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108-691: Grenade launchers are produced in the form of standalone weapons (either single-shot or repeating) or as attachments mounted to a parent firearm, usually a rifle . Larger crew-served automatic grenade launchers such as the Mk 19 are mounted on tripods or vehicles. Some armored fighting vehicles also mount fixed arrays of short-range, single-shot grenade launchers as a means of defense. The earliest devices that could be referred to as grenade launchers were slings , which could be used to throw early grenado fuse bombs. The ancestors of modern ballistic grenade launchers, however, were simplistic muzzle-loading devices using

216-491: A buttstock for stability during shooting. Rifles have been used in warfare , law enforcement , hunting and target shooting sports . The term was originally rifled gun , with the verb rifle referring to the early modern machining process of creating grooves with cutting tools. By the 20th century, the weapon had become so common that the modern noun rifle is now often used for any log-shaped handheld ranged weapon designed for well-aimed discharge activated by

324-401: A closed bolt for accuracy. Machine guns are often crewed by more than one soldier; the rifle is an individual weapon. The term "rifle" is sometimes used to describe larger rifled crew-served weapons firing explosive shells, for example, recoilless rifles and naval rifles . In many works of fiction "rifle" refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if

432-502: A trigger . Like all typical firearms, a rifle's projectile ( bullet ) is propelled by the contained deflagration of a combustible propellant compound (originally black powder and now nitrocellulose and other smokeless powders ), although other propulsive means are used, such as compressed air in air rifles , which are popular for vermin control , small game hunting, competitive target shooting and casual sport shooting ( plinking ). The distinct feature that separates

540-453: A tripod or vehicle mounting, and as well as being used to provide heavy suppressing fire in the manner of a heavy machine gun , also have sufficient firepower to destroy vehicles and buildings. Examples include the Mk 19 , AGS-17 , and the HK GMG . Automatic grenade launchers generally use a higher-velocity round than infantry weapons; NATO launchers use a 40×53mm grenade round rather than

648-529: A "simple" single-action, single-shot breech-loading underbarrel grenade launcher in lieu of the required semi-automatic multi-shot device. With refinement, this was adopted as the M203 grenade launcher in 1968. A variety of lengths of M203 are available along with numerous parts kits to fit it to various rifles aside from the AR15 pattern weapons it was designed for. More modern Western grenade launchers address some of

756-561: A German immigrant. By 1750 there were a number of such manufacturers in the area. The longer barrel was a departure by local gunsmiths from their German roots, allowing bullets to achieve a higher speed (as the burning gunpowder was contained longer) before emerging from the barrel. During the 1700s (18th century), colonial settlers, particularly those immigrating from Germany and Switzerland, adapted and improved upon their European rifles. The improved long rifles were used for precise shooting, aiming, and firing at individual targets, instead of

864-544: A cosmetic appearance similar to a grenade launcher and use certain types of ammunition, as the BATFE has ruled that unless such devices are possessed along with direct-fire ammunition such as pellet or beanbag rounds , they are not destructive devices. One result of this is that in American film productions, visually similar 37mm launchers are often substituted for 40mm weapons. A "grenade launcher" or "grenade launcher mount"

972-425: A firearm. 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. 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

1080-451: 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 American M1903 closely copied Mauser's original design. Barrel rifling dramatically increased the range and accuracy of the musket. Indeed, throughout its development, the rifle's history has been marked by increases in range and accuracy. From

1188-590: A gelatin capsule filled with the riot control agent. The guns use compressed gas and provide semiautomatic fire, and the pepperballs act just like paintballs, fracturing on impact and splattering the chemical agent on impact. These can be used for direct fire, to break the balls on the target, or indirect fire, breaking near the target and spraying the agent into the target's vicinity. Police have been known to use paintball guns loaded with paint projectiles, to mark particular rioters so that police can easily identify and arrest them later. Some weapons discharge teargas as

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1296-510: A greatly shortened length of pull, which is necessary to accommodate children. Youth stocks are available for many popular rifles, such as the Ruger 10/22 , a semi-automatic .22 LR rifle, allowing a youth rifle to be made from a standard rifle by simply changing the stock. The typical ages of shooters for such rifles vary from about age 5+. The usual form of rifling was helical grooves in a round bore. Some early rifled firearms had barrels with

1404-573: A grenade is actually mounted. While older systems required the soldier carry a separate adaptor or cup to attach to the rifle to make it ready to launch (such as the German Schiessbecher ), later rifle grenades were often designed to attach to the standard factory-mounted flash hider of the parent rifle; for example, the NATO-standardized 22 mm rifle grenade can be mounted to most post-WWII Western military rifles without

1512-524: A grenade launcher is also classified as a destructive device and subject to the same restrictions. The state of California additionally considers rifles with integral rifle grenade launching devices as destructive devices in accordance with the definition of such in section 16460 of the California Penal Code . However, it is legal for civilians to own 37mm flare launchers which are not regulated as firearms, some of which are designed to have

