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118-410: The gun was manufactured in 1882, but nothing is known of its abandonment. The bottom of its stock was buried in 4–5 inches (10–13 cm) of accumulated soil and vegetation, and a round of ammunition stored in its buttstock dated between 1887 and 1911, indicating that it had been resting there for many years. A post about the rifle on the park's Facebook page went viral, prompting speculation about

236-436: A leadscrew usually turned with a knurled wheel , or have them slide freely along the guide rails and then fastened to desirable positions with set screws or thumbscrews . Some more complex designs also allow horizontal shifting and tilting of the cheek riser, as well as vertical shifting and slanting of the buttplate. Traditionally, stocks are made from wood , generally a durable hardwood such as walnut . A growing option

354-441: A shell for ergonomics and aesthetics. A telescoping stock (alternatively collapsible stock) is a buttstock that can retract into and shorten itself ( telescoping ) in order to make the whole weapon more compact. Telescoping stocks are useful in allowing a rifle , submachine gun , shotgun , or light machine gun to be stored or maneuvered in places it would otherwise have trouble fitting. The user can either slide in ("collapse")

472-414: A thumbhole (7) style grip, which allows a more ergonomic vertical hold for the user's hand. In some modern firearm designs, the lower receiver and handguard replace the fore-end stock, leaving only the butt portion as the recognizable "stock", even though they serve the same function as the traditional fore-end. The most basic categorization of stock types is into one-piece and two-piece stocks. In

590-677: A 1,400-strong Qing-Joseon force and were defeated again by Joseon musketeers. Under the Three Branch System, similar to the Spanish Tercio , Joseon organized their army under firearm troops (artillery and musketeers), archers, and pikemen or swordsmen. The percentage of firearms in the Joseon army rose dramatically as a result of the shorter training period for firearms. In addition, the sulphur mines discovered in Jinsan reduced

708-510: A century of peace and the people not being familiar with warfare that this happened, it was really because the Japanese had the use of muskets that could reach beyond several hundred paces, that always pierced what they struck, that came like the wind and the hail, and with which bows and arrows could not compare. Arquebuses were imported by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) at an uncertain point, but

826-463: A century. The musketeers were the first infantry to give up armour entirely. Musketeers began to take cover behind walls or in sunken lanes and sometimes acted as skirmishers to take advantage of their ranged weapons. In England, the musket barrel was cut down from 4 ft (1.2 m) to 3 ft (0.91 m) around 1630. The number of musketeers relative to pikemen increased partly because they were now more mobile than pikemen. Muskets of

944-419: A far longer range, while preserving the musket's comparatively faster reloading rate. Their use led to a decline in the use of massed attacking formations, as these formations were too vulnerable to the accurate, long-range fire a rifle could produce. In particular, attacking troops were within range of the defenders for a longer period of time, and the defenders could also fire at them more quickly than before. As

1062-424: A legitimate innovation is uncertain and may consist of nothing more than a name change. Trigger guards began appearing in 1575. Bayonets were attached to muskets in several parts of the world from the late 16th to 17th centuries. Locks came in many different varieties. Early matchlock and wheel lock mechanisms were replaced by later flintlock mechanisms and finally percussion locks . In some parts of

1180-515: A machined metal component in place during manufacture. Finish is provided by a layer of gel coat applied to the mold before the cloth is laid up. Some high production firearms (such as the PPS-43 , MP-40 , and the Zastava M70B ) make use of metal frames in order to have a thin but strong stock that can be folded away to make the weapon more compact. However, even a skeletonized steel stock

1298-401: A minimalistic "skeletonized" frame to fit over and envelop the receiver. Some compact weapons (e.g. machine pistols ) have foldable buttstocks with more than one articulations to allow even more shortening. A bump fire stock or bump stock utilizes the recoil of a semi-automatic rifle to facilitate a faster rate of fire without requiring any modification of internal mechanisms to convert

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1416-399: A mold to set, or solidify. The resulting stock is stronger and more stable than an injection-molded stock. It can also be as little as half the weight of an injection-molded stock. Inletting and bedding can be accomplished by molding in as part of the manufacturing process, machining in the inletting after the stock is finished, molding directly to the action as a separate process, or molding

1534-595: A notice to the Federal Register titled Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with "Braces" , proposing a series of criteria used to evaluate whether pistols with attached stabilizing braces are firearms that should be regulated by the National Firearms Act , but withdrew the notice five days later. In some jurisdictions, the nature of the stock may change the legal status of the firearm. Examples of this are: Muskets A musket

1652-406: A one-piece stock, the butt and fore-end are a continuous monolithic piece, such as that commonly found on conventional bolt-action rifles . Two-piece stocks use separate pieces for the butt and fore-end, such as that commonly found on break-action and lever-action firearms. Traditionally, two-piece stocks were easier to make, since finding a quality wood blank suitable for a long one-piece stock

1770-505: A person's ergonomics. Modern manufacturing and gunsmithing techniques can produce gunstocks with variable comb heights and buttplate positions. This can be achieved either by having interchangeable modules or using spacer blocks, which can increase the vertical and horizontal thickness. Alternatively, the buttstock can be built with a movable comb (known as a cheek riser ) and/or buttplate, which use one or more guide rails to control position changes. These moveable parts can be adjusted using

