

10881-509: The portable fire lance , operable by a single person, which was later used effectively as a shock weapon in the siege of De'an in 1132. In the 13th century, fire lance barrels were replaced with metal tubes and transformed into the metal-barreled hand cannon . The technology gradually spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Older firearms typically used black powder as a propellant , but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other explosive propellants. Most modern firearms (with

10998-425: The powder and bullet were loaded separately. These were caplocks or "cap and ball" revolvers, because the caplock method of priming was the first to be compact enough to make a practical revolver feasible. When loading, each chamber in the cylinder was rotated out of line with the barrel, and charged from the front with loose powder and an oversized bullet. Next, the chamber was aligned using the ramming lever underneath

11115-734: The rear of the barrel, and are often loaded using magazines of varying capacities; revolvers , which have a number of firing chambers or "charge holes" in a revolving cylinder , each one loaded with a single cartridge or charge; and derringers , broadly defined as any handgun that is not a traditional pistol nor a revolver. There are various types of the aforementioned handguns designed for different mechanisms or purposes, such as single-shot , manual repeating , semi-automatic , or automatic pistols; single-action , double-action , or double-action/single-action revolvers; and small, compact handguns for concealed carry such as pocket pistols and " Saturday night specials ". Examples of pistols include

11232-419: The rear-loading method, without having to pay a royalty on each gun sold. Early guns were often conversions of earlier cap-and-ball revolvers, modified to accept metallic cartridges loaded from the rear, but later models, such as the Colt Model 1872 "open top" and the Smith & Wesson Model 3 , were designed from the start as cartridge revolvers. In 1873, Colt introduced the famous Model 1873, also known as

11349-435: The revolver's mechanism and jam it. Caplock revolvers were vulnerable to "chain fires", wherein hot gas from a shot ignited the powder in the other chambers. This could be prevented by sealing the chambers with cotton, wax, or grease. Chain fire led to the shots hitting the shooters hand, which is one of the main reasons why revolver rifles were uncommon. By the time metallic cartridges became common, more effective mechanisms for

11466-523: The rifle's function and purpose as in semi-automatic rifles , automatic rifles and sniper rifles , to differences in the rifle's action as in single-shot , break-action , bolt-action , and lever-action rifles. Examples of rifles of various types include the Henry rifle , Winchester rifle , Lee–Enfield , Gewehr 98 , M1 Garand , MAS-36 rifle , AKM , Ruger 10/22 , Heckler & Koch G3 , Remington Model 700 , and Heckler & Koch HK417 . A shotgun

11583-478: The same as "self-cocking", so modern revolvers that cannot be pre-cocked are called "double-action-only". These are intended for concealed carry, because the hammer of a traditional design is prone to snagging on clothes when drawn. Most revolvers do not come with accessory rails , which are used for mounting lights and lasers , except for the Smith & Wesson M&P R8 ( .357 Magnum ), Smith & Wesson Model 325 Thunder Ranch ( .45 ACP ), and all versions of

11700-510: The same purposes. However, some prefer battle rifles for their more powerful cartridge, despite the added recoil. Some designated marksman rifles are configured from battle rifles, such as the Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle and United States Marine Corps Designated Marksman Rifle , both essentially heavily modified and modernized variants of the M14 rifle . Examples of rifles considered to be battle rifles include

11817-490: The same since 1873. Although originally made for the United States Army , the Model 1873 was widely distributed and popular with civilians, ranchers , lawmen , and outlaws alike. Its design has influenced countless other revolvers. Colt has discontinued its production twice, but resumed production due to popular demand. In the U.S., the single-action revolver remained more popular than the double-action revolver until

11934-596: The semi-automatic or burst fire of standard rifles. They are commonly associated with being belt-fed , though many machine guns are also fed by box, drum, pan, or hopper magazines. They generally have a high rate of fire and a large ammunition capacity, and are often used for suppressive fire to support infantry advances or defend positions from enemy assaults. Owing to their versatility and firepower, they are also commonly installed on military vehicles and military aircraft , either as main or ancillary weapons . Many machine guns are individual-served and can be operated by

12051-586: The size of carbines and short-barreled rifles, and use similar configurations. Many are designed to take as little space as possible for use in close-quarters or for easy storage in vehicles and cases. Some submachine guns are designed and configured similar to pistols even down to size, and are thus occasionally classed as machine pistols , even if they are not actually a handgun (i.e. designed to require two hands to use). Submachine guns are considered ideal for close-quarters combat and are cheap to mass-produce. They were very common in military service through much of

12168-407: The size of the gun and caliber of the bullet. Each chamber has to be reloaded manually, which makes reloading a revolver a much slower procedure than reloading a semi-automatic pistol. Compared to autoloading handguns, a revolver is often much simpler to operate and may have greater reliability. For example, should a semiautomatic pistol fail to fire, clearing the chamber requires manually cycling

