1.
Pistol
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A pistol is a type of handgun. In some usage, the term refers to a subset of handguns. In other usage, the term is interchangeable with handgun, some handgun experts and dictionaries make a technical distinction that views pistols as a subset of handguns, others use the terms interchangeably. But UK/rest of Commonwealth usage does not always make this distinction, for example, the official designation of the Webley Mk VI revolver was Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No.1 Mk VI. The English word was introduced in ca.1570 from the Middle French pistolet, the etymology of the French word pistolet is disputed. The first suggestion derives the word from Czech píšťala, a type of hand-cannon used in the Hussite Wars during the 1420s, the Czech word was adopted in German as pitschale, pitschole, petsole, and variants. The second suggestion is less likely, the use of the word as a designation of a gun is not documented before 1605 in Italy, long after it was used in French, the Czech word is well documented since the Hussite wars in 1420s. Other suggestions include from Middle High German pischulle or from Middle French pistole, also it is suggested that early pistols were carried by cavalry in holsters hung from the pommel of a horses saddle. The most common types of pistol are the shot. Single shot handguns were mainly seen during the era of flintlock and musket weaponry where the pistol was loaded with a ball and fired by a flint striker. However, as technology improved, so did the single shot pistol, new operating mechanisms were created, and due to this, they are still made today. It is the oldest type of pistol, and is used to hunt wild game. Multi-barreled pistols were common during the time as single shot pistols. As designers looked for ways to increase fire rates, multiple barrels were added to all guns including pistols, one example of a multi-barreled pistol is the Ducks foot pistol, which generally had either four or eight barrels, although some 20th century models had three barrels. Around 1850, pistols such as the Jarre harmonica gun were produced that had a sliding magazine, the sliding magazine contained pinfire cartridges or speedloaders. The magazine needed to be moved manually in many designs, hence distinguishing them from semi-automatic pistols, with the development of the revolver in the 19th century, gunsmiths had finally achieved the goal of a practical capability for delivering multiple loads to one handgun barrel in quick succession. The semi-automatic pistol was the step in the development of the pistol. By avoiding multiple chambers—which need to be individually reloaded—semi-automatic pistols delivered faster rates of fire, an example of a modern blow back action semi-automatic pistol is the HK VP70
2.
Colt's Manufacturing Company
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Colts Manufacturing Company is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt. It is the corporation to Colts earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colts earliest designs played a role in the popularization of the revolver. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful ones. The most famous Colt products include the Colt Walker, made 1847 in the facilities of Eli Whitney Jr. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was also responsible for all AR-15 and M16 rifle production. The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, in 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colts Manufacturing Company. Colts Manufacturing Company now serves the market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military. The two companies remained in the same West Hartford, Connecticut location cross-licensing certain merchandise before reuniting in 2013, following the loss of its M4 contract in 2013, Colt was briefly in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, starting in 2015. Samuel Colt received a British patent on his design for a revolver in 1835. That same year, he founded his first corporation for its manufacture, the first firearm manufactured at the new Paterson plant, however, was the Colt First Model Ring Lever rifle beginning in 1837. This was followed thereafter in late 1837 by the introduction of the Colt Paterson. This corporation suffered quality problems in production, making firearms with interchangeable parts was still rather new, and it was not yet easy to replicate across different factories. Interchangeability was not complete in the Paterson works, and traditional gunsmithing techniques did not fill the gap entirely there, the Colt Paterson revolver found patchy success and failure, some worked well, while others had problems. The United States Marine Corps and United States Army reported quality problems with these earliest Colt revolvers, production had ended at the New Jersey corporation by 1842. Colt made another attempt at revolver production in 1846 and submitted a prototype to the US government, during the Mexican–American War, this prototype was seen by Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker who made some suggestions to Colt about making it in a larger caliber. Having no factory or machinery to produce the pistols, Samuel Colt collaborated with the Whitney armory of Whitneyville and this armory was run by the family of Eli Whitney. Eli Whitney Jr, the son of the patriarch, was the head of the family armory
3.
Cartridge (firearms)
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Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank, One that is completely inert is called a dummy. Some artillery ammunition uses the same concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the shell is separate from the propellant charge. In popular use, the bullet is often misused to refer to a complete cartridge. The cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore, a firing pin strikes the primer and ignites it. The primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate, a jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder pressurize and expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall and these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressure drops to atmospheric pressure. The case, which had been expanded by chamber pressure. This eases removal of the case from the chamber, brass is a commonly used case material because it is resistant to corrosion. A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the pressures of cartridges. The neck and body portion of a case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass, but it is not feasible to reload, Military forces typically consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck
4.
.38 ACP
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The.38 ACP also known as the.38 Auto was introduced at the turn of the 20th century for the John Browning-designed Colt M1900. It was first used in Colts Model 1897 prototype, which he did not produce, the metric designation for the round is 9×23mmSR. Initial loadings of this cartridge were quite powerful, reported ballistics for the first commercial loads were a 130-grain bullet at 1,260 ft/s, and some experimental loads ran as high as 1,350 ft/s. However, these proved too violent for the Colt Model 1900 pistol. Subsequent commercial loadings varied considerably in power, later U. S. commercial loads in this caliber had factory standard ballistics of a 130-grain bullet at 1,040 ft/s from the 4. 5-inch barrel of the Colt 1903 Pocket Model. With Army Ordnance favoring a return to a.45 caliber sidearm by the time the Colt autos in.38 ACP were introduced, the caliber never gained much popularity. However, they did see small but steady sales up until the introduction of the more powerful.38 Super, sales of.38 ACP was semi-rimmed and slightly shorter than the rimless 9 mm Largo. Some Astra 400 pistols were stamped 9M/M&38 on the barrel, denoting that the barrel was designed to chamber both 9mm Largo and.38 ACP. Europe would eventually favor the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge, the Luger was ballistically similar to the.38 ACP but utilized a smaller case and higher pressures. Browning himself was not done with 9mm cartridges and would introduce the 9mm Browning Long in 1903. Even though.38 ACP and.38 Super are the size, it is dangerous to use the more powerful.38 Super ammunition in a firearm intended for.38 ACP. In the interest of safety, American ammunition companies always loaded.38 ACP loads in brass cases, while.38 Super ammunition was loaded in nickeled cases
5.