1888-452: A random direction from the aiming point. The practice of rifling, putting grooves in the barrel of a weapon, causing the projectile to spin on the same axis as the line of flight, prevented this veering off from the aiming point. Rifles already existed in Europe by the late 15th century, but they were primarily used as sporting weapons and had little presence in warfare. The problem with rifles

2006-529: A report presented to the Council of Ten on 24 September 1572, observed: They used for arms, swords, lances, arquebuses, which all the soldiers carry and use; their arms are also superior and better tempered than those of any other nation. The barrels of the arquebuses are generally six spans long and carry a ball little less than three ounces in weight. They use them with such facility that it does not hinder them drawing their bows nor handling their swords, keeping

2124-418: A result, while 18th-century attackers would only be within range of the defenders' weapons for the time it would take to fire a few shots, late-19th-century attackers might suffer dozens of volleys before they drew close to the defenders, with correspondingly high casualty rates. However, the use of massed attacks on fortified positions were not immediately replaced with new tactics, and as a result, major wars of

2242-403: A round ball, Nessler ball or Minié ball all wrapped up in paper. Cartridges would then be placed in a cartridge box, which would typically be worn on the musketeer's belt during a battle. Unlike a modern cartridge, this paper cartridge was not simply loaded into the weapon and fired. Instead, the musketeer would tear open the paper (usually with his teeth), pour some of the powder into the pan and

2360-489: A shot, and only then are they allowed to give fire. Each time the trumpet gives a blast, they fire one time, spread out in battle array according to the drilling patterns. If the trumpet keeps blasting without stopping, then they are allowed to fire all together until their fire is exhausted, and it's not necessary [in this case] to divide into layers. Frederick Lewis Taylor claims that a kneeling volley fire may have been employed by Prospero Colonna 's arquebusiers as early as

2478-406: A significant impact on the accuracy of the rifle. The key factors are: A well designed and well built wooden stock can provide the secure, stable base needed for an accurate rifle, but the properties of wood make it more difficult than more stable synthetic materials. Wood is still a top choice for aesthetic reasons, however, and solutions such as bedding provide the stability of a synthetic with

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2596-416: A simple stick fitted into a socket in the breech end to provide a handle. The modern gunstock shape began to evolve with the introduction of the arquebus , a matchlock with a longer barrel and an actual lock mechanism, unlike the hand-applied match of the hand cannon. Firing a hand cannon requires careful application of the match while simultaneously aiming; the use of a matchlock handles the application of

2714-418: A small piece of cloth for cleaning. A variation on the worm called the "screw and wiper" combined the typical design of a worm with a ball puller's screw. The heavy arquebus known as the musket appeared in Europe by 1521. In response to firearms, thicker armour was produced, from 15 kg (33 lb 1 oz) in the 15th century to 25 kg (55 lb 2 oz) in the late 16th century. Armour that

2832-456: A stock. Careful selection can yield distinctive and attractive features, such as crotch figure, feathering, fiddleback, and burl, which can significantly add to the desirability of a stock. While a basic, straight grained blank suitable for a utilitarian stock might sell for US$ 20, an exhibition grade blank with superb figure could price in the range of US$ 2000. Blanks for one piece stocks are more expensive than blanks for two piece stocks, due to

2950-591: A successful military operation in Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea . Korean chief state councillor Ryu Seong-ryong noted the clear superiority of the Japanese musketeers over the Korean archers: In the 1592 invasion, everything was swept away. Within a fortnight or a month the cities and fortresses were lost, and everything in the eight directions had crumbled. Although it was [partly] due to there having been

3068-417: Is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus , capable of penetrating plate armour . By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually disappeared as the use of heavy armour declined, but musket continued as the generic term for smoothbore long guns until the mid-19th century. In turn, this style of musket

3186-478: Is an attachment to the butt of the gun that is put under the shooter's arm to prevent the rifle from pivoting forward from the weight of the barrel is sometimes used in competitive rifle shooting . These stocks are also used on combat shotguns like the Franchi SPAS-12 to allow the stock to collapse when not in use. The grip is at the front portion of the butt that connects with the fore-end, and

3304-466: Is another area of wide variation. Since the comb must support the shooter's cheek at a height that steadily aligns the aiming eye with the weapon's sights , higher sights such as telescopic sights require higher combs. The simplest form is a straight comb (A), which is the default form seen in all traditional rifles with iron sights. The Monte Carlo comb (B) is commonly found on stocks designed for use with scopes, and features an elevated comb to lift

3422-437: Is fixed in length of pull and comb height, and cannot tailor to the anatomical variation between different users. If the user wants a more comfortable head position to achieve better natural point of aim , then an additional cheek pad (which add to the comb height) or a thicker buttplate (which add to the length of pull) need to be installed. These improvisations might not be ideal as they might still not achieve optimal fitting to

3540-404: Is harder than finding short blanks for a two-piece stock. In one-piece rifle stocks, the butt also varies in styles between the "European" type, which has a drop at the heel to favor quick shooting using iron sights ; and "American" type, which the heel remains horizontal from the grip to favor more precision-oriented shooting using telescopic sights . There are also in-between designs (such as

3658-467: Is held by the shooter's trigger hand during firing. The back surface of butt front near the grip is called the tang . Many grips have roughened textures or even finger grooves engraved into the sides to increase the firmness of the shooter's hold. Some grips have a thumb rest (or groove) carved near the tang to give a more ergonomic hold for the trigger finger. The grip varies widely in styles. A straight grip stock (A) proceeds smoothly from toe to