1620-434: A number of avoidable fatalities. Beanbag rounds consist of a tough fabric bag filled with birdshot . The bag is flexible enough to flatten on impact, covering a large surface area, and they are used for direct fire. Beanbag rounds may be wide and flat, designed for close range use, or elliptical in shape, with a fabric tail to provide drag stabilization, for longer range use. These, also called stinger rounds , consist of

1728-497: A number of rubber balls ranging from around 0.32 to 0.60 inches (8.1 to 15.2 mm) in diameter, and are used for direct fire. The small diameter means that each ball contains far less energy than a baton round, but it also limits the range. Rubber slugs , used in 12 gauge firearms, consist of a fin stabilized full bore diameter rubber projectile. These are used for long range, accurate direct fire shots on individual targets. PepperBall rounds also known as PepperBall projectiles are

1836-405: A patented impact sphere that is filled with either PAVA or an inert powder. PepperBall projectiles are deployed by air powered launchers and are similar in theory to a paintball marker. The term is not interchangeable with other projectiles on the market as PepperBall, pepper ball and pepperball are trademarked terms. The PAVA in a PepperBall projectile is a pharmaceutical grade organic irritant and

1944-573: A platoon firing repeatedly could produce a 'beaten ground' effect similar to light artillery or machine guns. Currently, rifles are the most common firearm in general use for hunting (with the exception of bird hunting, where shotguns are favored). Rifles derived from military designs have long been popular with civilian shooters. During the Napoleonic Wars the British army created several experimental units known as "Rifles", armed with

2052-634: A preset distance to engage targets in cover with their fragments. This ammunition was first developed as High Explosive Air Burst (HEAB) as part of the Small Arms Master Plan (SAMP) projects: the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (20×28mm and 25×40mm low-velocity) and Advanced Crew Served Weapon (25×59mm high-velocity) projects. The low-velocity round was to have been used by the XM25 CDTE . Following

2160-474: A recent resurgence in interest in such devices for special purposes has occurred. The earliest examples of stand-alone grenade launchers in the modern sense were breech-loading riot guns designed to launch tear gas grenades and baton rounds , such as the Federal Riot Gun developed in the 1930s. One of the first examples of a dedicated breech-loading launcher for unitary explosive grenade rounds

2268-660: A removable seven-round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another. When the magazine was empty, it could be exchanged for another. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, military observers from Europe and the United States witnessed a major conflict fought with high velocity bolt-action rifles firing smokeless powder . The Battle of Mukden fought in 1905 consisted of nearly 343,000 Russian troops against over 281,000 Japanese troops. The Russian Mosin–Nagant Model 1891 in 7.62 mm

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2376-517: A rifle from the earlier smoothbore long guns (e.g., arquebuses , muskets ) is the rifling within its barrel . The raised areas of a barrel's rifling are called lands ; they make contact with and exert torque on the projectile as it moves down the bore, imparting a spin. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin persists and lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile due to conservation of angular momentum , increasing accuracy and hence effective range. Historically, rifles only fired

2484-441: A shorter barrel did not impair accuracy as much. As a result, cavalry saw limited, but noteworthy, usage in 20th-century conflicts. The advent of the massed, rapid firepower of the machine gun , submachine gun and rifled artillery was so quick as to outstrip the development of any way to attack a trench defended by riflemen and machine gunners. The carnage of World War I was perhaps the greatest vindication and vilification of

2592-655: A single projectile with each squeeze of the trigger. Modern rifles are commonly classified as single-shot, bolt-action, semi-automatic, or automatic. Single-shot, bolt-action, and semi-automatic rifles are limited by their designs to fire a single shot for each trigger pull. Only automatic rifles are capable of firing more than one round per trigger squeeze; however, some automatic rifles are limited to fixed bursts of two, three, or more rounds per squeeze. Modern automatic rifles overlap to some extent in design and function with machine guns . In fact, many light machine guns are adaptations of existing automatic rifle designs, such as

2700-468: A smoothbore musket to about 300 yards for a rifle using the Minié system. The expanding skirt of the Minié ball also solved the problem that earlier tight-fitting bullets were difficult to load as black powder residue fouled the inside of the barrel. The Minié system allowed conical bullets to be loaded into rifles just as quickly as round balls in smooth bores, which allowed rifle muskets to replace muskets on

2808-492: A solution in water. Large-bore launchers are classified as firearms in most countries. Shotguns intended for riot use are semi-automatic shotguns subject to relevant regulations. Riot control ammunition may be restricted in various jurisdictions, to a lesser or greater degree than normal shotgun shells . In the U.S. large-bore launchers are subject to BATFE regulations. Since firearms over .50 caliber (12.7 mm) with rifled barrels are considered destructive devices under

