The Different Types of Firearms
There is a lot of "misinformation" about firearms, and the mainstream media often only confuses the issue. Firearms have existed for centuries, and as with any piece of technology have evolved accordingly. The first firearms originated in the Far East, and likely were little more than bamboo tubes that were stuffed with rocks and gunpowder. Such weapons were likely as dangerous to the user as any enemy on the battlefield.
Firearms reached Europe by the late Middle Ages in the 14th century, but it was during the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries that saw the first major developments that refined small arms design. This is when features such as triggers, sights, stocks for rifles, and grips/handles for pistols first appeared – components of firearms that are still used today. With the introduction of flintlock (LINK TO THE OTHER ARTICLE?) designers may have even believed they'd perfected the designs as the subsequent changes were minor for the next two centuries.
In fact, it wasn't until the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century that new concepts were developed, leading to the evolution of modern firearms.
Introduction of the Revolver
From the earliest firearms produced in China in the 10th century to the early 19th century, firearms were generally "single shot" – meaning the gun had to be reloaded after each shot. Even by the start of the American Revolution, which began in 1776, the best British soldiers of the era could fire about three rounds per minute.
A variety of solutions were considered, including having guns with multiple barrels, but then some forward thinkers conceived of a rotating cylinder that served as a magazine, and which could hold multiple rounds. The first revolver was reported a three-barreled matchlock pistol produced in Venice in 1548, while a variety of concepts were explored in the centuries that followed.
Yet, it was American Samuel Colt who not only created a reliable design but proved to be quite the salesman. These early revolvers had an advantage in that they could hold five or even six shots (hence the term "six-shooter), which gave the user a significant advantage over single-shot pistols of the day. However, these were slow to reload, as they still involved loose powder and percussion caps to ignite that powder.
The big leap forward came with the introduction of self-contained metallic cartridges, which replaced the loose powder, pistol ball, and percussion caps.
While Samuel Colt died in 1862, the company he founded continued on and the Colt Single Action Army revolver earned a reputation as "the gun that tamed the west." It was carried by ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. During the Second World War, one with ivory handles was even carried by General George S. Patton!
Throughout the 20th century, revolvers were the common sidearm among military officers and police. One factor was that the revolver remains simple to operate, is accurate, and is generally free of jamming issues. Large caliber revolvers – think Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" and his .44 Magnum – have even been popular with big game hunters.
Bolt Action Rifles
Developed after the American Civil War, the bolt action rifle allowed soldiers to increase the rate of fire. However, today apart from specialized "sniper rifles," few militaries actually utilize such firearms – yet the "action" remains a popular option with target and hunting rifles.
As the name implies, the rifle features a bolt that contains the firing pin. It is operated by the shooter, who typically turns a "bolt handle" 45 degrees, which unlocks the receiver and allows the bolt to be pulled back, providing access to the chamber. By closing the bolt, a round was places in the chamber (this is known as chambering) and the rifle was ready to be fired.
The first bolt action rifles were single-shot, but subsequent models featured internal storage – via a magazine in the stock/body or in a tube under the barrel – that held multiple rounds. Whereas muzzle loading (LINK TO OTHER ARTICLE?) could allow a trained shooter to fire three or four rounds a minute, a magazine-fed bolt action rifle increased the rate of fire significantly.
Five rounds could be fired in less than 15 seconds. However, reloading individual rounds could be a slow and tedious process. Military rifles could be reloaded via the use of "stripper clips," which contained five rounds that had been previously attached to the clip. In addition, the British Army adopted its Lee-Metford rifle at the end of the 19th century, which quickly led to the Lee-Enfield. Those rifles featured a removable 10-round box magazine, which gave the British infantryman a serious advantage in the early stages of the First World War.
Though bolt action rifles remained the standard weapon of soldiers in the Second World War, modern militaries have largely relegated the reliable and time-proven bolt actions to the shooting range, where they are still used in training. And as noted, bolt action rifles, because of their accuracy and reliability, remain a favorite of sniper teams. Hunters, especially those stalking big game, swear by the bolt action.
Semi-Automatic Handguns
Originally described as a "self-loading" or "autopistol," the first semi-automatic handguns were developed at the end of the 19th century. Unlike a revolver, which featured a cylinder that held the ammunition, semi-automatic pistols stored the ammunition in a "magazine" that was typically located in the grip of the firearm – although some early models featured a magazine forward of the trigger assembly.