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3776-569: Is often heavier than the equivalent solid wooden stock. Consequentially, less cost-sensitive designs like the FN Minimi make use of lighter-than-steel materials such as aluminium alloy or titanium . A few designs, like the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare , use a metallic chassis which securely beds the functional components of the firearm, with non-structural polymer panels attached externally like

3894-455: Is perhaps the most common sporting rifle stock, with a steeper angle cut into the stock to provide a more diagonal angle for the trigger hand. Modern target-style stocks have generally moved towards a fuller, more vertical grip, though built into the stock rather than made as a separate piece. Anschütz grip stocks (C), for example, use a nearly vertical grip, and many thumbhole grip stocks (D) are similar to pistol grips in shape. The comb

4012-485: Is sounded, at which the musketeers fire in concert, either all at once or in five volleys (齊放一次盡擧或分五擧)." This training method proved to be quite formidable in the 1619 Battle of Sarhu , in which 10,000 Korean musketeers managed to kill many Manchus before their allies surrendered. While Korea went on to lose both wars against the Manchu invasions of 1627 and 1636 , their musketeers were well respected by Manchu leaders. It

4130-530: Is the laminated wood stock, consisting of many thin layers of wood bonded together at high pressures with epoxy , resulting in a dense, stable composite. Regardless of the material actually employed, the general term "furniture" is often applied to gunstocks by curators, researchers and other firearm experts. Folding, collapsible, or removable stocks tend to be made from a mix of steel or alloy for strength and locking mechanisms, and wood or plastics for shape. Stocks for bullpup rifles must take into account

4248-401: Is usually inaccurate due to the shooter often having to fire from the hip to still hold the gun firmly. A bump stock replaces the manual forward push with a spring mechanism at the interface between the receiver and the pistol grip/buttstock. The user only has to simply hold the trigger back against the grip, and the spring-assisted forward push will itself work against the recoil to cycle

4366-520: The Battle of Bicocca (1522). However, this has been called into question by Tonio Andrade who believes this is an over interpretation as well as mis-citation of a passage by Charles Oman suggesting that the Spanish arquebusiers kneeled to reload, when in fact Oman never made such a claim. This is contested by Idan Sherer, who quotes Paolo Giovio saying that the arquebusiers kneeled to reload so that

4484-602: The Musket Wars period in New Zealand, between 1805 and 1843, at least 500 conflicts took place between various Māori tribes—often using trade muskets in addition to traditional Māori weapons. The muskets were initially cheap Birmingham muskets designed for the use of coarse grain black powder. Maori favoured the shorter barrel versions. Some tribes took advantage of runaway sailors and escaped convicts to expand their understanding of muskets. Early missionaries—one of whom

4602-514: The Weatherby Mark V ) with a "halfway" heel drop where the front half of the buttstock stays leveled. Collapsible or folding stocks are often seen on military carbines , SMG / PDWs , their civilian-derived versions and some machine pistols . A collapsible (or telescoping) stock makes the weapon shorter and more compact for storage, carrying and concealment, and can be deployed just before shooting for better control. A butt hook, which

4720-442: The butt (1), and front portion is the fore-end (2). The fore-end (or forestock , forearm ) affixes and supports the receiver , and relays the recoil impulse from the barrel via a recoil lug . The butt (or buttstock ) is braced against the shooter's shoulder for stability and also interacts with the trigger hand, and is further divided into the comb (3), heel (4), toe (5), and grip (6). The stock pictured above has

4838-482: The slow match , freeing up a hand for support. With both hands available to aim, the arquebus could be braced with the shoulder, giving rise to the basic gunstock shape that has survived for over 500 years. This greatly improved the accuracy of the arquebus, to a level that would not be surpassed until the advent of rifled barrels . Ironically, the stocks of muskets introduced during the European colonization of

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4956-463: The 16th to 19th centuries were accurate enough to hit a target of 50 cm (20 in) in diameter at a distance of 100 m (330 ft). At the same distance, musket bullets could penetrate a steel bib about 4 mm (0.16 in) thick, or a wooden shield about 130 mm (5.1 in) thick. The maximum range of the bullet was 1,100 m (1,200 yd). The speed of the bullets was between 305 and 540 m/s (1,000 and 1,770 ft/s), and

5074-452: The 1800s. The differences between the arquebus and musket post-16th century are therefore not entirely clear, and the two have been used interchangeably on several occasions. Flintlocks are not usually associated with arquebuses. A variation of the musket known as the caliver , a standardized "calibre" (spelled "caliber" in the US), appeared in Europe around 1567–9. According to Jacob de Gheyn,

5192-457: The Americas were repurposed as hand-to-hand war clubs by Native Americans and First Nations when fragile accessories were damaged or scarce ammunition exhausted. Techniques for gunstock hand weapons are being revived by martial arts such as Okichitaw . A gunstock is broadly divided into two parts (see above), with the boundary roughly at where the trigger is. The rear portion is

5310-588: The Great , recruited in 1744 from a Jäger unit of game-keepers and foresters, but the rifle's slow rate of fire still restricted their usage. The invention of the Minié ball in 1849 solved both major problems of muzzle-loading rifles. Rifled muskets of the mid-19th century, like the Springfield Model 1861 which dealt heavy casualties at the Battle of Four Lakes , were significantly more accurate, with

