Firearms

Firearms

Guns such as pistols or rifles that use explosives to shoot bullets. These are usually small arms as compared to big weapon systems such as artillery cannons or missiles.

Industry: Military

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Firearms

An unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant. This failure was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, due to the poor or inconsistent ...

half-cock

Military; Firearms

The position of the hammer where the hammer is partially but not completely cocked. Many firearms, particularly older firearms, had a notch cut into the hammer allowing half-cock, as this position ...

hammer

Military; Firearms

The function of the hammer is to strike the firing pin in a firearm, which in turn detonates the impact-sensitive cartridge primer. The hammer of a firearm was given its name for both resemblance and ...

headspace

Military; Firearms

The distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge (the datum reference) to the face of the bolt. Used as a verb, headspace refers to the interference ...

headstamp

Military; Firearms

A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber, if it is ...

heavy machine gun

Military; Firearms

A larger class of machine gun.

high brass

Military; Firearms

A shotgun shell for more powerful loads with the brass extended up further along the sides of the shell, while light loads will use "low brass" shells. The brass does not actually provide a ...