12285-592: The specialized role as a shield gun; law enforcement personnel using a "bulletproof" gun shield sometimes opt for a revolver instead of a self-loading pistol, because the slide of a pistol may strike the front of the shield when fired. Revolvers do not suffer from this disadvantage. A second revolver may be secured behind the shield to provide a quick means of continuity of fire. Many police also still use revolvers as their duty weapon due to their relative mechanical simplicity and ease of use. In 2010, major revolver manufacturers started producing polymer frame revolvers like

12402-560: The support of a weapons platform (e.g. a fixed mount , wheeled carriage , vehicle , aircraft or water vessel ) to be tactically mobile or useful. The subset of light firearms that only use kinetic projectiles and are compact enough to be operated to full capacity by a single infantryman (individual-served) are also referred to as small arms . Such firearms include handguns such as pistols , revolvers , and derringers ; and long guns such as rifles (and their subtypes), shotguns , submachine guns , and machine guns . Among

12519-409: The travel is designed to not completely extract longer, unfired rounds). The cylinder may then be loaded (individually or with the use of a speedloader), closed, and latched in place. The pivoting part that supports the cylinder is called the crane; it is the weak point of swing-out cylinder designs. Using the method often portrayed in movies and television of flipping the cylinder open and closed with

12636-456: The type of action employed (e.g. muzzleloader , breechloader , lever , bolt , pump , revolver , semi-automatic , fully automatic , etc.), together with the usual means of deportment (i.e. hand-held or mechanical mounting). Further classification may make reference to the type of barrel used (i.e. rifled ) and to the barrel length (e.g. 24 inches), to the firing mechanism (e.g. matchlock , wheellock , flintlock , or percussion lock ), to

12753-414: The world's arms manufacturers , the top firearms manufacturers are Browning , Remington , Colt , Ruger , Smith & Wesson , Savage , Mossberg (United States), Heckler & Koch , SIG Sauer , Walther (Germany), ČZUB (Czech Republic), Glock , Steyr Arms (Austria), FN Herstal (Belgium), Beretta (Italy), Norinco (China), Rostec , and Kalashnikov (Russia). Former top producers included

12870-485: The worldwide total of civilian-held firearms. This amounts to "120.5 firearms for every 100 residents". The world's armed forces control about 133 million (about 13 percent) of the global total of small arms, of which over 43 percent belong to two countries: the Russian Federation (30.3 million) and China (27.5 million). Law enforcement agencies control about 23 million (about 2 percent) of

12987-409: Was made with the ability to chamber 25 different cartridges with bullet diameters between .355" and .357". Revolver technology is also present in other weapons used by the U.S. military. Some autocannons and grenade launchers use mechanisms similar to revolvers, and some riot shotguns use spring-loaded cylinders holding up to 12 rounds. In addition to serving as backup guns, revolvers still fill

13104-421: Was patented in France and Britain at the end of December in 1858 by Devisme. The most commonly found top-break revolvers were manufactured by Smith & Wesson, Webley & Scott, Iver Johnson, Harrington & Richardson, Manhattan Fire Arms, Meriden Arms , and Forehand & Wadsworth . The tip-up revolver was the first design to be used with metallic cartridges in the Smith & Wesson Model 1 , on which

13221-672: Was started. Many kinds of small arms in use by the Regio Esercito were overhauled in the Brescia Arsenal, including the Vetterli rifle and the Carcano rifle in its many versions. Built-in assembly lines produced thousands of the latter, including the entire lot of the M91 TS (Special Troops) Carbine, made between 1898 and 1919. Ammunition was also produced. On 2 March 1945 the military facility

13338-405: Was targeted by a massive USAAF air raid that wrought damage all over the city. The Arsenal was leveled and the church of St. Afra (now Saint Angela Merici ) in "Via dell'Arsenale" (now via Francesco Crispi ) was directly hit and collapsed causing the death of 21 people who had sought refuge there. The total death toll for the bombing was of 80 killed among the population. After World War II

13455-439: Was the time required to reload the weapon after it was fired. While the user was reloading, the weapon was useless, allowing an adversary to attack the user. Several approaches to the problem of increasing the rate of fire were developed, the earliest involving multi-barrelled weapons which allowed two or more shots without reloading. Later weapons featured multiple barrels revolving along a single axis. A matchlock revolver with

13572-440: Was then reissued as U.S. patent RE00124 entitled Revolving gun on October 24, 1848. This was followed by U.S. patent 0,007,613 on September 3, 1850, for a Revolver , and by U.S. patent 0,007,629 on September 10, 1850, for a Revolver . In 1855, Rollin White patented the bored-through cylinder entitled Improvement in revolving fire-arms U.S. patent 00,093,653 . In 1856, Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson formed

13689-542: Was used in his guns to rotate the cylinder by cocking the hammer. This provided a reliable and repeatable way to index each round and did away with the need to manually rotate the cylinder. Revolvers proliferated largely due to Colt's ability as a salesman , but his influence spread in other ways as well. The build quality of his company 's guns became famous, and its armories in America and England trained several seminal generations of toolmakers and other machinists , who had great influence in other manufacturing efforts of

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