1.
Semi-automatic pistol
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One cartridge is fired each time the trigger of a semi-automatic pistol is pulled, the pistols disconnector ensures this behavior. Additional terms sometimes used as synonyms for a semi-automatic pistol are automatic pistol, self-loading pistol, autopistol, a semi-automatic pistol harnesses the energy of one shot to reload the chamber for the next. After a round is fired, the spent casing is ejected, most pistols use recoil operation to do this, but some pistols use blowback or gas operation. Most types of semi-automatic pistols rely on a magazine to store ammunition before it is fired. Typically, the first round is loaded into the chamber by pulling back. This is called racking the slide or racking the gun, after the trigger is pulled and the round is fired, the recoil operation of the handgun automatically extracts and ejects the shell casing and reloads the chamber. This mode of operation allows for faster reloading and storing a larger number of cartridges than a revolver. Each pull of the trigger on a DAO semi-automatic pistol requires the amount of pressure. The Kel-Tec P-32 is an example of a DAO action, DAO semi-automatic pistols are most generally recommended only in the smaller, self-defense, concealable pistols, rather than in target or hunting pistols. A notable exception is Glock-brand pistols which optimize preset triggers, and this allows for significantly shorter trigger pulls than DAO. The trigger spring can be replaced with a one and paired with a low-strength sear connector resulting in lightened trigger pulls to improve a shooters accuracy. Standard modern semi-automatic pistols are double action, also sometimes known as double-action/single-action. In this design, the hammer or striker may be either thumb-cocked or activated by pulling the trigger when firing the first shot, the hammer or striker is recocked automatically during each firing cycle. In double-action pistols, the first pull of the trigger requires roughly twice as much pressure as subsequent firings, the Beretta 92F/FS, a full-sized, service, semi-automatic pistol is an example of this style of action. A common mode of carry for DA semi-automatic pistols is with the full, a round chambered. In contrast, a single-action semi-automatic pistol must be cocked by first operating the slide or bolt, or, if a round is already chambered, the famed Colt M1911 is an example of this style of action. All SA semi-automatic pistols exhibit this feature, and automatically cock the hammer when the slide is first racked to chamber a round, a round can also be manually inserted in the chamber with the slide locked back. Then the safety can be applied, the normal mode of carrying an SA semi-automatic pistol is condition 1, popularly known as cocked and locked
2.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
3.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
4.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
5.
Rhodesian Bush War
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The Rhodesian Bush War—also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation—was a civil war that took place from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia. However, this new order failed to win recognition and the war continued. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British, ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence. Rhodesia was settled by Britons and South Africans beginning in the 1890s and while it was never accorded full dominion status, many white Rhodesians were concerned that decolonisation and majority rule would bring chaos as had resulted in the former Belgian Congo after its independence in 1960. Britains unwillingness to compromise on its policy of No independence before majority rule led to Rhodesias unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, though Rhodesia had the unofficial support of neighbouring South Africa and Portugal, which governed Mozambique, it never gained formal diplomatic recognition from any country. Many white Rhodesians viewed the war as one of survival in the context of atrocities committed against the population during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. Many whites viewed their lifestyle as being under attack, which both had considered safer and with a standard of living than many other African countries. Although the vote in Rhodesia was technically open to all, regardless of race, the 1969 constitution provided for Non-Europeans to elect representatives for eight of the seats in the 66 seat parliament. A further eight seats were reserved for tribal chiefs, amidst this backdrop, African nationalists advocated armed struggle to bring about independence in Rhodesia under black majority rule. Resistance also stemmed from the economic inequality between blacks and whites. In Rhodesia, whites owned most of the land whilst many blacks were crowded on barren land. ZANU and its military wing ZANLA were headed initially by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, ZAPU and its military wing ZIPRA consisted mainly of Ndebele ethnic groups under Joshua Nkomo. Cold War politics played into the conflict also, with the Soviet Union supporting ZIPRA, each group subsequently fought a separate war against the Rhodesian security forces, and the two groups sometimes fought against each other as well. In June 1979, the governments of Cuba and Mozambique offered direct military assistance to the Patriotic Front, other foreign nations also contributed to the conflict, for instance North Korean military officials taught Zimbabwean militants how to use explosives and arms in a camp near Pyongyang. By April 197912,000 ZANLA guerrillas were training in Tanzania, Ethiopia, on the other side of the conflict South Africa clandestinely provided both material and military support to the Rhodesian government. Inevitably the Bush War occurred within the context of regional Cold War in Africa, the conflict was seen by the nationalist groups and the British government of the time as a war of national and racial liberation. The Nationalists saw their country as having been occupied and dominated by a power, namely Britain. Ian Smiths Rhodesian Front party was elected to power in 1962, however, unsatisfied with this and spurred on by Britains refusal to recognise the new order, the nationalist forces persisted
6.
Falklands War
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It began on Friday,2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it had claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval force to engage the Argentine Navy. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, in total,649 Argentine military personnel,255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. The conflict was an episode in the protracted confrontation over the territories sovereignty. Argentina asserted that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory, the British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are descendants of British settlers. The conflict has had an effect in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films, and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the military government. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two governments issued a joint statement. No change in either countrys position regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit, in 1994, Argentinas claim to the territories was added to its constitution. In December 1981 there was a change in the Argentine military regime, bringing to office a new junta headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri, Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo. Anaya was the architect and supporter of a military solution for the long-standing claim over the islands. Such action would also bolster its dwindling legitimacy, the newspaper La Prensa speculated in a step-by-step plan beginning with cutting off supplies to the islands, ending in direct actions late in 1982, if the UN talks were fruitless. The Royal Navy ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance was dispatched from Stanley to South Georgia in response, the Argentine military junta, suspecting that the UK would reinforce its South Atlantic Forces, ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands to be brought forward to 2 April. Britain was initially taken by surprise by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, despite repeated warnings by Royal Navy captain Nicholas Barker, on 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings off the Falkland Islands. The invasion was met with a defence organised by the Falkland Islands Governor Sir Rex Hunt. Word of the invasion first reached Britain from Argentine sources, a Ministry of Defence operative in London had a short telex conversation with Governor Hunts telex operator, who confirmed that Argentines were on the island and in control
7.