5428-525: The Ming only began fielding matchlocks in 1548. The Chinese used the term "bird-gun" to refer to arquebuses and Turkish arquebuses may have reached China before Portuguese ones. In Zhao Shizhen's book of 1598 AD, the Shenqipu , there were illustrations of Ottoman Turkish musketeers with detailed illustrations of their muskets, alongside European musketeers with detailed illustrations of their muskets. There

5546-605: The Sri Lankan soldiers to the point where, according to the Portuguese chronicler, Queirós, they could "fire at night to put out a match" and "by day at 60 paces would sever a knife with four or five bullets" and "send as many on the same spot in the target." Despite initial reluctance, the Safavid Empire of Persia rapidly acquired the art of making and using handguns. A Venetian envoy, Vincenzo di Alessandri, in

5664-577: The Wokou pirates in Zhejiang Province. Qi Jiguang trained troops in their use for several years until they [muskets] became one of the skills of the Chinese, who subsequently used them to defeat the Japanese." By 1607 Korean musketeers had been trained in the fashion which Qi Jiguang prescribed, and a drill manual had been produced based on the Chinese leader's Jixiao Xinshu . Of the volley fire,

5782-529: The ability to hit a man-sized target at a distance of 500 yards (460 m) or more. The smoothbore musket generally allowed no more than 300 yards (270 m) with any accuracy. The Crimean War (1853–1856) saw the first widespread use of the rifled musket for the common infantryman and by the time of the American Civil War (1861–1865) most infantry were equipped with the rifled musket. These were far more accurate than smoothbore muskets and had

5900-414: The aesthetics of wood. Burst or automatic shoulder fired small arms can incorporate the "straight-line" recoil configuration. This layout places both the center of gravity and the position of the shoulder stock nearly in line with the longitudinal axis of the barrel bore, a feature increasing controllability during burst or automatic fire. Traditional gunstocks have a permanently-shaped buttstock that

6018-521: The back. The second rank, either marching forward or standing still, [will next] fire together [and] then march to the back. After that, the third and following ranks will do the same. Thus before the last ranks have fired, the first will have reloaded. In the 18th century, regular light infantry began to emerge. In contrast to the front-line infantry, they fought in the loose formation, used natural shelters and terrain folds. In addition, they were better prepared to target single targets. This type of troops

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6136-401: The bolt of a crossbow . The Italian moschetti is a diminutive of mosca , a fly. The first recorded usage of the term "musket" or moschetti appeared in Europe in the year 1499. Evidence of the musket as a type of firearm does not appear until 1521 when it was used to describe a heavy arquebus capable of penetrating heavy armour. This version of the musket fell out of use after

6254-459: The buttstock to render the weapon more portable and concealable , or extend ("deploy") it for better accuracy. Some telescoping stocks, such as those on the M4 carbine and Benelli M4 , have more than one length of pull setting, allowing the stock to be adjusted for different users. Some buttstocks can have a hinged attachment to the receiver and can be folded forward to shorten the overall length of

6372-717: The caliver was a smaller musket that did not require a fork rest. Benerson Little described it as a "light musket". Matchlock firearms were used in India by 1500, in Đại Việt by 1516, and in Southeast Asia by 1540. According to a Burmese source from the late 15th century, King Minkhaung II would not dare attack the besieged town of Prome due to the defenders' use of cannon and small arms that were described as muskets, although these were probably early matchlock arquebuses or wall guns . The Portuguese may have introduced muskets to Sri Lanka during their conquest of

6490-448: The cartridge found in it. Stock (firearms) A gunstock or often simply stock , the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock , a buttstock , or simply a butt , is a part of a long gun that provides structural support , to which the barrel , action , and firing mechanism are attached. The stock also provides a means for the shooter to firmly brace the gun and easily aim with stability by being held against

6608-434: The cheek higher, while keeping the heel of the stock low. If the elevated comb is of a rounded dome shape, it is often called a hogback comb. A cheekpiece (C) is a raised section protruding from the side of the stock, which provides a more conformed support for the shooter's cheek. There is some confusion between these terms, as the features are often combined, with the raised rollover cheekpiece (D) extending across

6726-410: The class of competition engaged in. Stock dimensioning is especially important with shotguns , where the typical front-bead-only sight requires a consistent positioning of the shooter's eye over the center of the barrel for good accuracy. When having a stock custom built or bent to fit, there are a number of measurements that are important. In addition to ergonomic issues, the stock can also have

6844-573: The coastline and lowlands in 1505, as they regularly used short barrelled matchlocks during combat. However, P. E. P. Deraniyagala points out that the Sinhalese term for gun, 'bondikula', matches the Arabic term for gun, 'bunduk'. Also, certain technical aspects of the early Sri Lankan matchlock were similar to the matchlocks used in the Middle East, thus forming the generally accepted theory that

6962-457: The cost of the cheapest wood stocks. Every stock is virtually identical in dimension, and requires no bedding, inletting, or finishing. The downsides are a lack of rigidity and thermal stability, which are side effects of the thermoplastic materials used for injection molding. A hand-laid composite stock is composed out of materials such as fiberglass, Kevlar, graphite cloth, or some combination, saturated in an appropriate binder, placed into

7080-522: The custom market (and, in subdued form, in some military rifles), in 1987 Rutland Plywood, a maker of wood laminates, convinced Sturm, Ruger , Savage Arms , and U.S. Repeating Arms Company (Winchester) to display some laminate stocks on their rifles in a green, brown and black pattern (often called camo ). The response was overwhelming, and that marked the beginning of laminated stocks on production rifles. While setup costs are high, once ready to produce, injection molding produces stocks for less than

