A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves ("rifling") cut into the barrel walls. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion The raised areas of the rifling grooves are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile (for small arms usage, called a bullet), imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the orientation of the weapon. A bullet is a solid Projectile propelled by a Firearm or Air gun and is normally made from metal (usually Lead) When the projectile leaves the barrel, the conservation of angular momentum improves accuracy and range, in the same way that a properly thrown American football or rugby ball behaves. In Physics, the angular momentum of a particle about an origin is a vector quantity equal to the mass of the particle multiplied by the Cross product of the position American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with Rugby football (usually just " rugby " may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of Football developed at Rugby School The word "rifle" originally referred to the grooving, and a rifle was called a "rifled gun. " Rifles are used in warfare, hunting and shooting sports. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Hunting is the practice of pursuing Animals for Food, Recreation, or Trade. The shooting sports include those competitive sports involving tests of proficiency (accuracy and speed using various types of Guns such as Firearms and Airguns

Typically, a bullet is propelled by the contained deflagration of an explosive compound (originally black powder, later cordite, and now nitrocellulose), although other means such as compressed air are used in air rifles, which are popular for vermin control, hunting small game, and casual shooting ("plinking"). Deflagration (Lat de + flagrare, "to burn down" is a technical term describing subsonic Combustion that usually propagates through Thermal conductivity Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace Gunpowder as a military propellant Nitrocellulose (also cellulose nitrate, flash paper) is a highly flammable compound formed by Nitrating Cellulose through exposure to "Air rifle" and "Air pistol" redirect here For other uses see Air gun (disambiguation An air gun ( air rifle Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a Species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's Health Hunting is the practice of pursuing Animals for Food, Recreation, or Trade. Plinking refers to informal target Shooting done at non-traditional targets such as Tin cans Glass Bottles and Balloons filled with

In many armed forces units it is incorrect to use the word "gun" to mean a rifle. Furthermore, in many works of fiction a rifle refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if this weapon is not rifled or doesn't fire solid projectiles. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. A stock, also known as a buttstock or shoulder stock, is present in many Firearms and some Crossbows (though a crossbow stock is properly a

Contents 1 Overview 2 History 2.1 Origins 2.2 First designs 3 19th century 3.1 Minié 3.2 Bullet design 4 20th century 4.1 WWII 4.2 History of use 4.3 Modern civilian use 5 See also 5.1 Kinds of rifles 6 References 7 External links

Overview

Originally, rifles were sharpshooter weapons, while the regular infantry made use of the greater firepower of massed muskets, which fired round musket balls of calibers up to 19 mm (0. A marksman is a person that is skilled in Precision shooting, using projectile weapons such as with a Rifle but most commonly with a Sniper rifle, The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists A musket is a muzzle -loaded Smoothbore Long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder A musket ball was an early form of Ammunition used for loading Muskets Musket balls were generally made from Lead (though at times stone musket balls were 75 inch). Benjamin Robins, an English mathematician, realized that an elongated bullet would retain the mass and kinetic force of a musket ball, but would slice through the air with much greater ease. Benjamin Robins (1707&ndash 29 July 1751) was an English scientist, mathematician, and Engineer. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland ^[1] The innovative work of Robins and others would take until the end of the 18th century to gain acceptance.

By the mid-19th century, however, manufacturing had advanced sufficiently that the musket was replaced by a range of rifles—generally single-shot, breech-loading—designed for aimed, discretionary fire by individual soldiers. Then, as now, rifles had a stock, either fixed or folding, to be braced against the shoulder when firing. Early military rifles, such as the Baker rifle were shorter than the day's muskets, and usually the weapon of a marksman. The Baker rifle (officially known as the Infantry Rifle) was a Flintlock Rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the A marksman is a person that is skilled in Precision shooting, using projectile weapons such as with a Rifle but most commonly with a Sniper rifle, Until the early 20th century rifles tended to be very long—an 1890 Martini-Henry was almost 2 m (6 ft) in length with a fixed bayonet. The Martini-Henry (also known as the Peabody-Martini-Henry) was a Breech-loading lever-actuated Rifle adopted by the British, combining A bayonet (from French baïonnette) is a Knife - Dagger - or spike-shaped Weapon designed to fit on or over the muzzle The demand for more compact weapons for cavalrymen led to the carbine, or shortened rifle. The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on A carbine is a Firearm similar to a Rifle or Musket, but generally shorter and of lesser power