The Troubles
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The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is described as a guerrilla war or low-level war. The most recent instalment of violence began in the late 1960s and is deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Belfast Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mainly took place in Northern Ireland, violence spilled over at times parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. The conflict was political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, although it was not a religious conflict, a key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants and consider themselves British, want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, Irish nationalists/republicans, who are predominantly Catholics, want Northern Ireland to be reunited with the 26 counties which make up the Republic of Ireland in an independent united Ireland. This campaign was met with violence by loyalists who viewed the campaign as a stalking horse. This eventually led to the deployment of British troops, initially to protect Catholic civilians, the security forces of the Republic played a smaller role. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, there has been sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including a campaign by anti-ceasefire republicans. The Troubles refers to the recent three-decade conflict between nationalists and unionists, the term the Troubles was previously used to refer to the Irish revolutionary period, it was adopted to refer to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland after 1969. The violence was characterised by the campaigns of Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups. It thus became the focus for the longest major campaign in the history of the British Army, nationalists regard the state forces as forces of occupation or partisan combatants in the conflict. One part of the Agreement is that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom unless a majority of the Northern Irish electorate vote otherwise and it also established the Northern Ireland Executive, a devolved power-sharing government, which must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties. In 1609, Scottish and English settlers, known as planters, were given land escheated from the native Irish in the Plantation of Ulster. As the Penal Laws started to be phased out in the part of the 18th century, there was more competition for land. With Roman Catholics allowed to buy land and enter trades from which they had formerly been banned, tensions arose resulting in the Protestant Peep ODay Boys and Catholic Defenders. This created polarisation between the communities and a reduction in reformers among Protestants, many of whom had been growing more receptive to democratic reform
8.
War on Terror
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The War on Terror, also known as the Global War on Terrorism, is a metaphor of war referring to the international military campaign that started after the September 11th attacks on the United States. U. S. President George W. Bush first used the term War on Terror on 20 September 2001 and it was originally used with a particular focus on countries associated with Islamic terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda and like-minded organizations. In 2013, President Barack Obama announced that the United States was no longer pursuing a War on Terror, in 2017 Donald Trump assumed presidency of the United States and vowed that the fight against ISIL is his number one priority. Trump has also agreed to work together and carry joint operations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war on terror. The phrase War on Terror has been used to refer to the ongoing military campaign led by the U. S. The conflict has also referred to by names other than the War on Terror. Author Shane Harris asserts this was a reaction to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Bush later apologized for this remark due to the negative connotations the term crusade has to people, e. g. of the Muslim faith. The word crusade was not used again, on 20 September 2001, during a televised address to a joint session of Congress, Bush stated that ur war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, in April 2007, the British government announced publicly that it was abandoning the use of the phrase War on Terror as they found it to be less than helpful. This was explained more recently by Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, in her 2011 Reith lecture, the former head of MI5 said that the 9/11 attacks were a crime, not an act of war. So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror. U. S. President Barack Obama has rarely used the term, in March 2009 the Defense Department officially changed the name of operations from Global War on Terror to Overseas Contingency Operation. In March 2009, the Obama administration requested that Pentagon staff members avoid the use of the term, basic objectives of the Bush administration war on terror, such as targeting al Qaeda and building international counterterrorism alliances, remain in place. Because the actions involved in the war on terrorism are diffuse, jackson cites among many examples a statement by John Ashcroft that the attacks of September 11 drew a bright line of demarcation between the civil and the savage. Administration officials also described terrorists as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, parasitical, inhuman, Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, a small number of Afghan Arab volunteers joined the fight against the Soviets, including Osama bin Laden, but there is no evidence they received any external assistance. On 7 August 1998, al-Qaeda struck the U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, the plant produced much of the regions antimalarial drugs and around 50% of Sudans pharmaceutical needs. The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban, next came the 2000 millennium attack plots, which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport
9.
John Browning
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He is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 20th century, in the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms, and is credited with 128 gun patents. He made his first firearm at age 13 in his fathers gun shop, Browning influenced nearly all categories of firearms design. He invented or made significant improvements to single-shot, lever-action, and slide-action, rifles and his most significant contributions were arguably in the area of autoloading firearms. He developed the first autoloading pistols that were reliable and compact by inventing the telescoping bolt, integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide. Brownings telescoping bolt design is now found on every modern semi-automatic pistol. Browning also made significant contributions to automatic cannon development, some of these arms are still manufactured, often with only minor changes in detail and cosmetics to those assembled by Browning or his licensees. His guns are some of the most copied guns in the world, Browning was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two-year mission in Georgia beginning on March 28,1887. His father Jonathan Browning, who was among the thousands of Mormon pioneers in the exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois to Utah. John Moses worked in his fathers Ogden shop from the age of seven, where he was taught basic engineering and manufacturing principles, production examples of the Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle caught the attention of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who dispatched a representative to evaluate the competition. Winchester bought the design for $8,000 and moved production to their Connecticut factory, Winchester manufactured several popular small arms designed by John M. Browning. For decades in the late 19th Century-early 20th Century, Browning designs and Winchester firearms were synonymous, as was the custom of the time, Brownings earlier designs had been licensed exclusively to Winchester for a single fee payment. With this new product, Browning introduced in his negotiations a continuous royalty fee based upon unit sales, if the new shotgun became highly successful, Browning stood to make substantially more fee income over the prior license fee arrangements. Winchester management was displeased with the change in their relationship. Remington Arms was also approached, however the president of Remington died of an attack as Browning waited to offer them the gun. This forced Browning to look overseas to produce the shotgun, however, Remington would later produce a copy of the Auto-5 as the Model 11 which was used by the US Military and was also sold to the civilian market. The Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular throughout the 20th century. This shift marked the end of an era of Winchester-Browning collaboration, John Browning was known as a dedicated and tireless innovator and experimenter who sought breakthrough consumer-oriented features and performance and reliability improvements in small arms designs. He did not retire from his career in his elder years, but dedicated his entire adult life—literally to his last day—to these pursuits
10.