7198-402: The dimensions of the rifle's action, as well as ergonomic issues such as ejection. While walnut is the favored gunstock wood, many other woods are used, including maple , myrtle , birch , and mesquite . In making stocks from solid wood, one must take into account the natural properties and variability of woods. The grain of the wood determines the strength, and the grain should flow through

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7316-414: The double-barrel shot gun ( Tuparra – two barrel) during fighting often using women to reload the weapons when fighting from a Pā (fortified village or hillfort). They often resorted to using nails, stones or anything convenient as "shot". From the 1850s, Māori were able to obtain superior military style muskets with greater range. One of the authors was a Pakeha (European) who lived among Māori, spoke

7434-450: The effects of changes in temperature and humidity. Modern laminates consist of 1 ⁄ 16 inch (1.6 mm) thick sheets of wood, usually birch, which are impregnated with epoxy, laid with alternating grain directions, and cured at high temperatures and pressures. The resulting composite material is far stronger than the original wood, free from internal defects, and nearly immune to warping from heat or moisture. Typically, each layer of

7552-500: The enemy with either fire or bayonet. This allowed the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic infantry a much greater degree of mobility compared to their Ancien Régime opponents, and also allowed much closer cooperation of infantry with cavalry and artillery, which were free to move in between the infantry columns of the former rather than being trapped in between the linear formation of the latter. The colonne d'attaque

7670-637: The entire infantry. In the 19th century, a new tactic was devised by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars . This was the ' colonne d'attaque' , or attack column, consisting of one regiment up to two brigades of infantry. Instead of advancing slowly all across the battlefield in line formations, the French infantry were brought forward in such columns, preceded by masses of skirmishers to cover and mask their advance. The column would then normally deploy into line right before engaging

7788-665: The expense of producing gunpowder. Under the reign of Sukjong of Joseon (1700s), 76.4% of the local standing army in Chungcheong were musketeers. Under the reign of King Yeongjo , Yoon Pil-Un, Commander of the Sua-chung, improved on firearms with the Chunbochong (천보총), which had a greater range of fire than the existing ones. Its usage is thought to have been similar to the Afghan jezail or American long rifle . During

7906-445: The firearm to an automatic firearm . The term "bump fire" was originally an improvised technique to shoot an AR-15 faster by having the shooter applying a non-rigid forward push on the receiver (by gripping the handguard or via a foregrip) and having a loose hold on the pistol grip. When the gun shoots, the recoil shifts the receiver backwards, moving the trigger conversely forward (from the receiver's frame of reference ) and relaxes

8024-591: The first file has finished shooting they make space for the next (which is coming up to shoot) without turning face, countermarching [contrapassando] to the left but showing the enemy only the side of their bodies, which is the narrowest of the body, and [taking their place at the rear] about one to three steps behind, with five or six pellets in their mouths, and two lighted matchlock fuses ... and they load [their pieces] promptly ... and return to shoot when it's their turn again." Most historians, including Geoffrey Parker , have ignored Eguiluz, and have erroneously attributed

8142-421: The greater difficulty in finding the longer blanks with desirable figure. Two piece stocks are ideally made from a single blank, so that the wood in both parts shows similar color and figure. Laminated wood consists of two or more layers of wood, impregnated with glue and attached permanently to each other. The combination of the two pieces of wood, if laid out correctly, results in the separate pieces moderating

8260-697: The gun to the Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming for analysis and conservation. A team of researchers took the firearm to a local hospital to be X-rayed under the patient name "Rifle". While the chamber and tube magazine were not loaded, the X-rays revealed a live .44-Winchester centerfire caliber cartridge in a compartment inside the buttstock . This cartridge

8378-469: The gun via an M4-style buffer tube, or via a Picatinny rail interface. The bulkier end of a brace can still be leaned against the shoulder like a shoulder stock, but these devices are marketed as being intended for attachment to the arm to circumvent the legal restrictions that would arise from calling them shoulder stocks. On December 18, 2020, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives filed

8496-493: The gun. The hinge usually has a locking mechanism to prevent accidental or unwanted movements of the buttstock. When stability is not needed, the gun can be folded down to save space, be concealed, or held with one hand or nearer to the core ; when stable aim is needed, the buttstock can be quickly extended and held to the shoulder. Most folding stocks bend left or right depending on factory design or user preferences. Some are however designed to bend up and down, and usually made of

8614-414: The guns (銃裝不及), and frequently this mismanagement costs the lives of many people. Thus, whenever the enemy gets to within a hundred paces' distance, they [the musketeers] are to wait until they hear a blast on the bamboo flute, at which they deploy themselves in front of the troops, with each platoon (哨) putting in front one team (隊). They [the musketeer team members] wait until they hear their own leader fire

8732-542: The invention of the countermarch to Maurice of Nassau , although the publication of the Milicia, Discurso y Regla Militar antedates Maurice's first letter on the subject by two years. Regardless, it is clear that the concept of volley fire had existed in Europe for quite some time during the 16th century, but it was in the Netherlands during the 1590s that the musketry volley really took off. The key to this development