History

Origins

Muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using ball-shaped ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Smoothbore refers to a Firearm or Cannon which does not have a rifled barrel. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of precision manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle, the musket ball was a loose fit in the barrel. Consequently on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired and the final direction on leaving the muzzle was unpredictable.

The performance of early muskets was sufficient for the styles of warfare at the time, whereby soldiers tended to stand in long, stationary lines and fire at the opposing forces. Aiming and accuracy were not necessary to hit an opponent.

The origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest practical experiments seem to have occurred in Europe during the fifteenth century. Archers had long realized that a twist added to the tail feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy. Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has Early muskets produced large quantities of smoke and soot, which had to be cleaned from the action and bore of the musket frequently; either the action of repeated bore scrubbing, or a deliberate attempt to create "soot grooves" might also have led to a perceived increase in accuracy, although no one knows for sure. True rifling dates from the mid-15th century, although the precision required for its effective manufacture kept it out of the hands of infantrymen for another three and a half centuries, when it largely replaced the unrifled musket as the primary infantry weapon. The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists A musket is a muzzle -loaded Smoothbore Long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder In the transitional nineteenth century, the term "rifled musket" was used to indicate the novel weapon. During the Napoleonic Wars the British army created several experimental units known as "Rifles", armed with the Baker rifle. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions The Baker rifle (officially known as the Infantry Rifle) was a Flintlock Rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the These Rifle Regiments were deployed as skirmishers during the Peninsular war in Spain and Portugal, and were more effective than skirmishers armed with muskets due to their accuracy and long range.

First designs

Some early rifled guns were created with special barrels that had a twisted polygonal shape. Specially-made bullets were designed to match the shape so the bullet would grip the rifle bore and take a spin that way. These were generally limited to large caliber weapons and the ammunition still did not fit tightly in the barrel. Many experimental designs used different shapes and degrees of spiraling. Although uncommon, polygonal rifling is still used in some weapons today with one example being the Glock line of pistols (which fire standard bullets). Polygonal rifling is a type of Rifling wherein the traditional lands and grooves are replaced by "hills and valleys" in a rounded Polygonal pattern usually Glock GmbH (trademarked as GLOCK) is a weapons manufacturer of handguns that are trade marked as "Safe Action Pistols Unfortunately, many early attempts resulted in dangerous backfiring, which could lead to destruction of the weapon and serious injury to the person firing.

19th century

Gradually, rifles appeared with cylindrical barrels cut with helical grooves, the surfaces between the grooves being called "lands". The innovation shortly preceded the mass adoption of breech-loading weapons, as it was not practical to push an overbore bullet down through a rifled barrel, only to then (try to) fire it back out. A breech-loading weapon is a Firearm (a Rifle, a Gun etc in which the Bullet or shell is inserted or loaded at the rear of the The dirt and grime from prior shots was pushed down ahead of a tight bullet or ball (which may have been a loose fit in the clean barrel before the first shot), and, of course, loading was far more difficult, as the lead had to be deformed to go down in the first place, reducing the accuracy due to deformation. Several systems were tried to deal with the problem, usually by resorting to an under-bore bullet that expanded upon firing.

The original muzzle-loading rifle, with a closely fitting ball to take the rifling grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this reason was not generally used for military purposes. Rifling refers to the Helix -shaped pattern in the barrel of a Firearm, which imparts a spin to a Projectile around its long axis Even with the advent of rifling the bullet itself didn't change, but was wrapped in a greased, cloth patch to grip the rifling grooves.

The first half of the nineteenth century saw a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet. In 1826 Delirque, a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the rifling grooves. The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists Delirque's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate.