FN Herstal
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It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns U. S, Repeating Arms Company and Browning Arms Company. FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities, FN Manufacturing and FNH USA, FNH USA, located in McLean, Virginia, is the sales and marketing branch of FN Herstal in the United States. FN Herstals firearms are used by the forces of over 100 nations. FN originated in the city of Herstal, near Liège. The Fabrique Nationale dArmes de Guerre was established in 1889 to manufacture 150,000 Mauser Model 89 rifles ordered by the Belgian Government. FN was co-founded by the major makers of the Liège region, with Henri Pieper of Anciens Etablissements Pieper being the driving force. In 1897 the company entered into a relationship with John Moses Browning. FN was an important manufacturer of vehicles in Belgium, a development championed by Alexandre Galopin as managing director. Cars were produced in Herstal in the early 1900s until 1935, production of FN motorcycles continued until 1965, and production of trucks until 1970. In 1973, FN changed its name to reflect a product line diversified far beyond just weapons of war, John Moses Browning began development of the Browning GP35 High Power pistol, the GP standing for Grande Puissance or high power in French. However, the weapon was finalized by Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until nearly a decade after Brownings death, the FN Manufacturing LLC plant in Columbia, South Carolina is part of the military division of FN. It is primarily responsible for the production of U. S. military weapons, such as M16 rifles, M249 light machine guns, M240 machine guns, barracuda, Double-action multi-caliber revolver that can be switched between three calibers by changing parts of the cylinder. Five-seveN, Lightweight polymer-framed pistol with a 20-round magazine capacity, in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations throughout the world. FNP series, Series of polymer-framed pistols offered in 9×19mm Parabellum.357 SIG.40 S&W, FNX series, Updated and reengineered version of the FNP series pistol in 9×19mm Parabellum.40 S&W and.45 ACP. One of the most widely used military pistols of all time, hP-DA, 9×19mm Parabellum pistol, double-action variant of the Browning Hi-Power. M1903, Blowback semi-automatic pistol chambered for.32 ACP and 9×20mm Long Browning, m1905.25 ACP vest pocket blowback semi-automatic pistol. M1910, Single-action pistol chambered for.32 ACP and.380 ACP, P90, Ambidextrous bullpup personal defense weapon with a top-mounted 50-round magazine and chambered for FNs 5. 7×28mm cartridge
11.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore
12.
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
13.
.40 S&W
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The.40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Winchester. It uses 0. 40-inch diameter bullets ranging in weight from 105 to 200 grains, the semi-automatic pistol offered two advantages over the revolver, 1) increased ammunition capacity and 2) increased ease of reloading during a firefight. The FBI was satisfied with the performance of its.38 Special +P158 gr L. S. W. C. H. P, cartridge based on decades of dependable performance. Ammunition for the new semi-automatic pistol had to deliver terminal performance equal or superior to the.38 Special FBI Load, during tests of the 9×19mm and. During this collaboration with the FBI, S&W realized that downsizing the 10mm full power to meet the FBI medium velocity specification meant less powder, S&W then teamed with Winchester to produce a new cartridge, the.40 S&W. It uses a small pistol primer whereas the 10mm cartridge uses a large pistol primer, the.40 S&W cartridge debuted January 17,1990, along with the new Smith & Wesson Model 4006 pistol, although it was several months before the pistols were available for purchase. Beat Smith & Wesson to the shelves in 1990, with pistols chambered in.40 S&W which were announced a week before the 4006. Glocks rapid introduction was aided by its engineering of a pistol chambered in 10mm Auto, since the.40 S&W uses the same bore diameter and case head as the 10mm Auto, it was merely a matter of adapting the 10mm design to the shorter 9×19mm Parabellum frames. The new guns and ammunition were an immediate success, the.40 S&W case length and overall cartridge length are shortened, but other dimensions except case web and wall thickness remain identical to the 10mm Auto. Both cartridges headspace on the mouth of the case, thus in a semi-auto they are not interchangeable. Fired from a 10mm semi-auto, the.40 Smith & Wesson cartridge will headspace on the extractor, if the cartridge is not held by the extractor, the chances for a ruptured primer are great. Smith & Wesson does make a double-action revolver that can fire either at will using moon clips, a single-action revolver in the. 38–40 chambering can also be modified to fire the.40 or the 10mm if it has an extra cylinder. Some.40 caliber handguns can be converted to 9mm with a purpose made barrel, magazine change. The.40 S&W has 1.25 ml cartridge case capacity. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 406 millimetres,6 grooves, ∅ lands =9.91, mm, ∅ grooves =10.17 mm, land width =3.05 mm and the primer type is small pistol. Guidelines, the.40 S&W case can handle up to 225 megapascals piezo pressure, in C. I. P. -regulated countries every pistol/cartridge combo has to be proofed at 130% of this maximum C. I. P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. The SAAMI pressure limit for the.40 S&W is set at 241.32 megapascals piezo pressure, the.40 S&W cartridge has been popular with law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Marshall & Sanow contend that with good jacketed hollow point bullets, apart from the imperfect relationship between ordnance gelatin ballistics and actual stopping power, critics pointed to the reduced power of the round compared with the 10mm Auto it was based on
14.
Action (firearms)
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In firearms terminology, an action is the mechanism that handles the ammunition or the method by which that mechanism works. Breech-loading weapons have actions, actions are not present on muzzleloaders. The mechanism that fires a muzzle-loader is called the lock, actions can be categorized in several ways, including single action versus double action, break action versus bolt action, and others. The term action can also short, long, and magnum if it is in reference to the length of the rifle’s receiver. The short action rifle usually can accommodate a cartridge length of 2.8 in or smaller, the long action rifle can accommodate a cartridge of 3.34 in, and the magnum action rifle can accommodate cartridges of 3.6 in, or longer in length. Manual operation is a term describing any type of firearm action that is loaded one shot at a time by the user rather than automatically. For example, break action is a form of operation using a simple hinge mechanism that is manually unlatched by the operator. These are actions wherein the breechblock lowers or drops into the receiver to open the breech, there are two principal types of dropping block, the tilting block and the falling block. In a tilting or pivoting block action, the breechblock is hinged on a pin mounted at the rear, when the lever is operated, the block tilts down and forward, exposing the chamber. The best-known pivoting block designs are the Peabody, the Peabody–Martini, the original Peabody rifles, manufactured by the Providence Tool Company, used a manually cocked side-hammer. The 1871 Martini–Henry which replaced the trapdoor Snider–Enfield was the standard British Army rifle of the later Victorian era, charles H. Ballards self-cocking tilting-block action was produced by the Marlin Firearms Company from 1875, and earned a superlative reputation among long-range Creedmoor target shooters. Surviving Marlin Ballards are today highly prized by collectors, especially those mounted in the elaborate Swiss-style Schützen stocks of the day. A falling-block action is a firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon. Examples of firearms using the falling block action are the Sharps rifle, in a rolling block action the breechblock takes the form of a part-cylinder, with a pivot pin through its axis. The operator rotates or rolls the block to open and close the breech, it is a simple, rugged, a break action is a type of firearm where the barrel are hinged and can be broken open to expose the breech. The earliest metallic-cartridge breechloaders designed for military issue began as conversions of muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. The upper rear portion of the barrel was filed or milled away, an internal angled firing pin allowed the re-use of the rifles existing side-hammer. The Allin action made by Springfield Arsenal in the US hinged forward, france countered in 1866 with its superior Chassepot rifle, also a paper-cartridge bolt action
15.
