Firearms 101 [PART 1]
Let’s start with the basics.
How Most Guns Fire:
All modern guns have basically the same internal parts and operate the same.
Demonstration by Jacob O'Neal on Animagraffs.com
When the trigger is pulled, it releases the firing pin, which strikes the primer of the cartridge, igniting the propellent. The burning propellent expands gases at high pressure in the cartridge forcing the bullet out at incredible speeds. Everything from a 12 gauge hunting shotgun to the US Army M2 Browning heavy machine gun operates using this system.
Essential terms to know:
Caliber: Refers to the diameter of the bore of a firearm, usually measured in inches or millimeters. It determines the size of the ammunition the firearm uses.
Action: The mechanism by which a firearm loads, fires, and ejects cartridges. Examples: bolt action, lever action, pump action, semiautomatic, and automatic.
Barrel: The long metal tube through which the bullet travels when the firearm is fired.
Muzzle: The open end of the barrel from which the bullet exits when the firearm is fired.
Rifling: The spiral grooves cut into the inside of a barrel, which cause the bullet to spin as it travels down the barrel. This spin stabilizes the bullet in flight, improving accuracy.
Cartridge: Also known as a round, is the entire piece inserted into the gun. It consists of a bullet (the projectile), casing with propellent in it (usually gunpowder), and primer for ignition of propellent.
Chamber: The part of the firearm where a cartridge is inserted for firing. It is located right before the barrel.
Magazine: A container that holds ammunition for feeding into the firearm's chamber. Usually is detachable.
Safety: A mechanism designed to prevent accidental firing of the firearm. It may include a switch, lever, or button that blocks the firing mechanism or prevents the trigger from moving.
Trigger: A lever or mechanism that, when pulled, initiates the firing sequence of the firearm. It releases the hammer or firing pin, allowing it to strike the primer of the cartridge.
Sight: A device used to aim the firearm. This include iron sights, meaning no optics. Other types of optic sights include: scopes, red dot, and holographic sights.
Stock: The part of the firearm that is held in the shoulder of the user, usually on a long gun. Helps stabilize the firearm while aiming and firing.
Receiver: The main part of a firearm that contains the firing mechanism and provides attachment points for other components such as the barrel, stock, and magazine.
Firing pin: A small metal rod or pin that strikes the primer of a cartridge to initiate ignition of the gunpowder, firing the cartridge.
Hammer: A metal component that strikes the firing pin or directly the primer to ignite the cartridge. If there is no hammer usually there is a spring acting directly on the firing pin, this is know as striker fired.
Extractor: A mechanism that removes the spent cartridge casing from the chamber after firing, usually pulling it over the the ejector.
Ejector: A mechanism that expels the spent cartridge casing from the firearm after it has been extracted from the chamber.
Slide: The moving upper portion of a semiautomatic pistol or some rifles, which moves from recoils during firing, and moves the next round into the chamber.
Grip: The part of the firearm that is held by the user’s hand(s). It provides a comfortable and secure hold on the firearm.
Long Guns vs Hand Guns:
Finally, we are going to explain the differences between long guns and hand guns.
Long Guns:
A gun with a longer barrel usually designed to be shot from the shoulder. Examples: rifles and shotguns.
Long guns examples
Hand Guns:
A gun with a shorter barrel usually can be held shot using one hand. Examples: pistols and revolvers.
Hand guns example
Most firearms fall into these 2 broad categories. The line gets blurred between hand guns and long guns when you consider carbines, sawed off shotguns, and submachine guns.
Carbine: A version of a rifle that is shorter and/or lighter weight. Most are considered rifles but not all are.
This is the M4, the shorter, lighter carbine variant of the M16 rifle
Submachine Gun: A lighter automatic weapon chambered for pistol cartridges.
MP5, popular submachine gun
Sawed Off Shotgun: A shotgun with shorter barrel length and sometimes no stock.
Sawed off shotgun, obviously a shotgun but not a long gun
The tricky part about these firearms is that they are can be fired from the hip or sometimes shouldered. Shouldering a gun means that the stock is nested in the shoulder of the user for stability. Hip firing a gun means that the gun is fired without shouldering it, by one hand or two.
As you will see, there are lots of ways to classify and categorize firearms. This is why it is so important to know proper terms and types of firearms. This is also why it gun enthusiasts get so frustrated with regulations regarding firearms. Many people do not understand what they are banning or the unforeseen side effects of many gun regulation. Hopefully you learned something about firearms. If you did, consider referring us to a friend who you think would learn something from this.