Minié

One of the most famous was the Minié system, which relied on a conical bullet (known as a Minié ball) with a hollow at the base of the bullet that caused the base of the round to expand from the pressure of the exploding charge and grip the rifling as the round was fired. The Minié ball (or minie ball) is a type of muzzle-loading Rifle Bullet named after co-developer Claude-Étienne Minié. Minié system rifles, notably the U. S. Springfield and the British Enfield of the early 1860s, featured prominently in the U.S. Civil War, due to the enhanced power and accuracy. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The better seal gave more power, as less gas escaped past the bullet, which combined with the fact that for the same bore (caliber) diameter a long bullet was heavier than a round ball. The term caliber or calibre designates the interior Diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod Enhanced accuracy came from the expansion to grip the rifling, which spun the bullet more consistently.

Another important area of development was the way that cartridges were stored and used in the weapon. The Spencer repeating rifle was a breech-loading manually operated lever action rifle, that was adopted by the United States. The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated Lever-action, Repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges Lever-action is a type of Firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself to load fresh cartridges Over 20,000 were used during the Civil War. It marked the first adoption of a removable magazine-fed infantry rifle by any country. A magazine is an Ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating Firearm. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860. Christopher Miner Spencer (1833 &ndash 1922 born June 20 1833 was an American Inventor, from Manchester, Connecticut, who invented It used copper rimfire cartridges stored in a removable seven round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another. A rimfire is a type of Firearm cartridge. It is called a rimfire because instead of the Firing pin striking the primer cap at the center of the base When the magazine was empty, it could be exchanged for another.

As the bullet enters the barrel, it inserts itself into the rifling, a process that gradually wears down the barrel, and also causes the barrel to heat up more rapidly. Therefore, some machine-guns are equipped with quick-change barrels that can be swapped every few thousand rounds, or in earlier designs, were water-cooled. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. Unlike older carbon steel barrels, which were limited to around 1,000 shots before the extreme heat caused accuracy to fade, modern stainless steel barrels for target rifles are much more resistant to wear, allowing many thousands of rounds to be fired before accuracy drops. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 In Metallurgy, stainless steel is defined as a Steel Alloy with a minimum of 11 (Many shotguns and small arms have chrome-lined barrels to reduce wear and enhance corrosion resistance. Chrome plating, often referred to simply as chrome, is a technique of Electroplating a thin layer of Chromium onto a Metal object This is rare on rifles designed for extreme accuracy, as the plating process is difficult and liable to reduce the effect of the rifling. ) Modern ammunition has hardened leadcore with a softer outer cladding or jacket, typically of an alloy of copper and nickel - cupro-nickel. Cupronickel or Coppernickel is an Alloy of Copper, Nickel and strengthening impurities such as Iron and Manganese. Some ammunition is even coated with molybdenum-disulfide to further reduce internal friction - the so-called 'moly-coated' bullet.

Bullet design

Over the 19th century, bullet design also evolved, the bullets becoming gradually smaller and lighter. By 1910 the standard blunt-nosed bullet had been replaced with the pointed, 'spitzer' bullet, an innovation that increased range and penetration. Cartridge design evolved from simple paper tubes containing black powder and shot, to sealed brass cases with integral primers for ignition, while black powder itself was replaced with cordite, and then other nitro-cellulose-based smokeless powder mixtures, propelling bullets to higher velocities than before. A cartridge (also known as a "round" packages the Bullet, Gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes The percussion cap, introduced around 1830, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzle-loading firearms to fire reliably in any weather Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of Propellants used in Firearms and Artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired unlike the older ^[2]

The increased velocity meant that new problems arrived, and so bullets went from being soft lead to harder lead, then to copper jacketed, in order to better engage the spiraled grooves without "stripping" them in the same way that a screw or bolt thread would be stripped if subjected to extreme forces. A full metal jacket (or FMJ) is a Bullet encased in a shell of Copper Alloy (such as Gilding metal or Cupronickel) or a

