firearms library

Firearms are one of the oldest and most evolved weapon systems. From flintlocks to automatic weapons and flamethrowers, learn how firearms have been used to wage wars and save lives.

Featured Article: How Flintlock Guns Work

Flintlock guns were extremely important weapons in the American Revolution; they also formed the foundation of all modern guns. Learn about the gun that started it all. See more »

Articles 21-34 of 34

Boomerang

Boomerang, a curved throwing stick. The word “boomerang" originated in Australia, where it was used to describe the wooden throwing weapons Australian Aborigines used for hunting and warfare.

Caliber

Caliber, the diameter of the bore (inside) of the barrel of a firearm. The term is also used to refer to the diameter of a bullet or shell.

Carbine, a lightweight rifle with a short barrel. Early models were designed for use by cavalry, but in modern armies carbines are used mostly for self-protection by troops whose principal duty is not infantry fighting.

Dumdum Bullet

Dumdum Bullet, a soft-nosed bullet that flattens out when it strikes its target.

Firearms

Firearms, hand-held or small mounted weapons from which projectiles are discharged by an explosive.

Flame Thrower

Flame Thrower, a device used chiefly in close combat in war. It is particularly effective against enclosed defensive positions, such as pillboxes, blockhouses, and caves.

Flintlock

Flintlock, a firing mechanism used on early firearms. It was first used on muskets about 1650, later on pistols.

Machine Gun

Machine Gun, a weapon loaded and fired automatically, designed to discharge a long-continued stream of projectiles of rifle caliber or slightly larger than rifle caliber.

Musket

Musket, any firearm used by infantry in the line of battle during the period 1600–1855.

Pistol

Pistol, a firearm designed to be aimed and fired while held in one hand. It is primarily a weapon of self-defense.

Rifle

Rifle, a shoulder weapon having grooves (called rifling) inside its barrel to improve accuracy; or an artillery piece or naval gun with a grooved barrel.

Shotgun

Shotgun, a shoulder weapon used primarily for hunting birds and small game. Shotguns are also used in hunting deer, in the sports of skeet shooting and trapshooting and, to some extent, in police work.

Where do bullets go when guns are fired straight up into the air?

If you've ever watched a gun fired into the air at a celebration, you've probably wondered where that bullet ends up. We've got the answer.

What would happen if you fired a gun on a train moving as fast as a bullet?

If you could build a train that could travel as fast as a bullet, what would happen if you fired a gun from the back of the train ... or from the front of the train?