2916-425: A stake-like body to mount a short, large-bore gun barrel into which an explosive or incendiary device could be inserted; these were later refined into shoulder-fired blunderbuss -like firearms referred to as " hand mortars ". These weapons were not highly regarded due to their unreliability, requiring the user to ignite a fuse on the projectile before firing, and with a substantial risk of the explosive failing to leave

3024-471: A stem at the bottom of the barrel that would deform and expand the base of the bullet when rammed, therefore enabling accurate contact with the rifling. However, the area around the stem clogged and got dirty easily. One of the most famous was the Minié system, invented by French Army Captain Claude-Étienne Minié , which relied on a conical bullet (known as a Minié ball) with a hollow skirt at

3132-530: A stock, either fixed or folding, to be braced against the shoulder when firing. The adoption of cartridges and breech-loading in the 19th century was concurrent with the general adoption of rifles. 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–Enfield rifles (among others) were equipped with long-range 'volley sights' for massed firing at ranges of up to 1.6 km (1 mi). Individual shots were unlikely to hit, but

3240-419: A tighter bore with no space between bullet and barrel, and still used balls instead of conical bullets. The balls the long rifle used were smaller, allowing the production of more rounds for a given amount of lead. These rifles also had longer barrels, allowing more accuracy, which were rifled with a helical groove. These first started appearing sometime before 1740, one early example being made by Jacob Dickert,

3348-456: A twisted polygonal bore. The Whitworth rifle was the first such type designed to spin the round for accuracy. Bullets for these guns were made to match the shape of the bore so the bullet would grip the rifle bore and take a spin that way. These were generally large caliber weapons, and the ammunition still did not fit tightly in the barrel. Many different shapes and degrees of spiraling were used in experimental designs. One widely produced example

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3456-431: Is a 3D printed .22-caliber rifle created around August 2013. It was created using a Stratasys Dimension 1200es printer. It was created by a Canadian only known by the pseudonym "Matthew" who told The Verge that he was in his late 20s, and his main job was making tools for the construction industry. The original Grizzly fired a single shot before breaking. Grizzly 2.0 fired fourteen bullets before getting damaged due to

3564-571: Is based on one of the hottest of the six Capsaicinoids found in pepper plants. Capsaicin and Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl amide (aka “PAVA”) are the hottest of the six Capsaicinoids and are equal in heat value. PAVA has other names: Purpose-built launchers are commonly large bore guns, formerly 25 to 27 mm (0.98 to 1.06 inches), modern versions are 37 to 40 mm (1.46 to 1.57 inches). Dual-purpose guns are usually 12 gauge (18.5 mm/.729 inches) riot shotguns , firing special less-lethal shotgun shells . Single-shot large bore launchers, such as

3672-590: Is effective against a wide range of targets, including infantry and lightly armored vehicles. The large size of the grenade projectile relative to a bullet also allows for payloads requiring a substantial mass of chemicals, such as flares, incendiary rounds, gas grenades and smoke grenades. Law enforcement users generally employ grenade launchers in riot control operations to project obscuring smoke or tear gas ; less-lethal crowd control munitions such as baton and sponge rounds also exist for such use. Lethal rounds are usually fitted with an inertial fuzing system which arms

3780-632: Is most commonly found in 12 gauge (18.5 mm/.729 inch) shotguns and 37mm (1.46 inch) or 40 mm (1.57 inch) grenade launchers. In the United States, the term riot gun more commonly refers to a riot shotgun . Less-lethal launchers can fire various sorts of ammunition, including: To avoid breaking the projectile up, less-lethal cartridges are often propelled by gunpowder , which, when fired, may make an eruption of sparks and smoke larger than those made by modern cartridges propelled by smokeless powder . Chemical agents may be dispersed in three ways: muzzle dispersion, canister, and ferret. This method

3888-427: Is not true; a full range of less-lethal ammunition is available in 40 mm caliber, and an increasing number of law enforcement launchers not intended for the civilian market are chambered for 40×46mm rounds. Recently militaries have paid great attention to the development of "smart" grenade systems with integrated sighting systems, which can be used as point-detonating rounds as normal, or fuzed to detonate in mid-air at

3996-474: 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 a hardened lead core with a softer outer cladding or jacket, typically of an alloy of copper and nickel – cupro-nickel . Some ammunition is coated with molybdenum disulfide to further reduce internal friction – the so-called 'moly-coated' bullet. Rifles were initially single-shot, muzzle-loading weapons. During

4104-420: Is referred to as an " underbarrel " or " underslung " grenade launcher. This reduces the weight the soldier must carry by eliminating the grenade launcher's buttstock and makes the grenade launcher available for use at a moment's notice. Underbarrel 40 mm grenade launchers generally have their own trigger group; to fire, one simply changes grips, disengages the safety, and pulls the trigger. In Western systems,