Recoil operation
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Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked-breech, autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, the same forces that cause the ejecta of a firearm to move down the barrel also cause all or a portion of the firearm to move in the opposite direction. The moving and the masses are coupled by a spring that absorbs the recoil energy as it is compressed by the movement. Since there is a minimum required to operate a recoil-operated firearms action. Therefore, recoil-operated firearms work best with a cartridge that yields an approximately equal to that for which the mechanism was optimized. For example, the M1911 design with factory springs is optimized for a 230-grain bullet at factory velocity, changes in caliber or drastic changes in bullet weight and/or velocity require modifications to spring weight or slide mass to compensate. Recoil-operated designs are categorized by how the parts move under recoil. Long recoil operation is primarily in shotguns, particularly ones based on John Brownings Auto-5 action. In a long recoil action the barrel and bolt remain locked together during recoil, following this rearward movement, the bolt locks to the rear and the barrel is forced forward by its spring. The bolt is held in position until the barrel returns completely forward during which time the spent cartridge has been extracted and ejected, the bolt is released and forced closed by its recoil spring, chambering a fresh round. The long recoil system was invented in the late 19th century, bolt is locked to barrel, both are fully forward. Recoil of firing forces bolt and barrel fully to the rear, bolt is held to rear, while barrel unlocks and returns to battery under spring force. Bolt returns under spring force, loads new round, barrel locks in place as it returns to battery. The short recoil action dominates the world of centerfire semi-automatic pistols, short recoil operation differs from long recoil operation in that the barrel and bolt recoil together only a short distance before they unlock and separate. The barrel stops quickly, and the bolt continues rearward, compressing the spring and performing the automated extraction. During the last portion of its travel, the bolt locks into the barrel. The method of locking and unlocking the barrel differentiates the wide array of short recoil designs. Most common are the John Browning tilting barrel designs based on either the swinging link and locking lugs as used in the M1911 pistol or the linkless cam design used in the Hi Power and CZ75
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.
Trigger (firearms)
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A trigger is a mechanism that actuates the firing sequence of a firearm or crossbow, a trigger may also start another mechanism such as a trap or a quick release. A small amount of energy applied to the causes the release of much more energy. In double action firearm designs, the trigger is used to cock the firearm -. Firearms use triggers to initiate the firing of a cartridge in the chamber of the weapon. This is accomplished by actuating a striking device through a combination of spring and kinetic energy operating through a pin to strike. There are two types of striking mechanisms, hammers and strikers. Hammers are spring-tensioned masses of metal that pivot on a pin when released, strikers are, essentially, spring-loaded firing pins that travel on an axis in-line with the cartridge eliminating the need for a separate hammer. The connection between the trigger and the hammer is generally referred to as the sear surface, variable mechanisms will have this surface directly on the trigger and hammer or have separate sears or other connecting parts. There are numerous types of action, where action refers to the mechanism or to the logic of how it is built and they are categorized according to which functions the trigger is to perform. Most modern firearms use the trigger to deactivate passive safeties but this does not change how they are identified, a single-action trigger is the earliest and mechanically simplest of trigger types. Almost all rifles and shotguns use this type of trigger, the term single-action wasnt in use until weapons with double-action triggers were invented, which didnt occur until the mid-19th century, before that, all triggers were single-action. Although these weapons dont require the user to physically cock the hammer, manually cocked hammers lasted a while longer in some break-action shotguns, and in dangerous game rifles, where the hunter didnt want to rely on an unnecessarily complex or fragile weapon. In modern usage, the terms single-action and double-action almost always refer to handguns, while a single-action revolver or semi-automatic must always be cocked prior to firing, most double-action handguns are capable of firing in both single- and double-action modes. Only double-action only weapons are incapable of firing from a cocked hammer. Thereafter, every time a round is fired, the hammer is recocked by the cycling slide, after the first shot, they would fire as single-actions. These double action, or double action, pistols rapidly gained popularity. A double-action/single-action firearm combines the features of both mechanisms, and is called traditional double-action. In simple terms, double-action refers to a gun trigger mechanism that both cocks the hammer and then releases the sear, thus performing two actions, hence double action
18.
Semi-automatic firearm
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A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm, is one that performs all steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the firearms feed device. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism. For the other forms, the mechanism would require cycling manually prior to firing the next round. An automatic or a selective-fire firearm set to fire automatically would be able to discharge continuously as long as the trigger is held until the magazine or feed device runs out of ammunition. Obviously, this additional feature complicates the design of the sear and disconnector, the first successful design for a semi-automatic rifle is attributed to German-born gunsmith Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher, who unveiled the design in 1885. The Model 85 was followed by the equally innovative Mannlicher Models 91,93 and 95 semi-automatic rifles.5 mm ammunition that were fed into the M1894 by a stripper clip. The Auto-5 relied on long recoil operation, this remained the dominant form in semi-automatic shotguns for approximately 50 years. Production of the Auto-5 was ended in 1999, in 1903 and 1905, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company introduced the first semi-automatic rimfire and centerfire rifles designed especially for the civilian market. The Winchester Model 1903 and Winchester Model 1905 operated on the principle of blowback in order to function semi-automatically, johnson, the Model 1903 achieved commercial success and continued to be manufactured until 1932 when the Winchester Model 63 replaced it. Winchester introduced a medium caliber semi-automatic sporting rifle, the Model 1907 as an upgrade to the Model 1905, utilizing a system of operation. Both the Models of 1905 and 1907 saw limited military and police use, in 1906, Remington Arms introduced the Remington Auto-loading Repeating Rifle. Remington advertised this rifle, renamed the Model 8 in 1911 and this is a locked-breech, long recoil action designed by John Browning. The Model 81 superseded the Model 8 in 1936 and was offered in.300 Savage as well as the original Remington calibers, the first semi-automatic rifle adopted and widely issued by a major military power was the Fusil Automatique Modele 1917. This is a breech, gas-operated action which is very similar in its mechanical principles to the future M1 Garand in the United States. The M1917 was fielded during the stages of WWI but it did not receive a favorable reception. However its shortened and improved version, the Model 1918, gave complete satisfaction during the Moroccan Rif War from 1920 to 1926, the Lebel bolt-action rifle remained the standard French infantry rifle until replaced in 1936 by the MAS-36 despite the various semi-automatic rifles designed between 1918 and 1935. In 1937, the American M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle to replace its nations bolt-action rifle as the infantry weapon. The gas-operated M1 Garand was developed by Canadian-born John Garand for the U. S. government at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, after years of research and testing, the first production model of the M1 Garand was unveiled in 1937
19.