Bullet
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The word bullet is a firearm term. A bullet is a projectile expelled from the barrel of a firearm, the term is from Middle French and originated as the diminutive of the word boulle which means small ball. Bullets are made of a variety of materials and they are available singly as they would be used in muzzle loading and cap and ball firearms, as part of a paper cartridge, and much more commonly as a component of metallic cartridges. Bullets are made in a numbers of styles and constructions depending on how they will be used. Many bullets have specialized functions, such as hunting, target shooting, training, defense, a bullet is not a cartridge. In paper and metallic cartridges a bullet is one component of the cartridge, bullet sizes are expressed by their weight and diameter in both English and Metric measurement systems. For example.22 caliber 55 grain bullets or 5. 56mm 55 grain bullets are the same caliber, the word bullet is often used colloquially to refer to a cartridge, which is a combination of the bullet, paper or metallic case/shell, powder, and primer. This use of bullet, when cartridge is intended, leads to confusion when the components of a cartridge are discussed or intended, the bullets used in many cartridges are fired at a muzzle velocity faster than the speed of sound. Meaning they are supersonic and thus can travel a substantial distance, bullet speed through air depends on a number of factors such as barometric pressure, humidity, air temperature, and wind speed. Subsonic cartridges fire bullets slower than the speed of sound and so there is no sonic crack and this means that a subsonic cartridge such as.45 ACP can be effectively suppressed to be substantially quieter than a supersonic cartridge such as the.223 Remington. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the target by impact. The first use of gunpowder in Europe was recorded in 1247 and it had been used in China for hundreds of years. Later in 1364 hand cannon appeared, early projectiles were made of stone. Stone was used in cannon and hand cannon, in cannon it was eventually found that stone would not penetrate stone fortifications which gave rise to the use of heavier metals for the round projectiles. Hand cannon projectiles developed in a similar following the failure of stone from siege cannon. The first recorded instance of a ball from a hand cannon penetrating armor occurred in 1425. In this photograph of shot retrieved from the wreck of the Mary Rose which was sunk in 1545, the round shot are clearly of different sizes and some are stone while others are cast iron. The development of the hand culverin and matchlock arquebus brought about the use of cast lead balls as projectiles, bullet is derived from the French word boulette, which roughly means little ball
6.
Grain (unit)
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A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and, for the troy grain, equal to exactly 7001647989100000000♠64.79891 milligrams. It is nominally based upon the mass of a seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat, rather, expressions such as thirty-two grains of wheat, taken from the middle of the ear appear to have been ritualistic formulas, essentially the premodern equivalent of legal boilerplate. Another book states that Captain Henry Kater, of the British Standards Commission, the grain was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems, and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries systems of mass. The unit was based on the weight of a grain of barley. The fundamental unit of the pre-1527 English weight system known as Tower weights, was a different sort of known as the wheat grain. The Tower wheat grain was defined as exactly 45⁄64 of a troy grain.79891 milligrams, 7000100000000000000♠1 gram is approximately 7001154323600000000♠15.43236 grains. The unit formerly used by jewellers to measure pearls, diamonds, or other stones, called the jewellers grain or pearl grain, is equal to 1⁄4 of a carat. The grain was also the name of a traditional French unit equal to 6995531150000000000♠53.115 mg. In both British Imperial and U. S. customary units, there are precisely 7,000 grains per avoirdupois pound, the grain is commonly used to measure the mass of bullets and propellants. The term also refers to a particle of gunpowder, the size of which varies according to requirements. In archery, the grain is the unit used to weigh arrows. In dentistry, gold foil, used as a material to restore teeth, is measured in grains, in North America, the hardness of water is often measured in grains per US gallon of calcium carbonate equivalents. Otherwise, water hardness is measured in the metric unit parts per million, one grain per US gallon is approximately 6995171000000000000♠17.1 ppm. Soft water contains 1–4 gpg of calcium carbonate equivalents, while hard water contains 11–20 gpg, though no longer recommended, grains are still used occasionally in medicine as part of the apothecaries system, especially in prescriptions for older medicines such as aspirin or phenobarbital. For example, the dosage of a standard 6996325000000000000♠325 mg tablet of aspirin is sometimes given as 7000500000000000000♠5 grains, in that example the grain is approximated to 6995650000000000000♠65 mg, though the grain can also be approximated to 6995600000000000000♠60 mg, depending on the medication and manufacturer. The apothecaries system has its own system of notation, in which the symbol or abbreviation is followed by the quantity in lower case Roman numerals. For amounts less than one, the quantity is written as a fraction, or for one half, therefore, a prescription for tablets containing 325 mg of aspirin and 30 mg of codeine can be written ASA gr
7.