8850-485: The kinetic energy was 1,600–4,000 J (1,200–3,000 ft⋅lbf). The heavy musket went out of favour around the same time the snaphance flintlock was invented in Europe, in 1550. The snaphance was followed by the "true" flintlock in the late 17th century. While the heavy variant of the arquebus died out due to the decline of heavy armour, the term "musket" itself stuck around as a general term for 'shoulder arms' fireweapons, replacing "arquebus," and remained until

8968-416: The laminate is dyed before laminating, often with alternating colors, which provides a pattern similar to wood grain when cut into shape, and with bright, contrasting colors, the results can be very striking. The disadvantage of laminate stocks is density, with laminates weighing about 4 to 5 ounces (110 to 140 g) more than walnut for a typical stock. While wood laminates have been available for many years on

9086-416: The language fluently, had a Māori wife and took part in many intertribal conflicts as a warrior. The musket was a smoothbore firearm and lacked rifling grooves that would have spun the bullet in such a way as to increase its accuracy. The last contact with the musket barrel gives the ball a spin around an axis at right angles to the direction of flight. The aerodynamics result in the ball veering off in

9204-459: The late 19th century and early 20th century tended to produce very high casualty figures. Many soldiers preferred to reduce the standard musket reloading procedures to increase the speed of fire. This statement is from Thomas Anburey who served as a lieutenant in Burgoyne's army: "Here I cannot help observing to you, whether it proceeded from an idea of self-preservation, or natural instinct, but

9322-573: The latter hung at their saddle bows till occasion requires them. The arquebus is then put away behind the back so that one weapon does not impede the use of the other. During the Sengoku period of Japan, arquebuses were introduced by Portuguese merchantmen from the region of Alentejo in 1543 and by the 1560s were being mass-produced locally. By the end of the 16th century, the production of firearms in Japan reached enormous proportions, which allowed for

9440-434: The manual says that "every musketeer squad should either divide into two musketeers per layer or one and deliver fire in five volleys or in ten." Another Korean manual produced in 1649 describes a similar process: "When the enemy approaches to within a hundred paces, a signal gun is fired and a conch is blown, at which the soldiers stand. Then a gong is sounded, the conch stops blowing, and the heavenly swan [a double-reed horn]

9558-409: The mid-16th century with the decline of heavy armour; however, the term itself stuck around as a general descriptor for "shoulder arms" fire weapons into the 19th century. The differences between the arquebus and musket post-16th century are therefore not entirely clear, and the two have been used interchangeably on several occasions. According to historian David A. Parrot, the concept of the musket as

9676-489: The mid-19th century. The Minié ball was small enough in diameter that it could be loaded as quickly as a round ball, even with a barrel that had been fouled with black powder residue after firing many shots, and the expanding skirt of the Minié ball meant that it would still form a tight fit with the barrel and impart a good spin into the round when fired. This gave the rifled musket an effective range of several hundred yards, which

9794-509: The military. The volley fire technique transformed soldiers carrying firearms into organized firing squads with each row of soldiers firing in turn and reloading in a systematic fashion. Volley fire was implemented with cannons as early as 1388 by Ming artillerists, but volley fire with matchlocks was not implemented until 1526 when the Ottoman Janissaries used it during the Battle of Mohács . The matchlock volley fire technique

9912-496: The more common attachments was a ball screw or ball puller, which was a screw that could be screwed into the lead ball to remove it if it had become jammed in the barrel, similar to the way that a corkscrew is used to remove a wine cork. Another attachment was called a worm, which was used to clear debris from the barrel, such as paper wadding that had not been expelled. Some worm designs were sturdy enough that they could be used to remove stuck ammunition. The worm could also be used with

10030-457: The musket was not entirely new to the island by the time the Portuguese came. In any case, soon native Sri Lankan kingdoms, most notably the Kingdom of Sitawaka and the Kingdom of Kandy , manufactured hundreds of Lankan muskets, with a unique bifurcated stock, longer barrel and smaller calibre, which made it more efficient in directing and using the energy of the gunpowder. These were mastered by

10148-470: The pistol to be mounted into a carbine -shaped enclosure with a shoulder stock. Machine pistols such as the MAC-10 , Micro-Uzi and Škorpion vz. 61 often use a folding skeleton stock that can be extended and braced during engagements to provide auto-fire stability. A pistol stabilizing brace (PSB) or arm brace is a device like a buttstock, but purportedly meant to be in contact with or wrap around

10266-443: The pulling force on the trigger, allowing it to reset. When the shooter's forward push overcomes the recoil momentum and shifts the receiver back towards the front, the trigger is "bumped" against the shooter's finger and gets depressed again, firing off another round, which produces another recoil that repeats the above process. This allows a cycling rate of firing much faster than what the shooter's own finger can typically achieve, but

10384-507: The rest into the barrel, follow it with the ammunition (and the paper as wadding if not using a Minié ball), then use the ramrod as normal to push it all into the barrel. While not as fast as loading a modern cartridge, this method did significantly speed up the loading process since the pre-measured charges meant that the musketeer did not have to carefully measure out the black powder with every shot. Some ramrods were equipped with threaded ends, allowing different attachments to be used. One of

10502-525: The rifle leaning against a tree above the campground. Less than two years later, the Strawberry Fire swept through the area and consumed the juniper tree the rifle had been leaning against. The rifle is a Winchester Repeating Arms Company Model 1873, chambered in .44-40 Winchester . This model is sometimes known as "the gun that won the West." The rifle's serial number indicates that it was one of 25,000 manufactured in 1882. The park service sent