Handgun
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A handgun is a firearm designed to be handheld, in either one or both hands. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a class of firearms from long guns such as rifles. Major handgun subtypes are the revolver and pistol, other subtypes include derringers, the words pistol and handgun have overlapping variations, in meaning. Although handgun use often includes bracing with a hand, the essential distinguishing characteristic of a handgun is its facility for one-handed operation. The word pistol is often synonymous with the word handgun, some handgun experts make a technical distinction that views pistols as a subset of handguns. But UK/Commonwealth usage often does not make this distinction, handheld firearms were first made in China where gunpowder was first developed. By the 14th century, they existed in Europe as well, the first handheld firearms that might better be called pistols were made as early as the 15th century, but their creator is unknown. By the 18th century, the term came to be used often to refer to handheld firearms, previously there had been no such differentiation, and in fact Samuel Colts original patent was for a revolving-breech pistol. There is no equivalent for handgun in the Romance languages. The general types of handguns are listed below in their order of historical appearance, each type can be classified into many sub-types. Some of these types can also be classified using the general distinction between muzzle-loading firearms and breech-loading firearms. Single-shot pistols are the simplest possible form of pistols and are known to have existed in AD1365, the earliest handguns were single-shot, muzzle-loading guns with ignition provided by inserting a smoldering match cord into a touch hole. As such, they were nothing more than miniature cannon. Improvements followed in subsequent centuries, as types of locks were invented. In the matchlock, the separate match cord was affixed to a pivot which could be tripped by a trigger. In the wheellock, an analogous to that used in todays cigarette lighters replaced the smoldering match cord. In the 17th century, the flintlock, which strikes a flint against steel, the flintlock remained the standard method of small arms ignition around two hundred years. In the 19th century, percussion caps were developed, followed shortly by modern integrated-primer cartridges, an example of a single-shot pistol is the flare gun
20.
Herstal
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Herstal, formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the countrys Walloon Region and Province of Liège along the Meuse river, Herstal is included in the Greater Liège agglomeration, which counts about 600,000 inhabitants. Herstal municipality includes the communes of Milmort, Vottem. A large armaments factory, the Fabrique Nationale or FN, the proximity of the Meuse River and the abundance of local resources attracted settlers in this area since the fifth millennium BC. Around the end of the Roman era and at the beginning of the Merovingian period, the major road that linked Tongeren to Aachen crossed the Meuse here, where a ferry likely carried travelers to Jupille. In the 7th century, Héristal gave its name to the founder of the family established the Carolingian dynasty. Pippin was the father of Charles of Héristal, victor of the decisive Battle of Tours that stopped the Arab-Muslim advance into northwestern Europe, Charles, in turn, was the grandfather of Charlemagne, also supposedly born in Héristal, where he lived for at least fifteen years. Charlemagne later established his capital in Aachen, ending Héristal’s period of glory as capital of the empire. The town was incorporated into the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, which part of the Duchy of Brabant at the end of the 12th century. By that time, the town was known for its able craftsmen, ceramists, blacksmiths. In the 19th century, Herstal became a city of coal and it would, however, become world-famous thanks to the foundation of the Fabrique Nationale, a major armament factory, in 1889. Several motorcycle manufacturers also established themselves in town, on August 7,1914, at the very beginning of World War I, the invading German army executed 27 civilians and destroyed 10 homes in Herstal. After World War II, heavy industry saw a period of decline. The museum also has a collection of industrial products, including samples from the FN. The Pippin Tower incorporates a wall section thought to have belonged to the palace of Charlemagne
21.
Luger pistol
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The Pistole Parabellum 1908—or Parabellum-Pistole —is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J, the first Parabellum pistol was adopted by the Swiss army in May 1900. In German Army service, it was succeeded and partly replaced by the Walther P38 in caliber 9×19mm Parabellum, the Luger is well known from its use by Germans during World War I and World War II, along with the interwar Weimar Republic and the postwar East German Volkspolizei. Although the P.08 was introduced in 7. 65mm Parabellum, because of its association with Nazi Germany, the pistol has been used in fictional works by many villainous characters over the past several decades. After a round is fired, the barrel and toggle assembly travel rearward due to recoil, after moving roughly 13 mm rearward, the toggle strikes a cam built into the frame, causing the knee joint to hinge and the toggle and breech assembly to unlock. At this point the barrel impacts the frame and stops its rearward movement, the toggle and breech assembly subsequently travel forward under spring tension and the next round from the magazine is loaded into the chamber. The entire sequence occurs in a fraction of a second and this results in either the breech block not clearing the top cartridge of the magazine, or becoming jammed open on the cartridges base. In World War I, as guns were found to be effective in trench warfare. The Luger pistol was manufactured to exacting standards and had a service life. Bill Ruger praised the Lugers 145° grip angle and duplicated it in his.22 LR pistol, the Swiss Army evaluated the Luger pistol in 7. 65×21 mm Parabellum and adopted it in 1900 as its standard side arm, designated Pistole 1900, in 1901. This model uses a 120 mm barrel, the Luger pistol was accepted by the Imperial German Navy in 1904. The Navy model had a 150 mm barrel and a rear sight. This version is known as Pistole 04, in 1908, the German Army adopted the Luger to replace the Reichsrevolver in front-line service. The Pistole 08 had a 100 mm barrel and was chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, the P.08 was the usual side arm for German Army personnel in both world wars, though it was being replaced by the Walther P38 starting in 1938. In 1930, Mauser took over manufacture of the P.08. 65×53mm, only the first batch wore crests and the Legend Ejercito Boliviano stamped in the receiver. The Lange Pistole 08 or Artillery Luger was a carbine for use by German Army artillerymen as a sort of early Personal Defense Weapon. It had a 200 mm barrel, an 8-position tangent rear sight, when set for long range use the rear sight element visibly moves to the left to compensate for spin drift. It was sometimes used with a 32-round drum magazine, early issue LP08s had micrometer adjustable front and rear sights which required a 2-pin tool for adjustment
22.