Rifling
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In firearms, rifling consists of helical grooves in the internal surface of a guns barrel, which impart a spin to a projectile around its long axis. This spin serves to stabilize the projectile, improving its aerodynamic stability. Rifling is often described by its twist rate, which indicates the distance the rifling takes to complete one revolution, such as 1 turn in 10 inches. A shorter distance indicates a faster twist, meaning that for a given velocity the projectile will be rotating at a spin rate. Barrels intended for long, small-diameter bullets, such as the ultra-low-drag, 80-grain 0.223 inch bullets, extremely long projectiles such as flechettes may require high twist rates, these projectiles must be inherently stable, and are often fired from a smoothbore barrel. Muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using ball-shaped ammunition fired at low velocity. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle. Consequently, on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired, barrel rifling was invented in Augsburg, Germany in 1498. In 1520 August Kotter, an armourer of Nuremberg, Germany improved upon this work, though true rifling dates from the mid-16th century, it did not become commonplace until the nineteenth century. The most successful weapons using rifling with black powder were breech loaders such as the Queen Anne pistol, the grooves most commonly used in modern rifling have fairly sharp edges. More recently, polygonal rifling, a throwback to the earliest types of rifling, has become popular, polygonal barrels tend to have longer service lives because the reduction of the sharp edges of the land reduces erosion of the barrel. Supporters of polygonal rifling also claim higher velocities and greater accuracy, polygonal rifling is currently seen on pistols from CZ, Heckler & Koch, Glock, Tanfoglio, and Kahr Arms, as well as the Desert Eagle. Such guns have achieved significant increases in velocity and range. Examples include the South African G5 and the German PzH2000, gain-twist rifling begins with very little change in the projectiles angular momentum during the first few inches of bullet travel after ignition during the transition from chamber to throat. This enables the bullet to remain undisturbed and trued to the case mouth. After engaging the rifling the bullet is progressively subjected to accelerated angular momentum as burning powder propels it down the barrel. By only gradually increasing the rate, torque is spread along a much longer section of barrel. Gain-twist rifling was used as early as the American Civil War, colt Army and Navy revolvers both employed gain-twist rifling
8.
Primer (firearms)
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In firearm ballistics, the primer is a component of pistol, rifle, and shotgun rounds. Early primers were simply the same black powder used to fire the weapon and this external powder was connected though a tube in the barrel that led to the main charge. As powder wont burn when wet, this led to difficulty, or even the inability, modern primers are shock sensitive chemicals. In smaller weapons the primer is usually integrated into the rear of a cartridge, in larger weapons like cannon the primer is a separate component placed inside the barrel to the rear of the main propellant charge. The first step to firing a firearm of any sort is igniting the propellant, the earliest firearms were cannons, which were simple closed tubes. There was an aperture, the touchhole, drilled in the closed end of the tube. This hole was filled with finely ground powder, which was ignited with a hot ember or torch. With the advent of firearms, this became an undesirable way of firing a gun. The first attempt to make the process of firing a small arm easier was the matchlock, the matchlock incorporated a lock that was actuated by a trigger, originally called a tricker. The lock was a lever which pivoted when pulled. The match was a burning fuse made of plant fibers that were soaked in a solution of nitrates, charcoal, and sulfur. This slow-match was ignited before the gun was needed, and it would slowly burn, after the gun was loaded and the touchhole primed with powder, the burning tip of the match was positioned so that the lock would bring it into contact with the touchhole. To fire the gun, it was aimed and the trigger pulled and this brought the match down to the touchhole, igniting the powder. With careful attention the slow-burning match could be burning for long periods of time. The next revolution in technology was the wheel-lock. It used a spring-loaded, serrated steel wheel which rubbed against a piece of iron pyrite, a key was used to wind the wheel and put the spring under tension. Once tensioned, the wheel was held in place by a trigger, when the trigger was pulled, the serrated edge of the steel rubbed against the pyrite, generating sparks. These sparks were directed into a pan, called the flash pan, the flashpan usually was protected by a spring-loaded cover that would slide out of the way when the trigger was pulled, exposing the powder to the sparks
9.
International Practical Shooting Confederation
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The International Practical Shooting Confederation is the worlds second largest shooting sport association and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC as of 2016 affiliates 100 regions from Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, competitions are held with pistol, revolver, rifle and shotgun, and competitors are divided into different divisions based on firearm and equipment features. While everyone in a division competes in the Overall category, there are also own separate awards for the categories Lady, Junior, Senior, IPSC organizes the World Championships called the Handgun World Shoot, Rifle World Shoot and Shotgun World Shoot with three year intervals for each discipline. The sport soon expanded to Europe, Australia, South America and Africa, jeff Cooper served as the first IPSC President. Today there are over 100 active IPSC regions, making shooting an major international sport which emphasizes firearms safety highly. Only full caliber firearms are used, i. e. for handguns 9x19 mm is the smallest caliber, accuracy and speed is reflected by the comstock scoring method, while power is reflected by the minimum power factor requirement. Competitors fire the stages one at a time, and the system is based on achieving most possible points in the shortest time. The method used is called comstock, named after its inventor Walt Comstock, the time is measured from the start signal until the last shot fired using special shot timers with microphones, and this way the competitor can influence the total stage time. Since the number of rounds is unlimited, the competitor can re-engage the same target in order to get more points, usually the two best scoring hits count for each target. Competitors are ranked for each stage by their hit factor, which is the ratio of points per second, the hit factor is calculated by summing the points and dividing by the time used. If a competitor scores 115 points and uses 25.00 seconds he will get a hit factor for that stage of 115 points⁄23.00 s =4.6. For the overall score, stage points are added for all stages. The scoring method allows for a precise gradation of performances across the match, the power factor is the momentum of the fired bullet as its moving through the air, which contribute to the recoil of the firearm. Thus, the factor in a way reflects recoil. In for instance handgun competitions the ammunition must exceed 125 kgr·ft/s for minor scoring, extra scoring is not given for exceeding the threshold. A competitor declaring major, but who fails the threshold, have their score re-calculated at minor, a competitor who fails the threshold of minor is given a score of zero for the match. Minimum power factors To achieve a varied, challenging and exciting sport there are no fixed target arrangements, distances or shooting programs, making every match unique. Paper and steel targets can be mixed in the same stage, paper targets have the three scoring zones A, C and D with points per hit varying slightly depending on power factor
10.