4212-586: Is the simplest: the chemical agent is in the form of a loose powder, which is expelled by the propellant of the cartridge. These rounds are used at short range, and have effect from the muzzle to a range of about 30 feet. This method is best used by operators wearing gas masks , as the chemical agent can easily be blown towards the operator. These are also called gas grenades, and are used at longer ranges. They are analogous to rifle grenades , providing increased accuracy and range over hand-thrown gas grenades. Gas grenades may be used by operators without gas masks, as

4320-449: Is usually included in the list of features defining an " assault weapon ", though this is a legal definition which primarily affects firearms with flash hiders compatible with rifle grenades, since firearms that are designed specifically for launching explosive grenade rounds and their ammunition are already federally restricted as destructive devices. Several state assault weapon bans extend this to include under-barrel 37mm flare launchers on

4428-631: The 7.92×33mm Kurz (short) round, the MKb-42 , and ultimately, the assault rifle . Today, an infantryman's rifle is optimized for ranges of 300 m or less, and soldiers are trained to deliver individual rounds or bursts of fire within these distances. Typically, the application of accurate, long-range fire is the domain of the marksman and the sniper in warfare, and of enthusiastic target shooters in peacetime. The modern marksman rifle and sniper rifle are usually capable of accuracy better than 0.3 mrad at 100 yards (1 arcminute ). The Grizzly

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4536-684: The ARWEN 37 are used as tear gas and smoke projectors in riot control, while military launchers like the Milkor MGL are used to provide heavy sustained firepower to infantry; most such devices, dating back to the Manville machine-projector , use a revolver-style cylinder, though a handful of pump-action weapons built like oversized shotguns, such as the China Lake grenade launcher and GM-94 , also exist. Magazine-fed semi-automatic designs such as

4644-484: The ARWEN 37 , are usually in the form of a revolver holding five or six rounds in the cylinder. Unlike normal revolvers, the cylinder of a revolving riot gun is too massive to be turned easily by the trigger pull, and is usually turned by a pre-tensioned spring or by a pump action . Shotguns used for riot control are nearly always in 12 gauge , as that is the gauge in which nearly all riot control rounds are made. Generally riot shotguns are used, such as some models of

4752-599: The Baker rifle . 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. Gradually, rifles appeared with cylindrical barrels cut with helical grooves, the surfaces between the grooves being "lands". The innovation was shortly followed by the mass adoption of breech-loading weapons , as it

4860-464: The Battle of Saratoga , and in the southern states where General Morgan commanded as well. Taking advantage of the rifle's improved accuracy, Morgan's sharpshooters picked off cannoneers and officers, reducing the impact of enemy artillery. This kind of advantage was considered pivotal in many battles, such as the battles of Cowpens , Saratoga, and King's Mountain . Later during the Napoleonic Wars ,

4968-480: The Milkor 37/38mm and 40mm Stopper , M79 grenade launcher , ARWEN ACE , and RGS-50M , are generally break open designs. The barrels are relatively short, resulting in a carbine sized gun, and may have a shoulder stock and/or a forward handgrip to provide greater control. Pistol launchers exist, but are generally only used for short range, muzzle dispersing chemical agents. Multishot large-bore launchers, such as

5076-642: The Minié rifle and beyond, the rifle has become ever more potent at long-range strikes. In recent decades, large-caliber anti-materiel rifles, typically firing between 12.7 mm and 20 mm caliber cartridges, have been developed. The US Barrett M82A1 is probably the best-known such rifle. A second example is the AX50 by Accuracy International . 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

5184-538: The National Firearms Act , only smoothbore riot guns may be sold to civilians without an NFA permit; a common form found on the civilian market are M203 grenade launcher replicas, which can be used to fire 37 mm practice rounds. The 40 mm guns are usually rifled, and may fire 40 mm grenades ; explosive grenades rely on the spin both for stabilization and for arming the fuze. Riot guns have been documented to be lethal in some cases, with

5292-501: The Neopup PAW-20 and XM25 CDTE have also been created for military use, using smaller rounds (respectively 20 and 25mm) for purposes of practicality in terms of the size of the magazine, and reduced collateral damage compared to 40mm rounds. Since grenade launchers require relatively low internal pressure and only a short barrel, a lightweight launcher can be mounted under the barrel of a traditional rifle ; this type of device

5400-641: The QLG91B underbarrel launcher for the QBZ-95 assault rifle. Some armored fighting vehicles also mount fixed arrays of short range, single-shot grenade launchers as a means of defense. These devices usually fire smoke grenades to conceal the vehicle behind a smoke screen , though can also be loaded with chaff , flares , or anti-personnel grenades to repel infantry attacks. Vehicle-mounted smoke grenade launchers are also known as smoke ( grenade ) dischargers . Some World War II examples of these devises are