The Borchardt C-93 is now considered the first successful design, and it is especially sought after by collectors as fewer than 3,500 were ever produced. It perfected the concept of utilizing some of the energy from the firing of the weapon – the discharge – to expel the existing cartridge (LINK TO PRIOR ARTICLE?) and load a new round, where the slide would be pushed back by the recoil so quickly it was nearly impossible to be seen. With each pull of the trigger, this process would be repeated until the magazine was emptied and the "slide" locked back.
Semi-automatic pistols began to replace military sidearms just prior to the First World War, and among the most successful designs was John Browning's Colt Model 1911, which is commonly known as the ".45" as it was chambered for the .45 APC round. Adopted by the United States Military in 1911, the M1911 remained in service until the 1980s.
It was also in the 1980s that new materials were introduced, including polymers that reduced weight, helped reduce the recoil and were easier to maintain. However, despite a lot of media misinformation, firearms such as the Glock handguns were not invisible to airport X-ray machines. Semi-automatic pistols are now among the most popular firearms in the world, coming in a plethora of shapes and sizes. These are used in shooting competitions, and make for an ideal option for personal and home defense.
Shotguns
For all intents and purposes, the shotgun can be best described as a cousin of the rifle. However, whereas rifles typically fire a solid round, shotguns can be used to fire shellshot, which discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles that are called shot. There is added confusion is that shotguns can also fire a solid projectile known as a slug. In addition, while rifles have "rifling," the groves in the internal bore/surface of the barrel that is meant to put "spin" on a bullet when fired, shotguns generally have a "smoothbore," as shot tends to have a dispersing pattern when fired. However, increasing there is a growing market for rifled barrels that can fire the aforementioned slugs.
Shotguns evolved from the blunderbuss or arquebus – muskets that featured a large diameter bore. Instead of being loaded with a single round, often times these firearms were loaded with a variety of "shot" that includes smaller rounds, scrap metal, and at times even a handful of rocks. Far from being accurate, when fired these weapons would "spray" the shot at an enemy. This eventually evolved into a firearm that found use in hunting, notably of low-flying birds, as the shot that created a small field offered an advantage over a single round. Whereas revolvers and rifles utilized the new cartridges (LINK?) of the era, shotguns employed the newly developed shells that contained the shellshot.
Modern shotguns emerged in the 19th century and found military use with cavalry units, and later it was a popular defense weapon carried on stage coaches – hence the term "riding shotgun." The earliest shotguns were single-shot firearms that could be loaded by opening the firearm at the breach. This led to the development of the now infamous "double-barreled" shotgun, which offered either two shots or double the blast. Side-by-side and over/under double barrel shotguns remain popular for target shooting such as "trap and skeet" of clay pigeons. These began as a method for hunters to keep active off-season, but have evolved into popular competitive sports.
In addition, shotguns with internal magazines were developed, and these often included a second tube under the barrel. Prolific American gun designer John Browning developed a "Model 1887 Lever Action repeating shotgun," which was followed by the even more successful "Model 1893Pump Action Shotgun." With the latter, which remains among the most common repeating shotguns sold today, each shell could be loaded by the shooter by pulling back on the handgrip – creating the now ubiquitous sound so common in movie and TV shows.
Finally, it should be noted that during the First World War, the United States military adopted a pump action shotgun that was so hated by the German military that its leaders filed an official diplomatic protest against its use, alleging the weapons violated the laws of warfare. This was from a nation that introduced poison gas and used submarines to sink civilian ships – apparently the shotgun was simply too much.
AR Modern Sporting Rifles
No firearm is perhaps as misunderstood as the now infamous AR-15. First, the AR doesn't stand for "Assault Rifle" or "Automatic Rifle," but rather denotes ArmaLite Rifle, the maker of the rifle. The firearm, which utilizes the same principles of the aforementioned semi-automatic handguns was developed by Eugene Stoner, a World War II veteran who had served in the United States Marine Corps.
Stoner had developed a number of bolt-action survival rifles for the Hollywood, California-based ArmaLite in the 1950s and early 1960s. Building on that success he began development for a rifle to replace the World War II-era M1 Garand – a weapon that General George S. Patton had described as the "greatest battle implement ever devised." The M1 was far more advanced than the bolt-action rifles used by Nazi Germany or the Empire of Japan, but by the late 1950s was showing its age. Stoner created a self-loading rifle, dubbed the AR-10. It was made of composite materials, as well as aluminum to reduce the weight, and had a pistol grip to provide better control. In addition, it offered "select-fire," which meant that it could fire in the previously described semi-automatic mode, but it could also fire in "fully-automatic mode," where the firearm would repeat the process of loading, firing and reloading rounds as long as the trigger was held or until it ran out of ammunition.