M1911 pistol
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The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the.45 ACP cartridge. It served as the sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986. It was first used in stages of the Philippine–American War, and was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War. The pistols formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber.45, M1911 for the model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber.45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber.45, Automatic, the U. S. procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during its service life. The M1911 was replaced by the 9mm Beretta M9 pistol as the standard U. S. sidearm in October 1986, but due to its popularity among users, it has not been completely phased out. Modernized derivative variants of the M1911 are still in use by units of the U. S. Army Special Forces. Designed by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design, the pistol was widely copied, and this operating system rose to become the preeminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols. It is popular with civilian shooters in competitive events such as USPSA, IDPA, International Practical Shooting Confederation, compact variants are popular civilian concealed carry weapons in the U. S. because of the designs relatively slim width and stopping power of the.45 ACP cartridge. The M1911 pistol originated in the late 1890s as the result of a search for a suitable self-loading pistol to replace the variety of then in service. Maxim had designed a self-loading rifle in the 1880s, but was preoccupied with machine guns, nevertheless, the application of his principle of using cartridge energy to reload led to several self-loading pistols in 1896. The designs caught the attention of various militaries, each of which programs to find a suitable one for their forces. In the U. S. such a program would lead to a formal test at the turn of the 20th century, during the end of 1899 and start of 1900, a test of self-loading pistols was conducted, which included entries from Mauser, Mannlicher, and Colt. This led to a purchase of 1,000 DWM Luger pistols, chambered in 7. 65mm Luger, during field trials these ran into some problems, especially with stopping power. Other governments had made similar complaints, consequently, DWM produced an enlarged version of the round, the 9×19mm Parabellum, a necked-up version of the 7.65 mm round. Fifty of these were tested as well by the U. S. Army in 1903, American units fighting Moro guerrillas during the Philippine–American War using the then-standard Colt M1892 revolver. The problems prompted the then–Chief of Ordnance, General William Crozier and this led to the 1906 trials of pistols from six firearms manufacturing companies. Of the six designs submitted, three were eliminated early on, leaving only the Savage, Colt, and DWM designs chambered in the new.45 ACP cartridge and these three still had issues that needed correction, but only Colt and Savage resubmitted their designs
11.
Body armor
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Body armor or Body armour, or personal armor/armour is protective clothing, designed to absorb and/or deflect slashing, bludgeoning and penetrating attacks by weapons. It was historically used to military personnel, whereas today, it is also used to protect various types of police, private citizens. Many factors have affected the development of personal armor throughout human history, significant factors in the development of armor include the economic and technological necessities of armor production. For instance full plate armor first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper, with the development of capitalism and technological advancements armor became more available to the lower classes often at a cost of quality. Eastern armor has a history, spanning several thousand years. The oldest known Western armor is the Dendra panoply, dating from the Mycenaean Era around 1400 BC, mail, also referred to as chainmail, is made of interlocking iron rings, which may be riveted or welded shut. It is believed to have been invented by Celtic people in Europe about 500 BC, most cultures who used mail used the Celtic word Byrnne or a variant, suggesting the Celts as the originators. The Romans widely adopted mail as the lorica hamata, although they made use of lorica segmentata. While no non-metallic armor survives, a linen laminate known as linothorax is repeatedly mentioned in ancient Greek sources, in East Asian history laminated armor such as lamellar, and styles similar to the coat of plates, and brigandine were commonly used. Later cuirasses and plates were also used, in pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armor was made out of rhinoceros. Chinese influence in Japan would result in the Japanese adopting Chinese styles, gradually, small additional plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas. By the late 13th century, the knees were capped, a variety of methods for improving the protection provided by mail were used as armorers seemingly experimented. Hardened leather and splinted construction were used for arm and leg pieces, the coat of plates was developed, an armor made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat. Early plate in Italy, and elsewhere in the 13th to 15th centuries were made of iron, Iron armor could be carburized or case hardened to give a surface of harder steel. Mail continued to be used to protect those joints which could not be protected by plate, such as the armpit, crook of the elbow. Another advantage of plate was that a lance rest could be fitted to the breast plate, the small skull cap evolved into a bigger true helmet, the bascinet, as it was lengthened downward to protect the back of the neck and the sides of the head. Additionally, several new forms of fully enclosed helmets were introduced in the late 14th century to replace the great helm, such as the sallet and barbute and later the armet and close helm. By about 1400 the full harness of plate armor had been developed in armories of Lombardy Heavy cavalry dominated the battlefield for centuries in part because of their armor
12.