5508-495: The RPK and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle . A military's light machine guns are typically chambered for the same caliber ammunition as its service rifles. Generally, the difference between an automatic rifle and a machine gun comes down to weight, cooling system, and ammunition feed system. Rifles, with their relatively lighter components (which overheat quickly) and smaller capacity magazines , are incapable of sustained automatic fire in

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5616-476: The Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 . Due to the reduced power of riot control rounds, there is insufficient energy to cycle the actions of gas operated and recoil operated firearms, so riot shotguns are manually operated, usually pump action . The advantage of using a riot shotgun for riot control is that the shotgun is a dual use firearm, and can switch quickly to and from the riot control role by changing

5724-689: The S&;T Daewoo K11 , Australia during the Advanced Individual Combat Weapon program, and China for the ZH-05 grenade launcher module. In the U.S., under the National Firearms Act of 1934, breech-loading firearms with a barrel diameter of greater than .50 inches (12.7 mm) and no practical sporting use are classified as Title II " destructive devices ", with ownership heavily restricted and banned entirely in some states; in addition, each individual round of explosive ammunition for

5832-598: The Stokes mortar , while the task of increasing the range of infantry explosive projectiles was primarily taken by rifle grenades. A late example of such a system was the Japanese Type 91 grenade , which could be used as a thrown hand grenade, or fitted with adaptors to either be fired as a rifle grenade or used as a projectile by the Type 89 grenade discharger , a light infantry mortar. A new method of launching grenades

5940-402: The lead normally used in bullets, are larger, and are fired at lower velocities. Rounds are designed with low mass, moderate velocity, and large surface area to prevent the rounds from penetrating the skin significantly or causing severe injury, so they merely provide a painful blow to the target: but instances have been reported where rubber or plastic bullets have caused significant injuries to

6048-426: 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

6156-475: The 40×46mm round used by infantry. There are exceptions to this rule: the crank-operated Mk 18 Mod 0 grenade launcher , a unique example of an AGL which was not fully automatic, and the Mk 20 Mod 0 grenade launcher both used the 40×46mm round, and the Chinese Type 87 grenade launcher , a device intended to be employed like a general-purpose machine gun , uses the same 35×32mm low-velocity grenade round as

6264-468: The British 95th Regiment (Green Jackets) and 60th Regiment, (Royal American) , as well as sharpshooters and riflemen during the War of 1812 , used the rifle to great effect during skirmishing. Because of a slower loading time than a musket, they were not adopted by the whole army. Since rifles were used by sharpshooters who did not routinely fire over other men's shoulders, long length was not required to avoid

6372-571: The French Chassepot in 1866. Breech-loading was to have a major impact on warfare, as breech-loading rifles can be fired at a rate many times faster than muzzle-loaded rifles and significantly can be loaded from a prone rather than standing position. Firing prone (i.e., lying down) is more accurate than firing from a standing position, and a prone rifleman presents a much smaller target than a standing soldier. The higher accuracy and range, combined with reduced vulnerability generally benefited

6480-494: The German Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung , Nebelwurfgerät , Minenabwurfvorrichtung and Nahverteidigungswaffe . Most grenade launchers are flexible in terms of the types of ammunition they can employ. In military use, the primary ammunition type for a grenade launcher is fragmentation rounds, with the most common grenade round in use by NATO the 40 mm fragmentation grenade , which

6588-399: The action and bore of the musket frequently, either through the action of repeated bore scrubbing, or a deliberate attempt to create "soot grooves" that would allow for more shots to be fired from the firearm. While many people contributed to the development of the concept of rifling and rifles, Friedrich Engels claimed it as a German invention in his extensive writings about the history of

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6696-490: The agent is only dispersed in the area of impact, as far away as 150 yards (140 m). The agent in gas grenades is dispersed as a gas or an aerosol spray. These are specialized gas grenades designed to penetrate light barriers, such as windows, hollow core doors, and interior walls, and disperse chemical agents on the far side. Impact rounds come in a variety of shapes, sizes and compositions for varying roles. Impact rounds are made out of materials of much lower density than

6804-508: The ammunition. The downside is that it can fire lethal projectiles, and so extra care must be taken in its use to prevent the wrong ammunition from being used. A less lethal projectile gun, an example of which is the FN 303 , is essentially a paintball marker , either purpose built for riot control, or modified from a commercial paintball marker. The pepper ball guns use special pepper spray ammunition based on paintball technology, consisting of

6912-495: The barrel and because they took longer to reload and fire than muskets. Rifles were created as an improvement in the accuracy of smoothbore muskets. In the early 18th century, Benjamin Robins , an English mathematician, realized that an elongated bullet would retain the momentum and kinetic energy of a musket ball, but would slice through the air with greater ease. The black powder used in early muzzle-loading rifles quickly fouled