20th century

As mentioned above, rifles were initially single-shot, muzzle-loading weapons. During the 18th century, breech-loading weapons were designed, which allowed the rifleman to reload while under cover, but defects in manufacturing and the difficulty in forming a reliable gas-tight seal prevented widespread adoption. During the 19th century, multi-shot repeating rifles using lever, pump or linear bolt actions became standard, further increasing the rate of fire and minimizing the fuss involved in loading a firearm. A repeating rifle is a single barreled Rifle containing multiple rounds of Ammunition. Lever-action is a type of Firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself to load fresh cartridges A pump-action Rifle or Shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject and chamber a round of Ammunition. The term bolt action refers to a type of Firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with The problem of proper seal creation had been solved with the use of brass cartridge cases, which expanded in an elastic fashion at the point of firing and effectively sealed the breech while the pressure remained high, then relaxed back enough to allow for easy removal. A material is said to be elastic if it deforms under stress (e By the end of the 19th century, the leading bolt-action design was that of Paul Mauser, whose action—wedded to a reliable design possessing a five-shot magazine—became a world standard through two world wars and beyond. The Mauser rifle was paralleled by Britain's ten-shot Lee-Enfield and America's 1903 Springfield Rifle models (the latter pictured above). Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer maker of a line of Bolt-action Rifles from the 1870s to present The Lee-Enfield Bolt-action, magazine-fed Repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire / Commonwealth The Springfield M1903, formally the United States Rifle Caliber. The American M1903 closely copied Mauser's original design.

The advent of massed, rapid firepower and of the machine gun and the rifled artillery piece was so quick as to outstrip the development of any way to attack a trench defended by riflemen and machine gunners. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static The carnage of World War I was perhaps the greatest vindication and vilification of the rifle as a military weapon. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All By World War II, military thought was turning elsewhere, towards more compact weapons. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

WWII

Experience in World War I led German military researchers to conclude that long-range aimed fire was less significant at typical battle ranges of 300 m. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All As mechanisms became smaller, lighter and more reliable, semi-automatic rifles, including the M1 Garand, appeared. A semi-automatic rifle is a type of Rifle that fires a single Bullet each time the trigger is pulled without the need manually to operate a The M1 Garand (formally the United States Rifle Caliber.30 M1) was the first Semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry in any nation World War II saw the first mass-fielding of such rifles, which culminated in the Sturmgewehr 44, the first assault rifle and one of the most significant developments of 20th century small-arms. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including An assault rifle is a Selective fire Rifle or Carbine (not to be confused with a semi-automatic only replica firing Ammunition with muzzle

By contrast, civilian rifle design has not significantly advanced since the early part of the 20th century. Modern hunting rifles have fiberglass and carbon fiber stocks and more advanced recoil pads, but are fundamentally the same as infantry rifles from 1910. This article is about backward Momentum produced in firearms when fired Many modern sniper rifles can trace their ancestry back for well over a century, and the Russian 7. In Military and Law enforcement terminology a sniper rifle is a Rifle used to ensure Accurate placement of Bullets at longer Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending 62 x 54 mm cartridge, as used in the front-line Dragunov Sniper Rifle (SVD), dates from 1891.

History of use

Muskets were used for comparatively rapid, unaimed volley fire, and the average conscripted soldier could be easily trained to use them. The (muzzle-loaded) rifle was originally a sharpshooter's weapon used for targets of opportunity and deliberate aimed fire. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British 95th Regiment (Green Jackets) and 60th Regiment (Royal American) used the rifle to great effect during skirmishing. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions Because of a slower loading time than a musket, they were not adopted by the whole army. The adoption of cartridges and breech-loading in the 19th century was concurrent with the general adoption of rifles. A breech-loading weapon is a Firearm (a Rifle, a Gun etc in which the Bullet or shell is inserted or loaded at the rear of the In the early part of the 20th century, soldiers were trained to shoot accurately over long ranges with high-powered cartridges. World War I Lee-Enfields rifles (among others) were equipped with long-range 'volley sights' for massed firing at ranges of up to 1. 6 km (1. 0 mile). Individual shots were unlikely to hit, but a platoon firing repeatedly could produce a 'beaten ground' effect similar to light artillery or machine guns; but experience in WWI showed that long-range fire was best left to the machine gun.