.357 Magnum
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The.357 S&W Magnum, or simply.357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge with a. 357-inch bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B, Wesson of firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wessons earlier.38 Special cartridge, the.357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in 1934, and its use has since become widespread. This cartridge started the Magnum era of handgun ammunition, the.357 Magnum cartridge is notable for its stopping power. The.357 Magnum was collaboratively developed over a period in the early to mid-1930s by a group of individuals in a response to Colts.38 Super Automatic. Tests at the revealed that those vests defeated any handgun cartridge traveling at less than about 1,000 feet per second. Colts.38 Super Automatic just edged over that velocity and was able to penetrate car doors and vests that bootleggers and gangsters were employing as cover. Though.38 and.357 would seem to be different diameter chamberings, they are in fact identical, the.38 Special nomenclature relates to the previous use of heeled bullets, which were the same diameter as the case. Thus, the only difference in the two cartridges is a slight difference in length, solely for safety purposes. Much credit for the. 357s early development is given to hunter and experimenter Elmer Keith, the. 38-44 HV load used the. 38-Special cartridge loaded to a much higher velocity than standard. 38-Special ammunition. The. 38-44 revolvers were made by using a.44 Special size gun with the barrel bored to accept. 357-caliber bullets, since the frame, cylinder, and barrel were much stronger than the standard.38 Special components, it was capable of withstanding much higher pressures. The. 38-44 HV round, while no longer available, was in most cases the equal of the later.357 Magnum, which works at more than double the pressure of standard.38 Special. Elmer Keith also contributed the Keith-style bullet, which increased the mass of bullet located outside the cartridge, the Keith bullet also employed a large, flat meplat, thus enabling rapid energy transfer for greater wounding properties. At the same time, this design does not deform like a hollow point. These characteristics of the Keith bullet make it suitable for hunting applications as well as for target shooting. In order to reassert itself as the leading law-enforcement armament provider, Smith & Wesson developed the.357 Magnum, Wesson leading the effort within Smith & Wesson, along with considerable technical assistance from Phillip B. Sharpe, a member of the Technical Division staff of the National Rifle Association, the new round was developed from Smith & Wessons existing.38 Special round. It used a different powder load, and ultimately the case was extended by 1⁄8 inch, the case extension was more a matter of safety than of necessity
13.
Headspace (firearms)
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In firearms, headspace is the distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge to the face of the bolt. Used as a verb, headspace refers to the interference created between this part of the chamber and the feature of the cartridge that achieves the correct positioning, different cartridges have their datum lines in different positions in relation to the cartridge. For example,5.56 NATO ammunition headspaces off the shoulder of the cartridge, if the headspace is too short, ammunition that is in specification may not chamber correctly. If headspace is too large, the ammunition may not fit as intended or designed, the cartridge is said to be rimless if the extractor groove is machined into the head of the case so the rim is the same diameter as the adjacent part of the case. Most modern automatic firearms use rimless cartridges, straight-walled rimless cartridges often headspace on the forward lip of the cartridge as shown in the diagram at the top of this article. This necessitates careful attention to consistent case length, bottle-necked rimless cartridges may headspace on the conical shoulder between the narrow neck and the larger diameter portion of the case. All small arms cartridges have a flange at the base of the case called a rim, the part of the firearm called an extractor claw hooks over the rim to extract the spent case from the chamber after it has been fired. The cartridge is said to be of a type when the rim is of larger diameter than the remainder of the case. Most early cartridges were rimmed, and the ledge at the rear of the chamber prevents the cartridge from moving forward. Headspace for rimmed cartridges is the space between that forward ledge and the face when the action is closed. Some large rimless magnum cartridges have a belt formed above the extractor groove and this belt is of slightly larger diameter than the adjacent case, so the cartridge can headspace from the forward edge of the belt closest to the bullet. The original purpose of the belt was to give accurate headspacing for cartridges with shallow shoulder angles, where longitudinal precision of seating using such a shoulder presents difficulties. In effect this was similar to the function of a rim. Some more or less straight cartridges have no bottleneck to headspace on, such cylindrical shaped cartridge cases use the case mouth as a forward positioned flange used for headspacing. There are four types of control to consider based on the case type used. This style of case relies on the face of the case neck. It is from this circular conic section face, as a datum, examples include.308 Winchester.223 Remington, and 7. 92×57mm Mauser. For a rimmed case, where the rim extends beyond the diameter of the case, such as with.22 Long Rifle. 30-30 Winchester, a rimmed case can have straight, tapered, or bottlenecked case walls
14.