7020-425: The barrel slides forward or pivots to the side to allow reloading; most fire a 40×46mm grenade cartridge . Soviet and Russian launchers are instead loaded from the muzzle, with the cartridge casing affixed to the projectile in the style of a mortar shell. For aiming, underbarrel grenade launchers typically use a separate ladder, leaf, tangent or quadrant sight attached to the launcher or the rifle, either to one side of

7128-698: 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. 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. (Many shotguns and small arms have chrome -lined barrels to reduce wear and enhance corrosion resistance. This

7236-573: The barrel, making loading slower and more difficult. The greater range of the rifle was considered to be of little practical use since the smoke from black powder quickly obscured the battlefield and made it almost impossible to aim the weapon from a distance. Since musketeers could not afford to take the time to stop and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle, rifles were limited to use by sharpshooters and non-military uses like hunting. Muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using spherical ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to

7344-753: The barrel; attempts to ignite the fuse on firing using the gunpowder charge resulted in weapons that would often force the fuse into the grenade and make it explode in the barrel. During the First World War , several novel crew-served launchers designed to increase the range of infantry hand grenades were developed, such as the Sauterelle crossbow, the West spring gun , and the Leach trench catapult devices. None were particularly effective, and such devices were ultimately replaced by light mortar systems such as

7452-413: The base of the bullet. When fired, the skirt would expand from the pressure of the exploding charge and grip the rifling as the round was fired. The better seal gave more power, as less gas escaped past the bullet. Also, for the same bore ( caliber ) diameter a long bullet was heavier than a round ball. The extra grip also spun the bullet more consistently, which increased the range from about 50 yards for

7560-545: The battlefield. 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 their enhanced power and accuracy. At the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) the Minié rifle was considered the "best in military use". Over the 19th century, bullet design also evolved, the bullets becoming gradually smaller and lighter. By 1910

7668-442: The body or eyes, and in some cases caused death. One broad classification of impact rounds is direct fire and indirect fire rounds. Direct fire rounds can be fired directly at the target, ideally targeted low on the target, away from vital organs that are more prone to damage from the impact. Baton rounds, often called rubber bullets or plastic bullets , are cylinders made of rubber, plastic, wood, or foam, and can be as large as

7776-490: The charge generally required loading the parent rifle with a special blank propellant cartridge, though modern rifle grenades can be fired using live rounds using "bullet trap" and "shoot through" systems. The system has some advantages; since it does not have to fit in a weapon's barrel, the warhead can be made larger and more powerful compared to that of a unitary grenade round, and the rifle's weight and handling characteristics are not affected as with underbarrel systems unless

7884-481: The defense while making the traditional battle between lines of standing and volleying infantrymen obsolete. Revolving rifles were an attempt to increase the rate of fire of rifles by combining them with the revolving firing mechanism that had been developed earlier for revolving pistols. Colt began experimenting with revolving rifles in the early 19th century, and other manufacturers like Remington later experimented with them as well. The Colt Revolving Rifle Model 1855

7992-521: The development of lightweight disposable antitank weapons such as the M72 LAW , large HEAT rifle grenades such as the ENERGA were the preferred method for allowing infantry who were not part of dedicated antitank teams to engage vehicles. Rifle grenades have largely fallen out of favor since the late 1960s and early 1970s, replaced in most of their traditional roles by dedicated grenade launchers, though

8100-613: The failure of the SAMP weapon programs, the United States developed 40 mm grenades incorporating similar technology, including the 40×53mm MK285 Programmable Prefragmented High Explosive/Self-Destructible (PPHE/SD) round for the Mk 47 Striker AGL and more recently the SAGM round for 40×46mm underbarrel launchers, an airburst-only computerized grenade which does not require an integrated sighting system. Other countries have also produced grenades using similar technology, including South Korea for

8208-401: The forward line. A shorter length made a handier weapon in which tight-fitting balls did not have to be rammed so far down the barrel. The invention of the Minié ball in the 1840s solved the slow loading problem, and in the 1850s and 1860s rifles quickly replaced muskets on the battlefield. Many rifles, often referred to as rifled muskets , were very similar to the muskets they replaced, but

8316-424: The full bore diameter of the launcher. Smaller baton rounds may be encased in a shell casing or other housing. Baton rounds may fire one long baton, or several shorter batons. Harder or denser baton rounds are intended for skip fire, while softer or less dense batons are intended for direct fire. Baton rounds are the subject of significant controversy, due to extensive use by British and Israeli forces, resulting in

8424-660: The handguard or on top of the handguard in between the iron sights. Modern launchers often have the option of mounting more sophisticated aiming systems, such as ballistic rangefinders and day / night sights. As with the M79, the concept of mounting a dedicated grenade launcher to a service rifle has its roots in the Special Purpose Individual Weapon program; though the experimental Colt XM148 grenade launcher had been produced earlier, it had proved too problematic to adopt. One AAI submission for SPIW mounted