During and after WWII it became accepted that most infantry engagements occur at ranges of less than 300 m; the range and power of the large rifles was "overkill"; and the weapons were heavier than the ideal. This led to Germany's development of the 7.92 x 33 mm Kurz (short) round, the Karabiner 98, the MKb-42, and ultimately, the assault rifle. 792x33mm Kurz is a Rifle cartridge developed in Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II. Today, an infantryman's rifle is optimised for ranges of 300 m or less, and soldiers are trained to deliver individual rounds or bursts of fire within these distances. The application of accurate, long-range fire is the domain of the sniper in warfare, and of enthusiastic target shooters in peacetime. READ DISCUSSION PAGE BEFORE MAKING ANY EDITS TO CAPTION BELOW http//en The modern sniper rifle is usually capable of accuracy better than 0. 3 mrad (1 arcminute). A minute of arc, arcminute, or MOA is a unit of angular measurement, equal to one sixtieth (1/60 of one degree.

In recent decades, large-caliber anti-materiel rifles, typically firing 12. An anti-materiel rifle ( AM) is a Rifle that is designed for use against military equipment ( Matériel) rather than against other combatants (" 7 mm and 20 mm caliber cartridges, have been developed. The US Barrett M82A1 is probably the best-known such rifle. The M82 (also more recently known as the M107) is a heavy SASR (Special Application Scoped Rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Company These weapons are typically used to strike critical, vulnerable targets such as computerized command and control vehicles, radio trucks, radar antennae, vehicle engine blocks and the jet engines of enemy aircraft. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to Anti-materiel rifles can be used against human targets, but the much higher weight of rifle and ammunition, and the massive recoil and muzzle blast, usually make them less than practical for such use. The Barrett M82 is credited with a maximum effective range of 1800 m (1. 1 mile); and it was with a . 50BMG caliber McMillan TAC-50 rifle that Canadian Master Corporal Rob Furlong made the longest recorded confirmed sniper kill in history, when he shot a Taliban insurgent at a range of 2,430 meters (1. The McMillan Tac-50 Sniper rifle is produced in the United States by the McMillan Brothers Rifle Company Rob Furlong, a former corporal of the Canadian Forces, holds the record for the longest confirmed Sniper kill in combat The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately 51 miles) in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Operation Anaconda is the code name for an operation in early March 2002 in which the United States military, along with allied Afghan military forces attempted to ^[3]

Modern civilian use

Currently, rifles are the most common firearm in general use for hunting purposes (with the exception of bird hunting where shotguns are favored). A shotgun (also known as a scattergun) is a Firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number Use in competition is also very common, and includes Olympic events. Semi-automatic rifles derived from military rifle designs such as the AR-15 or AK-47 have also become very popular in the United States for target shooting and sporting purposes. AR-15 (for Ar malite model 15, often mistaken for A utomatic R ifle is the common name for the widely-owned semi-automatic The AK-47 is almost certainly the most widely used and distributed military Firearm in human history

See also

British military rifles Pistol Shotgun Antique guns Rifle range

Gun safety Rifle grenade List of rifle cartridges Rifling Service rifle List of service rifles of national armies Objective Individual Combat Weapon program

Kinds of rifles

Air rifle Spencer rifle Automatic rifle Assault rifle; List of assault rifles Anti-materiel rifle Battle rifle Bolt action Carbine

Double rifle Lloyd rifle Musket Repeating rifle Recoilless rifle Sniper rifle; List of sniper rifles Long rifle Lever-action

References

External links

• Hunting Rifles Reviews - A site where you can find reviews for all major types of hunting rifles including specifications, general info, pictures and many more.
• Rifle Database - Video and Review

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