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
23.
Utah
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Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean
24.
Blowback (firearms)
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Several blowback systems exist within this broad principle of operation, each distinguished by the methods used to control bolt movement. A few locked breech designs use a form of blowback to perform the unlocking function, the blowback principle may be considered a simplified form of gas operation, since the cartridge case behaves like a piston driven by the powder gases. Other operating principles for self-loading firearms include blow forward, gas operation and this rearward thrust, imparted against the breech, is a direct result of the expansion of propellant gases. The energy from the expansion of gases on firing appears in the form of energy transmitted to the bolt mechanism. The extent to which blowback is employed largely depends on the used to control the movement of the bolt. How the movement of the bolt is controlled is where blowback systems differ, relating blowback to other types of automatic firearm operation, George M. Chinn wrote that, In the larger sense, blowback might well be considered a special form of gas operation. This is reasonable because the case may be conceived of as a sort of piston driven by the powder gases. Actually, blowback involves so many problems that it is best considered to be in a class by itself. The question whether or not it should be included within the general class of gas operation or recoil operation is purely academic. The important point is that it some of the properties of both classes and, depending on the particular problem at hand, may be considered to be either one. The blowback system represents the most basic auto loading operation type, in a blowback mechanism, the bolt rests against the rear of the barrel, but is not locked in place. At the point of ignition, expanding gases push the bullet forward through the barrel while at the same time pushing the case rearward against the bolt. The expanding gases push the bolt assembly to the rear, but the motion is slowed by the mass of the bolt, internal friction, the design must ensure that the delay is long enough that bullet exits the barrel before the cartridge case clears the chamber. The empty case is ejected as the travels to the rear. The stored energy of the action spring then drives the bolt forward. A new cartridge is stripped from the magazine and chambered as the returns to its in-battery position. The blowback system is practical for firearms using relatively low-power cartridges with lighter weight bullets, higher power cartridges require heavier bolts to keep the breech from opening prematurely, at some point, the bolt becomes too heavy to be practical. Consequently, the spring is not powerful enough to keep the bolt closed when the gun is tilted up
25.
Firing pin
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A firing pin or striker is part of the firing mechanism used in a firearm or explosive device e. g. an M14 landmine or bomb fuze. Firing pins may take many forms, though the used in fuzes for single-use devices generally have a sharpened point. Typically, firing pins or strikers are made from steel, aluminum alloy or titanium, however, for specialist applications such as zero metal mines, non-metallic materials are used e. g. glass ceramic. Striker mechanisms are generally simpler, since they combine the functions of hammer, the firing pin or striker is generally located in the bolt of a repeating firearm. Firearms that do not have bolts, such as revolvers and many types of actions, generally have a very short firing pin in the frame. These types of firearms are almost never fired, as there is insufficient space to house a striker mechanism. Strikers are most commonly found in semi-automatic pistols and bolt-action firearms, the typical firing pin is a small rod with the end that strikes the primer rounded into a hemispherical shape and hardened. The rounded end ensures the primer is indented rather than pierced and this safety is in addition to any manually operated safety or safeties that act to block the trigger or hammer. Firearms that use long firing pins, such as pistols, will use a firing pin that is too short to project when depressed flush by the hammer. This type of firing pin, called an inertial firing pin, must be struck by a fall of the hammer to provide the momentum to move forward. If the hammer is down, resting on the firing pin, most variants of the M1911 pistol use this type of firing pin. Many firing pins are stamped sheet steel, forming a rectangular cross-section rather than a round one. These will often have a section at the front rather than a hemispherical one. Sturm, Ruger, for example, uses sheet metal firing pins in its 10/22 carbine, high performance firing pins are often made from lighter materials than steel, such as titanium. The lighter material increases the speed at which the firing pin travels, strikers are basically spring-loaded firing pins, generally of a one- or two-piece construction. In the one-piece striker, the striker is turned on an out of a round bar of metal, much larger in diameter than a firing pin. Two-piece strikers generally consist of a pin attached to a heavier rear section—in essence a hammer attached to the base of a firing pin. Two-piece strikers are found on bolt-action rifles, while single-piece strikers are found on pistols
26.
Extractor (firearms)
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An extractor is a part in a firearm that serves to remove brass cases of fired ammunition after the ammunition has been fired. When the guns action cycles, the lifts or removes the spent brass casing from the firing chamber. Extractors can be found on bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action, semi-automatic, break-action shotguns and double rifles, such as those with single or double barrels, typically have an extractor that operates when the action is broken open. Extractors are also found on revolvers, removing cases either in succession or simultaneously, for rimless cases, an extractor groove in the ammunition may serve as the point from which the extractor works. For rimmed cases, the rim of the cartridge most commonly serves as the point from which the extractor works, the extractor removes the cartridge case from the chamber, essentially pulling the case to the rear. At some point in the travel, the case typically makes contact with the ejector. Some firearms have no ejectors, only extractors, requiring the user to remove spent cartridges. In this situation, the extractor pulls the case out of the chamber far enough to give the user a good grip on the cartridge, but not far enough to remove the entire cartridge from the chamber. This situation is encountered on some rifles, single-shot pistols such as the Thompson Contender with its break-action design. Some very early blowback pistols used ammunition with no rim or extractor groove on the cartridge cases, the spent case was forced out of the chamber by recoil, and was subsequently ejected. The trade made is that in the event of a cartridge primer malfunction, still, for someone without the hand strength to handle a semi-automatic firearm with a slide against a strong recoil spring, the trade is often made. An extractor also performs the function of an ejector in revolvers, when the striking force applied to the ejector rod is hard and fast enough, the extractor will typically eject the empty case from the cylinder. Some break-action shotguns are also designed to empty shells completely out of the chamber when the barrel is opened. These extractors that are not built as part of the shotgun are sometimes combined with a dog whistle or sometimes part of a multi-tool
27.