Rim (firearms)
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A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called flanged cartridges, almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing rim, in spite of the fact that some cartridges are known as rimless cartridges. These types are rimmed, rimless, semi-rimmed, rebated rim and these categories describe the size of the rim in relation to the base of the case. The rimmed cartridge, sometimes called flanged cartridge, is the oldest of the types and has a rim that is larger in diameter than the base of the cartridge. Rimmed cartridges use the rim to hold the cartridge in the chamber of the firearm, because the rimmed cartridge headspaces on the rim, the case length is of less importance than rimless cartridges. This allows some firearms chambered for similar rimmed cartridges to safely chamber and fire shorter cartridges, rimmed cartridges are well suited to certain types of actions, such as revolvers, where the rim helps hold the cartridge in position, and break-action firearms. Semi-automatic handguns have been chambered in rimmed cartridges as well, for example a LAR Grizzly or Desert Eagle in.357 or.44 Magnum, under the metric cartridge designation system, a capitalized R added at the end of the designation denotes a rimmed cartridge. For example,7. 62×54mmR is a cartridge, while 7. 62×51mm is a rimless cartridge.45 Auto Rim. Examples of rimmed handgun cartridges include the.38 Special.357 Magnum, rimmed rifle cartridge examples include the.22 Hornet.303 British and 7. 62×54mmR. Rimless cases are not well suited to break-open and revolver actions, though they can be used with modifications, such as a spring-loaded extractor or, in a revolver. Crimping affects the length of the cartridge, and thus cannot be used on cartridges which headspace on the case mouth. Examples of rimless handgun cartridges include the 9mm Parabellum.40 S&W, rimless rifle examples include the.223 Remington.308 Winchester. 30-06 Springfield and 7. 92×57mm Mauser. On a semi-rimmed case the rim projects slightly beyond the base of the case, the tiny rim provides minimal interference feeding from a box magazine, while still providing enough surface to headspace on. Semi-rimmed cases are less common than the other types, if the chamber is cut shallow, so the case headspaces off the mouth, the rim is used for extraction only, a standard chamber will use the rim for both headspacing and extraction. Examples of more commonly encountered rimless handgun cartridges are.25 ACP.32 ACP and.38 ACP, while the.308 Marlin Express.338 Marlin Express and.444 Marlin are rifle cartridges that are semi-rimmed. Rebated rim cartridges have a rim that is smaller in diameter than the base of the case. Functionally the same as a case, the rebated rim provides some additional benefits when considered in conjunction with other cartridges. One example of a rebated rim cartridge is the.50 Action Express, by using the same rim dimensions as the.44 Magnum, a Desert Eagle could be converted from.44 Magnum to.50 AE by merely changing the barrel and magazine
15.
Feed ramp
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Feed ramp is a basic feature of many breech loading cartridge firearm designs. It is a machined and polished piece of metal which guides the cartridge at the top of the magazine into the firing chamber of the barrel. Depending on design, the ramp may be part of the magazine, part of the receiver or frame. However, some firearms, like the FN Five-seven, have a beveled chamber instead of a feed ramp, the feed ramp is a critical part of an semi-automatic pistol or automatic rifle. The feed ramp is a point of mechanical failure that leads to a jam of an automatic pistol. A rough surface or the presence of debris on the ramp will eventually lead to the bullet being directed off-center. Polishing a feed ramp is among the commonly performed by gunsmiths
16.
Magazine (firearms)
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A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines can be removable or integral to the firearm, the magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm. The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip, although this is technically inaccurate, magazines come in many shapes and sizes, from those of bolt-action express rifles that hold only a few rounds to drum magazines for self-loading rifles that can hold one hundred rounds or more. Various jurisdictions ban what they define as high-capacity magazines, with the increased use of semi-automatic and automatic firearms, the detachable box magazine became increasingly common. Soon after the adoption of the M1911 pistol, the magazine was settled on by the military and firearms experts. The defining difference between clips and magazines is the presence of a mechanism in a magazine, typically a spring-loaded follower. Use of the clip to refer to detachable magazines is a point of strong disagreement. The first mass-produced repeater was the Volcanic Rifle which used a bullet with the base filled with powder and primer fed into the chamber from a spring-loaded tube called a magazine. It was named after a building or room used to store ammunition, the anemic power of the Rocket Ball ammunition used in the Volcanic doomed it to limited popularity. The Henry repeating rifle is a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine fed rifle, designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in 1860, it was one of the first firearms to use self-contained metallic cartridges. The Henry was introduced in the early 1860s and produced through 1866 in the United States by the New Haven Arms Company and it was adopted in small quantities by the Union in the Civil War and favored for its greater firepower than the standard issue carbine. Many later found their way West and was famed both for its use at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and being the basis for the iconic Winchester rifle which are made to this day. The Henry and Winchester rifles would go on to see service with a number of militaries including Turkey, switzerland and Italy adopted similar designs. The first magazine-fed firearm to achieve success was the Spencer repeating rifle. The Spencer used a magazine located in the butt of the gun instead of under the barrel. The Spencer was successful, but the rimfire ammunition did occasionally ignite in the magazine tube and it could also injure the user. The new bolt-action rifles began to favor with militaries in the 1880s and were often equipped with tubular magazines. The Mauser Model 1871 was originally a single-shot action that added a magazine in its 1884 update
17.
Headstamp
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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 military, the year of manufacture is often added. The headstamp is punched into the base of the cartridge during manufacture, a resource for identifying where the ammunition originated can be found at Cartridge Collectors. Bruce Bertram bought Super Cartridge Co. s machinery and moved it to Seymour, Brass is sold in lots of 20-case cartons and can be made to customers specifications with personalized headstamps. ICI-ANZ - Imperial Chemical Industries - Australia / New Zealand Deer Park, Melbourne, manufactured cartridges and shotshells from the 1940s until the late 1970s. They also made brass cases for filling and loading by their parent company in the United Kingdom, RBA or RIVERBRAND - Riverbrand Ammunition Company, Hendon, South Australia, Australia. Syd Churches, owner of the Taipan Bullet Company, bought out the defunct Small Arms Ammunition Factories No.3 &4 at Hendon after the war, early new production used Berdan primed brass cases. Full production used newly manufactured Boxer-primed cases in a variety of pistol and wildcat sporting rifle cartridges. They also made ammo for Sportco in Adelaide under the SPORTCO headstamp, Riverbrand was always a small-scale endeavor, as there was too much competition from Super Cartridge Company and foreign ammunition manufacturers. After Churches death in the late 1970s, RIVERBRANDs bullet-making machinery was sold and moved to Gympie, Wide Bay–Burnett, Queensland, owner Malcolm Bone now manufactures bullets in small lots for handloaders, since the companys major toolmaker and die-setter died a few years ago. Manufacturer of cartridges, shotshells, and bullets and brass cases for handloading and they originally sold sporting cartridges made from reloaded Australian-made.303 Imperial brass and sold wildcat cartridges made from the base.303 cartridge. They also made proprietary wildcat ammunition for the MYRA Sports Store in Broken Hill and they were sued for copyright infringement in the early 1980s by Olin-Winchester for their similar one-piece polymer shotshell design. They were barred from making the shells, gave up manufacturing shotshells altogether, CBC Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos S. A. - It owns the Magtech Ammunition brand, which is its exported commercial, currently CBC Group also controls MEN and Sellier & Bellot. C-I-L or CIL Canadian Industries Ltd, a corporation formed in 1910 from a merger of five Canadian explosives companies and their assets. It ran the Defence Industries Ltd. munitions plants from 1940 to 1946 and it owned the Dominion, Imperial and Canuck commercial ammunition brands. It used the CIL headstamp on its cartridges from 1955 until 1976, DCCO, Dominion Dominion Cartridge Co. Ltd. A division of Dominion Arsenal that produced ammunition for the civilian market and it was made part of the Canadian Explosives Company in 1911, which became Canadian Industries Ltd. in 1928
18.