8532-479: 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 defined the style of warfare at the time. Due to the lack of accuracy, soldiers were deployed in long lines (thus line infantry ) to fire at

8640-471: The high-low system used by Western rounds, with the base of the projectile acting as the high-pressure chamber and the launcher's barrel acting as the low-pressure chamber. Further developments led to the GP series of grenade launchers. A number of experimental weapon systems have attempted to produce combination weapons which consist of a permanently attached grenade launcher and a carbine assault rifle, often with

8748-528: The jet engines of enemy aircraft. 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 designed with a maximum effective range of 1,800 m (1.1 mi), although it has a confirmed kill distance of 2,430 m (1.51 mi) in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002. The record for

8856-411: The list of banned features. Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power , with a barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves ( rifling ) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with both hands and braced firmly against the shooter's shoulder via

8964-684: The longest confirmed kill shot stands at 3,540 m (11,610 ft), set by an unnamed soldier with Canada's elite special operations unit Joint Task Force 2 using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle. Riot gun In current usage, a riot gun or less-lethal launcher is a type of firearm used to fire "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" ammunition for the purpose of suppressing riots or apprehending suspects with minimal harm or risk. Less-lethal launchers may be special purpose firearms designed for riot control use, or standard firearms, usually shotguns and grenade launchers , adapted for riot control use with appropriate ammunition. The ammunition

9072-424: The military also experimented with other designs. Breech-loading weapons proved to have a much faster rate of fire than muzzleloaders, causing military forces to abandon muzzle loaders in favor of breech-loading designs in the late 1860s. In the later part of the 19th century, rifles were generally single-shot, breech-loading guns, designed for aimed, discretionary fire by individual soldiers. Then, as now, rifles had

9180-654: The musket's use for imprecise fire. During the American Revolution, the colonist troops favoured these more accurate rifles while their use was resisted by the British and Hessian troops. By the time of the American Revolutionary War , these rifles were commonly used by frontiersmen, and Congress authorized the establishment of ten companies of riflemen. One of the most critical units was Morgan's Riflemen , led by Daniel Morgan . This sharpshooting unit eventually proved itself integral to

9288-493: The need for a dedicated grenadier with a special weapon. Many modern underbarrel grenade launchers can, however, also be used in standalone configurations with suitable accessories fitted; this is of particular preference for groups using submachine guns as their primary armament, since it is rarely practical to mount an underbarrel launcher on such a weapon. Single shot launchers are also still commonly used in riot control operations. Heavier multi-shot grenade launchers like

9396-480: The need for an adaptor. The disadvantage of this method is that when soldiers want to launch grenades, they must mount the grenade to the muzzle prior to each shot. If they are surprised by a close-range threat while preparing to fire the grenade, they have to reverse the procedure before they can respond with rifle fire. Due to the lack of a barrel, rifle grenades also tend to be more difficult to fire accurately compared to under-barrel or stand-alone designs. Prior to

9504-503: The opposing forces. Precise aim was thus not necessary to hit an opponent. Muskets were used for comparatively rapid, imprecisely aimed volley fire, and the average soldier could be easily trained to use them. In the Province of Pennsylvania USA, one of the most successful early rifles, the long rifle , was developed over the course of the 18th century. Compared to the more common Brown Bess , these Pennsylvania and Kentucky rifles had

9612-418: 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. With the advent of rifling, the bullet itself did not initially change but was wrapped in a greased, cloth patch to grip

9720-495: The rifle as a military weapon. The M1 Garand was a semi-automatic rapid-fire rifle developed for modern warfare use in World War II. During and after World War II it became accepted that most infantry engagements occurred at ranges of less than 300 m; the range and power of the large full-powered rifle cartridges were "overkill", requiring weapons heavier than otherwise necessary. This led to Germany's development of

9828-585: The rifle mounted underneath the launcher, most notably the XM29 OICW , but so far the only such weapon to reach full production is the S&T Daewoo K11 , adopted in limited numbers by the South Korean military. An automatic grenade launcher or grenade machine gun is a crew-served support weapon which fires explosive rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine . As most are heavy weapons, they are normally attached to

9936-505: The rifle, and the evolution and use of the technology. Some of the earliest examples of European grooved gun barrels were reportedly manufactured during 1440, and further developed by Gaspard Kollner of Vienna c.  1498 , although other scholars allege they were a joint effort between Kollner and Augustus Kotter of Nuremberg c.  1520 . Military commanders preferred smoothbore weapons for infantry use because rifles were much more prone to problems due to powder fouling

10044-507: The rifling grooves. The first half of the 19th century saw a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet. In 1826 Delvigne , a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the rifling grooves. Delvigne's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate. Soon after, the Carabine à tige was invented by Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin , which had