10620-648: The rifle's origin. The rifle has become an icon of the American West . Prior to the rifle's discovery, the National Park Service had started a $ 280,000 fuels reduction project around Strawberry Creek Campground to prevent campfires from sparking wildfires in the surrounding forest. As part of the project, the Park Service sent staff from their cultural resources office to search the project area for artifacts, and archaeologist Eva Jensen found

10738-515: The second line of arquebusiers could fire without endangering those in front of them. European gunners might have implemented countermarch to some extent since at least 1579 when the Englishman Thomas Digges suggested that musketeers should, "after the old Romane manner make three or four several fronts, with convenient spaces for the first to retire and unite himselfe with the second, and both these if occasion so require, with

10856-650: The shooter's forearm like a wrist brace or splint , instead of being pressed against the shoulder, as an alternative measure of countering recoil and muzzle rise with one-handed shooting. Developed from an arm hook (introduced for the same reasons) on the collapsible stock of the Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun, it is mainly designed for a category of guns which are marketed as "pistols" despite being much larger and heavier than typical pistols, having carbine-style receivers (e.g. "AR pistols" and PC Charger ), and which are stockless out-of-factory to avoid being legally classified as short-barreled rifles . The brace can be mounted onto

10974-680: The shooting. This allows an increased rate of fire that can reach several hundred rounds per minute , and is far more consistent in performance compared to the manual bump fire. Many handguns also support the use of shoulder stocks to handle recoil. An example is the Luger P08 "Artillery Pistol", which has a wooden factory holster that can be attached to the pistol grip and used as an improvised buttstock. Some aftermarket manufacturers also make accessories for popular semi-automatic pistols such as Glocks , including grip modules that have built-on folding stocks, or even "conversion kits" that allow

11092-456: The short AK-47 style to the long Mannlicher stock that runs all the way to the muzzle. Most common on sporting firearms is the half-stock , which extends roughly half the length of the barrel. Stock measurements are important regarding target rifle stocks if competing in IBS or NBRSA registered matches. The target rifle stocks must meet certain dimensional and configuration criteria according to

11210-404: The slow reloading time became an increasing problem. The difficulty of reloading—and thus the time needed to do it—was diminished by making the musket ball much smaller than the internal diameter of the barrel, so as the interior of the barrel became dirty from soot from previously fired rounds, the musket ball from the next shot could still be easily rammed. To keep the ball in place once the weapon

11328-401: The soldiers greatly improved the mode they were taught in, as to expedition. For as soon as they had primed their pieces and put the cartridge into the barrel, instead of ramming it down with their rods, they struck the butt end of the piece upon the ground, and bringing it to the present, fired it off". This practice was known as 'tap-loading'. As muskets became the default weapon of armies,

11446-504: The third; the shot [musketeers] having their convenient lanes continually during the fight to discharge their peces." The Spanish too displayed some awareness of the volley technique. Martín de Eguiluz described it in the military manual, Milicia, Discurso y Regla Militar , dating to 1586: "Start with three files of five soldiers each, separated one from the other by fifteen paces, and they should comport themselves not with fury but with calm skillfulness [con reposo diestramente] such that when

11564-439: The three main parts of a musket. Sixteenth- and 17th-century musketeers used bandoliers which held their pre-measured charges and lead balls. The Minié ball , which despite its name was actually bullet-shaped and not ball-shaped, was developed in the 1840s. The Minié ball had an expanding skirt which was intended to be used with rifled barrels, leading to what was called the rifled musket , which came into widespread use in

11682-571: The time that repeating rifles became common, they were known as simply "rifles", ending the era of the musket. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, firearms were often named after animals, and the word musket derived from the French word mousquette , which is a male sparrowhawk . An alternative theory is that derives from the 16th-century French mousquet, -ette , from the Italian moschetti, -etta , meaning

11800-517: The time. In Korea, the Joseon dynasty underwent a devastating war with the newly unified Japan that lasted from 1592 to 1598. The shock of this encounter spurred the court to undergo a process of military strengthening. One of the core elements of military strengthening was to adopt the musket. According to reformers, "In recent times in China they did not have muskets; they first learned about them from

11918-498: The top of the stock to form essentially an exaggeratedly wide and high Monte Carlo comb. Some modern buttstocks have a movable comb piece called a cheek rest or cheek rise , which offers adjustable comb height that tailors to the shooter's ergonomic preference. The fore-ends tend to vary both in thickness, from the splinter fore-ends common on British side-by-side shotguns to the wide, flat bottomed beavertail fore-ends found on benchrest shooting guns, and in length, from

12036-417: The trigger, giving a nearly horizontal holding angle for the trigger hand, while a full pistol grip stock (E) contains a separate stand-out grip piece, providing a nearly vertical angle for the trigger hand for maximal ergonomics , and is commonly found on modern military rifles such as the ubiquitous AK-47 and M16 / M4 families of assault rifles . In between the two extremes, the semi-grip stock (B)

12154-480: The user's shoulder when shooting the gun, and helps to counter muzzle rise by transmitting recoil straight into the shooter's body. The tiller of a crossbow is functionally the equivalent of the stock on a gun. The term stock in reference to firearms dates to 1571 is derived from the Germanic word Stock , meaning tree trunk , referring to the wooden nature of the gunstock. Early hand cannons used