The United States Army found the weapon to be too revolutionary, and instead opted to move forward with the more traditional M-14, which was essentially an evolution of the M1 Garand. However, by the middle of the 1960s, Stoner refined his design and the military eventually found it to be the right weapon – just in time for the war in Vietnam. It was adopted as the M-16, yet Colt Manufacturing – the same company that Samuel Colt founded – had acquired the patents from ArmaLite and in addition to producing the military version, also released a civilian version as the AR-15.
It is important to note that the civilian AR-15, which is now produced by dozens of company, only resembles the military rifle. It has been described as a "weapon of war," but that is wholly incorrect as the military versions offer select-fire, which the semi-automatic version does not. The preferred term for these civilian-friendly firearms is "modern sporting rifles," as they are ideal for target shooting, hunting and home defense. Also work nothing is the AR-15 is technically not "high-powered" as some in the media continue to report – as the round is actually significantly smaller in size than the ammunition used in big game or even deer hunting.
FAQ
How is the lever action rifle different from bolt action?
Multi-barrel rifles were among the earliest attempt to create a repeating rifle, but the lever action was the first that allowed for the quick firing of rounds. The Spencer repeating rifle and Henry rifle both were produced in the late 1850s and each featured a tube magazine that could hold multiple rounds. The Henry model proved to be the more refined version, with the magazine located under the barrel.
By the 1890s, lever actions evolved into a form that is still produced today by such companies as Marlin and Winchester – names that are essentially synonymous with lever action. Cowboy movies of the 1930s and 1940s helped popularize the lever action, which remains a true American innovation.
What is an assault rifle?
The term "assault rifle" originated during the Second World War, when Germany developed a rifle that fired a round that was smaller in caliber than the bolt action battle rifle but larger than the pistol cartridge used in many submachine guns. The concept originated with a weapon known as the StG44 or Sturmgewehr 44 (meaning "storm rifle" in German), and was refined with the infamous AK-47 in the Soviet Union. Such weapons are distinct from civilian firearms in that these offered fully-automatic fire in addition to a semi-automatic mode.
Today it is common for the media, politicians, and gun control groups to suggest that the AR-15 and similar firearms is an assault weapon, but most certainly is not. Moreover, suggesting that it is a weapon of war disregards the fact that the line between military and civilian firearms was far more blurred throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Bolt action hunting rifles are little different from the military rifles used even in the First and Second World Wars.
Are semi-automatic pistols superior to revolvers?
It is strictly a matter of opinion but each offers a few advantages. Revolvers were developed first but remain a popular option for target shooting, personal defense, and even hunting. There are plenty of big frame revolvers – such as the Magnum handguns – that are ideal for hunting big game, while smaller revolvers are popular for everyday carry as a personal defense weapon. Revolvers are reliable and easy to operate.
The biggest advantage of semi-automatic pistols is that today's modern models can carry twice and even three times the number of rounds of a revolver. The Glock 17 for example can carry 17 rounds of 9mm ammunition, whereas most revolvers hold just six rounds. Of course, the M1911 can only hold eight rounds of .45 ammunition but that is still two more than the .45 Colt M1917 revolver that was developed during the First World War due to production delays with the M1911. Many shooters swear by both – and argue that such diversity with firearms is never a bad thing.
Are there semi-automatic shotguns?
Yes, and these aren't actually a new innovation. In fact, John Browning – who is arguably the greatest gun designer in history – not only developed the "Model 1887 Lever Action repeating shotgun," and the more successful "Model 1893Pump Action Shotgun," but in 1905, he also developed the world's first semi-automatic shotgun, the Browning Automatic 5. It was a recoil-operated shotgun that could hold five rounds – including four in the magazine and one in the chamber. It remained in production until 1998. In addition, variants were also produced by Remington Arms as the Remington Model 11 and by Savage Arms as the Savage Model 720.
Today there are a number of semi-automatic shotguns that utilize gas-operated, blowback and recoil operation, while many also offer an optional manual means of operation such as pump action or charging handle as a backup.
Conclusion
The history of firearms is long and complex, with countless stories of unique designs. For every success – such as Colt's revolver – there are dozens of failed attempts, such as wheel gun that meant some rounds would be facing the shooter. However, it is safe to say that the revolver, bolt action rifle, semi-automatic pistol, shotgun, and the modern sporting rifle are those firearms that were both evolutionary and revolutionary, providing significant advancements.
Firearms are used safely by tens of millions of Americans, who enjoy sport shooting and hunting, but also depend on these as tools that ensure their safety and personal defense.