10152-560: The shortcomings of the M203, such as the sliding breech limiting the weapon's ability to load outsize projectiles and the lack of factory-fitted sight mounts, with designs like FN Herstal 's ELGM and Heckler & Koch 's AG36 featuring a swing-out breech to provide better access, integral sight mounts, and built-in support for standalone conversion. A variant of the latter weapon, the M320 Grenade Launcher Module ,

10260-762: The spiral grooves without "stripping" them in the same way that a screw or bolt thread would be stripped if subjected to extreme forces. From 1836, breech-loading rifles were introduced with the German Dreyse Needle gun , followed by the French Tabatière in 1857, and the British Calisher and Terry carbine made in Birmingham and later in 1864 and the better known British Snider–Enfield . Primitive chamber-locking mechanisms were soon replaced by bolt-action mechanisms, exemplified by

10368-616: The standard blunt-nosed bullet had been replaced by 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, and black powder was replaced by cordite , and then other nitro-cellulose-based smokeless powder mixtures, propelling bullets to higher velocities than before. 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

10476-526: The strain. In October 2020, another 3D-printed 9mm rifle known as the "FGC-9mm" was created. It is reported that it can be made in 2 weeks with $ 500 of tools. A second model was later made in April 2021. A youth rifle is a rifle designed or modified for fitting children or other small-framed shooters. A youth rifle is often a single-shot .22 caliber rifle, or a bolt-action rifle, although some youth rifles are semi-automatic. They are usually very light, with

10584-484: The warhead after it has rotated a set number of times, in order to prevent the user from harming themselves if a grenade encounters a nearby obstruction. Western launchers are primarily either the 37 mm flare caliber intended for civilian and law enforcement use, or the larger military 40 mm caliber. This is intended to prevent civilian-legal flare projectors being used to fire lethal military ammunition, since lethal rounds are not manufactured in 37mm caliber. The reverse

10692-434: The way that machine guns are; they trade this capability in favor of increased mobility. Modern military rifles are fed by magazines, while machine guns are generally belt-fed . Many machine guns allow the operator to quickly exchange barrels in order to prevent overheating, whereas rifles generally do not. Most machine guns fire from an open bolt in order to reduce the danger of " cook-off ", while almost all rifles fire from

10800-435: The weapon is not rifled or does not fire solid projectiles (e.g. "laser rifle"). The origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest European experiments seem to have been carried out during the 15th century. Archers had long realized that a twist added to the tail feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy. Early muskets produced large quantities of smoke and soot, which had to be cleaned from

10908-477: Was an early repeating rifle and the first one to be used by the U.S. Government and saw some limited action during the American Civil War . Revolvers, both rifles and pistols, tend to spray fragments of metal from the front of the cylinder. The Winchester repeating rifle was invented in 1866. The firer pulled on a lever to reload the rifle with a stored cartridge. An important area of development

11016-501: Was developed during the First World War and used throughout World War II . The principle was to use the soldier's standard rifle as an ersatz mortar, mounting a grenade (in many older cases an infantry hand grenade) fitted with a propelling charge, using an adaptor or socket on the weapon's muzzle or inside a mounted launching cup, and usually firing with the weapon's stock resting on the ground. For older rifle grenades, igniting

11124-417: Was not practical to push an overbore bullet down through a rifled barrel. The dirt and grime from prior shots were pushed down ahead of a tight bullet or ball (which may have been a looser fit in the clean barrel before the first shot), and 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

11232-503: Was pitted against the Japanese Arisaka Type 30 bolt-action rifle in 6.5 mm; both had velocities well over 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s). Until the late 19th century rifles tended to be very long, some long rifles reaching approximately 2 m (7 ft) in length to maximize accuracy, making early rifles impractical for use by cavalry. However, following the advent of more powerful smokeless powder,

11340-599: Was salvaged from the failed XM8 program and adopted in 2008 as the US military's replacement for the M203. Soviet development of an underbarrel launcher for the AK rifle series began in 1966 and in 1978 produced the GP-25 , a muzzle-loading device for the AK-74 rifle using a mortar-like grenade round which functions by venting its propellant through holes in the base; this is a variation of

11448-713: Was the M79 grenade launcher , a result of the American Special Purpose Individual Weapon program (specifically the 40×46mm grenade round developed during Project NIBLICK , applying the German-developed high–low system to produce manageable recoil). The goal for the M79 was the production of a device with greater range than a rifle grenade but more portable than a mortar . Such single-shot devices were largely replaced in military service with underbarrel grenade launchers, removing

11556-566: Was the Metford rifling in the Pattern 1888 Lee–Metford service rifle. Although uncommon, polygonal rifling is still used in some weapons today, one example being the Glock line of pistols (which fire standard bullets). Many of the early designs were prone to dangerous backfiring, which could lead to the destruction of the weapon and serious injury to the person firing it. As the bullet enters

11664-492: 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. Over 20,000 were used during the American Civil War. It was the first adoption of a removable magazine -fed infantry rifle. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860. It used copper rimfire cartridges stored in

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