12272-523: The world, such as China and Japan, the flintlock mechanism never caught on and they continued using matchlocks until the 19th century when percussion locks were introduced. In the latter half of the 18th century, several improvements were added to the musket. In 1750, a detent was added to prevent the sear from catching in the half-cock notch. A roller bearing was introduced in 1770 to reduce friction and increase sparks. In 1780, waterproof pans were added. The phrase "lock, stock, and barrel" refers to

12390-500: The wrist of the stock and out the toe; having the grain perpendicular to these areas weakens the stock considerably. In addition to the type of wood, how it is treated can have a significant impact on its properties. Wood for gunstocks should be slowly dried, to prevent grain collapse and splitting, and also to preserve the natural color of the wood; custom stockmakers will buy blanks that have been dried two to three years and then dry it for several additional years before working it into

12508-411: Was William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg who in 1594 described the technique in a letter to his cousin: I have discovered ... a method of getting the musketeers and soldiers armed with arquebuses not only to keep firing very well but to do it effectively in battle order ... in the following manner: as soon as the first rank has fired together, then by the drill [they have learned] they will march to

12626-441: Was 2 mm (0.079 in) thick required nearly three times as much energy to penetrate as did armour that was only 1 mm (0.039 in) thick. During the siege of Parma in 1521, many Spanish soldiers reportedly used an "arquebus with rest", a weapon much larger and more powerful than the regular arquebus. However, at this point, long-barrelled, musket-calibre weapons had been in use as wall-defence weapons in Europe for almost

12744-433: Was a significant improvement over the smooth bore musket. For example, combat ranges of 300 yd (270 m) were achievable using the rifled muskets during the American Civil War . Musketeers often used paper cartridges, which served a purpose similar to that of modern metallic cartridges in combining bullet and powder charge. A musket cartridge consisted of a pre-measured amount of black powder and ammunition such as

12862-404: Was a trained gunsmith—refused to help Māori repair muskets. Later, common practice was to enlarge the percussion hole and to hold progressively smaller lead balls between the fingers so that muskets could fire several shots without having to remove fouling. Likewise, Māori resorted to thumping the butt of the musket on the ground to settle the ball instead of using a ramrod. Māori favoured the use of

12980-581: Was also illustration and description of how the Chinese had adopted the Ottoman kneeling position in firing while using European-made muskets, though Zhao Shizhen described the Turkish muskets as being superior to the European muskets. The Wu Pei Chih (1621) later described Turkish muskets that used a rack and pinion mechanism, which was not known to have been used in any European or Chinese firearms at

13098-463: Was designed to fight against irregular enemy troops, such as militia, guerrillas and natives. At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of light infantry increased dramatically. In the French army, light infantry accounted for 25% of the infantry. In the Russian Army, 50 light infantry regiments and one company in each battalion were formed, which accounted for about 40% of light infantry in

13216-479: Was henceforth adopted by all European armies during and after the Napoleonic Wars . While some British historians, such as Sir Charles Oman , have postulated that it was the standard French tactic to charge enemy lines of infantry head on with their columns, relying on the morale effect of the huge column, and hence were often beaten off by the devastating firepower of the redcoats, more current research into

13334-528: Was loaded, it would be partially wrapped in a small piece of cloth. However, the smaller ball could move within the barrel as the musket was fired, decreasing the accuracy of musket fire (it was complained that it took a man's weight in lead musket balls to kill him). The development of volley fire —by the Ottomans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Dutch—made muskets more feasible for widespread adoption by

13452-626: Was manufactured by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company sometime between 1887 and 1911. The X-ray also showed that a crack in the stock had been repaired with metal pins. The conservators used hydroxypropyl cellulose to preserve the wooden gunstock and prevent it from further deterioration. The rifle is on permanent display in the Baker Visitor Center of Great Basin National Park , along with

13570-485: Was next seen in mid-16th-century China as pioneered by Qi Jiguang and in late-16th-century Japan. Qi Jiguang elaborates on his countermarch volley fire technique in the Jixiao Xinshu : All the musketeers, when they get near the enemy are not allowed to fire early, and they're not allowed to just fire everything off in one go, [because] whenever the enemy then approaches close, there won't be enough time to load

13688-434: Was retired in the 19th century when rifled muskets (simply called rifles in modern terminology) using the Minié ball (invented by Claude-Étienne Minié in 1849) became common. The development of breech-loading firearms using self-contained cartridges (introduced by Casimir Lefaucheux in 1835) and the first reliable repeating rifles produced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1860 also led to their demise. By

13806-600: Was the first Qing emperor Hong Taiji who wrote: "The Koreans are incapable on horseback but do not transgress the principles of the military arts. They excel at infantry fighting, especially in musketeer tactics." Afterwards, the Qing dynasty requested Joseon to aid in their border conflict with Russia. In 1654, 370 Russians engaged a 1,000-man Qing-Joseon force at the mouth of the Songhua River and were defeated by Joseon musketeers. In 1658, five hundred Russians engaged

13924-463: Was the tendency for powder fouling to accumulate in the rifling, making the piece more difficult to load with each shot. Eventually, the weapon could not be loaded until the bore was wiped clean. For this reason, smoothbore muskets remained the primary firearm of most armies until the mid-19th century. It was not until 1611 that rifles started seeing some limited usage in warfare by Denmark. Around 1750, rifles began to be used by skirmishers of Frederick

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