Jeff Cooper
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John Dean Jeff Cooper was a United States Marine, the creator of the modern technique of handgun shooting, and an expert on the use and history of small arms. Cooper graduated from Stanford University with a degree in political science. He received a commission in the United States Marine Corps in September 1941. During World War II he served in the Pacific theatre on the USS Pennsylvania, by the end of the war he had been promoted to major. He resigned his commission in 1949, but returned to duty during the Korean War, where he was involved in irregular warfare. After the Korean War, the Marine Corps declined his application to remain on active duty, in the mid-1960s, he received a masters degree in history from the University of California, Riverside. From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, he was a high school. In 1976, Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute in Paulden, Cooper began teaching shotgun and rifle classes to both law enforcement and military personnel, as well as civilians, and did on-site training for individuals and groups from around the world. He sold the firm in 1992, but continued living on the Paulden ranch and he was known for his advocacy of large caliber handguns, especially the Colt 1911 and the.45 ACP cartridge. Coopers modern technique defines pragmatic use of the pistol for personal protection, the modern technique emphasizes two-handed shooting using the Weaver stance, competing with and eventually supplanting the once-prevalent one-handed shooting. There are several conditions of readiness in which such a weapon can be carried, Cooper promulgated most of the following terms, Condition 4, Chamber empty, empty magazine, hammer down. Condition 3, Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down, Condition 2, A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down. Condition 1, A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, Condition 0, A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off. Condition 1 is widely referred to as cocked and locked and Condition 3 is known as Israeli carry and this firearm condition system can also be used to refer to other firearm actions, particularly when illustrating the differences between carry modes considered to be safe for various actions. For example, a firearm is designed to be carried in Condition 2. Cooper conceived and designed the Bren Ten pistol around the 10mm Auto, the cartridge was more powerful than both the 9×19mm Parabellum and the.45 ACP round. The most important means of surviving a confrontation, according to Cooper, is neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The primary tool is the mindset, set forth in his book
28.
Glossary of firearms terms
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The following are terms related to firearms and ammunition topics. Accurize, accurizing, The process of altering a stock firearm to improve its accuracy, action, The physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term refers to the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used. A firearm action is not present on muzzleloaders as all loading is done by hand. The mechanism that fires a muzzle-loader is called the lock, ammunition or ammo, Gunpowder and artillery. Since the design of the cartridge, the meaning has been transferred to the assembly of a projectile, back bore, backbored barrel, A shotgun barrel whose internal diameter is greater than nominal for the gauge, but less than the SAAMI maximum. Done in an attempt to reduce recoil, improve patterning. Bandolier or bandoleer, A pocketed belt for holding ammunition and cartridges and it was usually slung over the chest. Bandoliers are now rare because most military arms use magazines, which are not well-suited to being stored in a bandolier and they are, however, still commonly used with shotguns, as a traditional bandolier conveniently stores individual 12 gauge shells. Barrel, A tube, usually metal, through which an explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released to propel a projectile out of the end at high velocity. Ballistic coefficient or BC, a measure of ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the high number indicates a low deceleration. BC is a function of mass, diameter, and drag coefficient, in bullets, it refers to the amount that drop over distance and wind drift affects the bullet. Bayonet lug, An attachment point for a bayonet, belt, ammunition belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into a firearm. Belted magnum or belt, Any caliber cartridge, generally rifles and this design originated with the British gunmaker Holland & Holland for the purpose of headspace certain of their more powerful cartridges. Bipod, A support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, on firearms, bipods are commonly used on rifles to provide a forward rest and reduce motion. The bipod permits the operator to rest the weapon on the ground, black powder also called gunpowder, a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing a volume of hot gas made up of carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen, and a solid residue of potassium sulfide
29.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
30.
Axis powers
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The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
31.
Waffenamt
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Waffenamt was the German Army Weapons Agency. It was the centre for research and development of Germany and also during the Third Reich for weapons, ammunition and army equipment to the German Reichswehr and it was founded 8 November 1919 as Reichwaffenamt, and 5 May 1922 the name was changed to Heereswaffenamt. The task of overseeing Germanys gigantic World War II rearmament process was given to the Heeresabnahmestelle, later, in the middle of 1944, approximately 8,000 of these Abnahme inspectors were freed for service at the front. The Heeres-Abnahmewesen was responsible for the testing and acceptance of all weapons, equipment, in preparation for their new duties they were given a four-week course at the Heereswaffenmeisterschule. The course ended with a test for Technical Inspector which raised the rank of each applicant to that of Oberleutnant. Waffenamt code is the German inspection proof mark, a Short History of the Heereswaffenamt
32.
Waffen-SS
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The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Nazi Partys SS organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers, the Waffen-SS grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the Heer, Ordnungspolizei and other security units. Prior to the war, it was under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany, membership was only open to people of Germanic origin. The rules were relaxed in 1940, and later the formation of units composed largely or solely of foreign volunteers. These SS units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe, despite relaxation of the rules, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism, and ethnic Poles were barred specifically from the formations. At the post-war Nuremberg trials the Waffen-SS was judged to be a criminal organisation due to its connection to the Nazi Party, former Waffen-SS members were denied many of the rights afforded to the military veterans. An exception was made for Waffen-SS conscripts, who were exempted because they were not volunteers, about a third of the total membership were conscripts. The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in March 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed Munich Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The oaths pledged were Pledging loyalty to him alone and Obedience unto death, the formation was given the title Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, led by one of Hitlers oldest comrades, Ernst Röhm, the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to conciliate leaders of the Reichswehr and conservatives of the country, when Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934 and saw the killing of up to 200 people and this included almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was carried out by SS personnel, and the Gestapo. In September 1934, Hitler authorized the formation of the wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the SS-Verfügungstruppe. The SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, at the same time Himmler established the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig for military training of SS officers. Both schools used regular army training methods and mainly used former army officers as instructors, Himmler initially in 1934 set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, a four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH
33.