Litre
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The litre or liter is an SI accepted metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre,1,000 cubic centimetres or 1/1,000 cubic metre. A cubic decimetre occupies a volume of 10×10×10 centimetres and is equal to one-thousandth of a cubic metre. The original French metric system used the litre as a base unit. The word litre is derived from an older French unit, the litron, whose name came from Greek — where it was a unit of weight, not volume — via Latin, and which equalled approximately 0.831 litres. The litre was also used in subsequent versions of the metric system and is accepted for use with the SI. The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is litre, the less common spelling of liter is more predominantly used in American English. One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram. Subsequent redefinitions of the metre and kilogram mean that this relationship is no longer exact, a litre is defined as a special name for a cubic decimetre or 10 centimetres ×10 centimetres ×10 centimetres. Hence 1 L ≡0.001 m3 ≡1000 cm3, from 1901 to 1964, the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at maximum density and standard pressure. The kilogram was in turn specified as the mass of a platinum/iridium cylinder held at Sèvres in France and was intended to be of the mass as the 1 litre of water referred to above. It was subsequently discovered that the cylinder was around 28 parts per million too large and thus, during this time, additionally, the mass-volume relationship of water depends on temperature, pressure, purity and isotopic uniformity. In 1964, the definition relating the litre to mass was abandoned in favour of the current one, although the litre is not an official SI unit, it is accepted by the CGPM for use with the SI. CGPM defines the litre and its acceptable symbols, a litre is equal in volume to the millistere, an obsolete non-SI metric unit customarily used for dry measure. The litre is often used in some calculated measurements, such as density. One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram when measured at its maximal density, similarly,1 millilitre of water has a mass of about 1 g,1,000 litres of water has a mass of about 1,000 kg. It is now known that density of water depends on the isotopic ratios of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a particular sample. The litre, though not an official SI unit, may be used with SI prefixes, the most commonly used derived unit is the millilitre, defined as one-thousandth of a litre, and also often referred to by the SI derived unit name cubic centimetre. It is a commonly used measure, especially in medicine and cooking, Other units may be found in the table below, where the more often used terms are in bold
19.
Percussion cap
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The percussion cap, introduced circa 1820, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzleloading firearms to fire reliably in any weather. This gave rise to the caplock or percussionlock system, before this development, firearms used flintlock ignition systems that produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the guns main powder charge. Flintlocks were prone to misfire in wet weather, and many flintlock firearms were later converted to the more reliable percussion system, the percussion cap is a small cylinder of copper or brass with one closed end. Inside the closed end is an amount of a shock-sensitive explosive material such as fulminate of mercury. The percussion cap is placed over a hollow metal nipple at the end of the gun barrel. Pulling the trigger releases a hammer strikes the percussion cap. The flame travels through the nipple to ignite the main powder charge. Percussion caps were, and still are, made in sizes for pistols and larger sizes for rifles. While the metal percussion cap was the most popular and widely used type of primer, accordingly, several manufacturers developed alternative, auto-priming systems. The Maynard tape primer, for example, used a roll of paper much like todays toy cap gun. The Maynard tape primer was fitted to some firearms used in the mid-nineteenth century, other disc or pellet-type primers held a supply of tiny fulminate detonator discs in a small magazine. Cocking the hammer automatically advanced a disc into position, however, these automatic feed systems were difficult to make with the manufacturing systems in the early and mid-nineteenth century and generated more problems than they solved. While it had a number of problems, it was used by the Prussians. In the 1850s, the cap was first integrated into a metallic cartridge. By the late 1860s, breech-loading metallic cartridges had made the percussion cap system obsolete, today, reproduction percussion firearms are popular for recreational shooters and percussion caps are still available. Most percussion caps now use non-corrosive compounds such as lead styphnate, the percussion cap replaced the flint, the steel frizzen, and the powder pan of the flint-lock mechanism. It was only applied to the British military musket in 1842. The first percussion firearm produced for the US military was the carbine version of the M1819 Hall rifle
20.
Proof test
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A proof test is a form of stress test to demonstrate the fitness of a load-bearing structure, or rescue strop. An individual proof test may apply only to the unit tested, such a structure is often subjected to loads above that expected in actual use, demonstrating safety and design margin. Proof testing is nominally a nondestructive test, particularly if both design margins and test levels are well-chosen, however, unit failures are by definition considered to have been destroyed for their originally-intended use and load levels. Proof tests may be performed before a new design or unit is allowed to service, or perform additional uses. Cranes and derricks are proof tested when called on for potentially dangerous load levels or high-valued cargoes, similarly, items which are smaller and more common are nevertheless in the load path and a failure risk if not tested. Testing generally involves lifting weight or drawing tension equal to or greater than design levels, an overspeed proof test involves physically running the machine at high speed up to the test speed. This may be done during manufacture as a proof test. Physical overspeed tests may be undertaken on some machines to verify operation of the overspeed protection systems. Operation at speeds above the operating speed can greatly increase stress levels in rotating parts. Failing flywheels, rotors, etc. may present a risk in case of a failure. Historically, swords would be tested by impact before issuance- the British test. Vessels which may be a risk, such as utility-scale water towers, chemical-handling equipment, or very-high-pressure storage tanks. Rocket stage tankage, being high-valued and often the primary structure, are proof-tested when redesigned. Testing involves exposure to higher pressures than design levels, or in some cases. A firearms chamber and barrel become pressure vessels for brief periods, in firearm terminology, a proof test is a test wherein a deliberately over-pressured round is fired from a firearm in order to verify that the firearm is not defective and will not explode on firing. The firearm is inspected after the test, and if it is found to be in sound condition, in many jurisdictions a proof test and valid proof mark are required for the sale of firearms. A proof round is an assembly designed to be used in proof testing, this can use a fixed cartridge. A proof shot is a special projectile used in a round or other projectile weapons
21.
Pounds per square inch
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The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units. Now converting the psi to standard atmospheres,1 atm =101325 Pa =101325 Pa 6894.757293168 Pa / psi ≈14.70 psi Therefore,1 atmosphere is approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch. Pounds per square inch absolute is used to make it clear that the pressure is relative to a rather than the ambient atmospheric pressure. Since atmospheric pressure at sea level is around 14.7 psi, the converse is pounds per square inch gauge or pounds per square inch gage, indicating that the pressure is relative to atmospheric pressure. For example, a bicycle tire pumped up to 65 psi above atmospheric pressure. When gauge pressure is referenced to something other than ambient atmospheric pressure, the kilopound per square inch is a scaled unit derived from psi, equivalent to a thousand psi. Ksi are not widely used for gas pressures and they are mostly used in materials science, where the tensile strength of a material is measured as a large number of psi. The conversion in SI Units is 1 ksi =6.895 MPa, the megapound per square inch is another multiple equal to a million psi. It is used in mechanics for the modulus of the materials. The conversion in SI Units is 1 Mpsi =6.895 GPa, inch of water,0.036 psid Blood pressure – clinically normal human blood pressure,2.32 psig/1.55 psig Natural gas residential piped in for consumer appliance, 4–6 psig. Boost pressure provided by a turbocharger, 6–15 psig NFL football,12. 5–13.5 psig Atmospheric pressure at sea level,14
22.
Overpressure ammunition
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This is done typically to produce rounds with a higher muzzle velocity and stopping power, such as ammunition used for defensive purposes. Because of this, +P ammunition is found in handgun calibers which might be used for defensive purposes. Magnum cartridges, such as.357 Magnum or, for example, the.357 Magnum is slightly longer than the.38 Special, the lower powered round from which it was derived. +P ammunition, however, is identical to standard ammunition of its caliber. This was done when the ammunition manufacturers lowered the pressure of their standard rounds, +P ammunition was designed to replicate the performance of what had been standard pressure cartridges. +P cartridges are not recommended to be used in firearms of questionable quality, the burning characteristics of black powder used in early cartridges meant that these cartridges operated at low pressures, generally under 25,000 psi. With the advent of smokeless powder, which has a far greater energy density than black powder, cartridges such as the. 32-20 Winchester and. 44-40 Winchester were chambered in both revolvers and lever action rifles, and the rifles actions could handle much higher pressures. This led to machine gun only loads in these calibers, which provided far more velocity and energy in the rifles, but were not safe in the revolvers due to the higher pressures they generated. These loads were dropped due to a combination of safety concerns. The first modern smokeless powder cartridge deliberately loaded by a manufacturer to higher than standard pressure was the.38 ACP. This cartridge provided performance similar to other.38 caliber cartridges of the time, like the rifle only loads, the.38 Super could still be chambered in the older.38 ACP guns, producing a dangerous combination. Capable of reaching a muzzle energy of 500 ft/lbs, the.38 Super remains a viable defensive cartridge, though it is most popular in shooting sports such as IPSC. A similar move to a high pressure loading was done on the.38 Special in 1930, producing the. 38-44 HV loadings, official +P pressures are established by the SAAMI for certain cartridges, in general the +P pressure is approximately 10% higher than the standard pressure. SAAMI does not have a +P+ pressure standard, but this indicates a higher than the +P loading. In both cases this is below the pressure of a proof test cartridge, proof pressures are established by the SAAMI, as a percentage of the working pressure, so this places an upper bound on the +P+ pressures of 30–40%. By way of comparison, magnum calibers may be loaded to nearly twice the pressure of the rounds from which they were derived, overpressure rounds are commonly defensive rounds and are loaded by police and others in need of maximum power in a compact firearm. Accordingly, most overpressure rounds are hollow points or other types of expanding ammunition, higher pressure is not the same as high pressure, +P cartridges are generally loaded to pressures far below those typically found in magnum cartridges. Cartridges that are commonly boosted with +P pressures are the 9 mm Luger.45 ACP, and.38 Special, which are all cartridges that date from the early 20th century