John Inglis and Company
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John Inglis and Company was a Canadian firm which made weapons for the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth military forces during the World War II era, then became a major appliance company. The company traces its roots to John Inglis of Dundas, Ontario, on 27 July 1859 he, Francis Evatt and Thomas Mair formed Mair, Inglis and Evatt, a machine shop in Guelph, Ontario, producing machinery for grist and flour mills. In 1864 they added an engine to power the machines. Some time after 1864 Daniel Hunter replaced Thomas Mair and the name of the business was changed to Inglis, in September 1881, Inglis purchased a large triangular plot of land near downtown Toronto, west of Strachan Avenue. He moved the company there, renaming it John Inglis and Sons after five of his sons worked in various departments. John Inglis died in 1898 and the business was taken over by one of his sons, in 1903, William led the company into the manufacture of marine steam engines and waterworks pumping engines, and he discontinued production of its previous milling product line. The company produced the engines for the Canada Steamship Lines Hamonic and Huronic, the company reincorporated in 1913 as the John Inglis Company Limited. During World War I the company turned out thousands of shells and shell forgings, among products manufactured in the 1920s were boilers, grain elevating and conveying machinery, hydraulic turbines, tugs, and reciprocating and centrifugal pumps. The Great Depression seriously affected the company and led to losses during the 1930s. When William died in 1935, the company went into receivership, the new Toronto Island Ferry was named after him shortly after his death. In 1937 the company was purchased by Major J. E. Hahn of Toronto, owner of British Canadian Engineering Limited, who took on the name John Inglis and Company. In March 1938 the company won a contract with the British, both countries shared the capital costs of creating a factory to produce them. Inglis started production in 1940, and the contracts were extended several times, by 1943 they were producing 60% of the Bren machine guns destined for the British Commonwealth forces, and 30% of the British Armys own requirements. They also produced the machinery for four Tribal-class destroyers, after the war, Inglis entered the consumer products business, producing fishing tackle, house trailers, oil burner pumps and domestic heaters and stoves. In 1946 they licensed production of a wringer washer being manufactured in the US by the Nineteen Hundred Corporation, a fully automatic washer was added in 1950, and the line continued to expand to include electric and gas dryers, and dishwashers. Early in 1945 the company had acquired a controlling interest in the English Electric Company of Canada in St. Catharines, Ontario, the plant was purchased by English Electric in 1955 and leased back to Inglis. Inglis later built a new addition to house the former St. Catharines works, in 1962 Inglis purchased the Scarborough plant back from the English Electric. By 1966 Inglis had become the producer of Canadian-built laundry machines
34.
Kuomintang
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The Kuomintang of China is a major political party in the Republic of China. It is currently the second-largest in the country, the predecessor of the KMT, the Revolutionary Alliance, was one of the major advocates of the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of a republic. The KMT was founded by Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen shortly after the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, Sun was the provisional president but he did not have military power and ceded the first presidency to the military leader Yuan Shikai. After Yuans death, China was divided by warlords, while the KMT was able to only part of the south. Later led by Chiang Kai-shek, the KMT formed the National Revolutionary Army and it was the ruling party in mainland China from 1928 until its retreat to Taiwan in 1949 after being defeated by the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War. In Taiwan, the KMT continued as the ruling party until the reforms in the late 1970s through the 1990s loosened its grip on power. Since 1987, the Republic of China is no longer a single-party state, however, the KMT is currently the main opposition party in the Legislative Yuan. The guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, advocated by Sun Yat-sen and its party headquarters are located in Taipei. The KMT is a member of the International Democrat Union, the previous president, Ma Ying-jeou, elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, was the seventh KMT member to hold the office of the presidency. Together with the People First Party and New Party, the KMT forms what is known as the Taiwanese Pan-Blue Coalition, however, the KMT has been forced to moderate its stance by advocating the political and legal status quo of modern Taiwan. However, since 2008, in order to ease tensions with the PRC, the group planned and supported the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. However, Sun did not have power and ceded the provisional presidency of the republic to Yuan Shikai. On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the Huguang Guild Hall in Peking, Sun, the then-President of the ROC, was chosen as the party chairman with Huang Xing as his deputy. The party opposed constitutional monarchists and sought to check the power of Yuan, the Nationalists won an overwhelming majority of the first National Assembly election in December 1912. But Yuan soon began to ignore the parliament in making presidential decisions, Song Jiaoren was assassinated in Shanghai in 1913. Yuan, claiming subversiveness and betrayal, expelled adherents of the KMT from the parliament, Yuan dissolved the Nationalists in November and dismissed the parliament early in 1914. Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor in December 1915, in order tonary Party, members must take an oath of personal loyalty to Sun, which many old revolutionaries regarded as undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of the revolution. Thus, many old revolutionaries did not join Suns new organisation, Sun returned to China in 1917 to establish a military junta at Canton, in order to against the Beiyang government, but was soon forced out of office and exiled to Shanghai
35.
Operation Varsity
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Operation Varsity was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several aircraft, it was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day. Varsity was part of Operation Plunder, the Anglo-American-Canadian assault under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to cross the northern Rhine River, the U. S. 17th Airborne Division was to capture the village of Diersfordt and clear the rest of the Diersfordter Wald of any remaining German forces. The two divisions would hold the territory they had captured until relieved by advancing units of 21st Army Group, and then join in the general advance into northern Germany. However, the operation was a success, with both divisions capturing Rhine bridges and securing towns that could have used by Germany to delay the advance of the British ground forces. The two divisions incurred more than 2,000 casualties, but captured about 3,500 German soldiers, the operation was the last large-scale Allied airborne operation of World War II. By March 1945, the Allied armies had advanced into Germany and had reached the River Rhine, Plunder envisioned the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles C. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Simpson, crossing the Rhine at Rees, Wesel, the division did not participate in Operation Market Garden. It did, however, participate in the Ardennes campaign but had yet to take part in a combat drop, the plan for the operation was therefore altered to accommodate the two remaining airborne divisions, the British 6th and U. S. 17th Airborne Divisions. It was also decided by the commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, General Lewis H. Brereton, supply drops for the airborne forces would also be made as soon as possible to ensure adequate supplies were available to the airborne troops as they fought. By this period of the conflict, the number of German divisions remaining on the Western Front was rapidly declining, both in numbers and quality, a fact in the Allies favour. By the night of 23 March, Montgomery had the equivalent of more than 30 divisions under his command, while the Germans fielded around 10 divisions, all weakened from constant fighting. First Parachute Army had three corps stationed along the river, 2nd Parachute Corps to the north, 86th Corps in the centre, and 63rd Corps in the south. After their retreat to the Rhine both divisions were under-strength and did not number more than 4,000 men each, with 84th Infantry Division supported by only 50 or so medium artillery pieces. The mobile reserves that the Germans did possess consisted of some 150 armoured fighting vehicles under the command of 1st Parachute Army, intelligence also pointed to the possibility of a heavy anti-tank battalion being stationed in the area. The situation of the German defenders, and their ability to any assault effectively, was worsened when the Allies launched a large-scale air attack one week prior to Operation Varsity. The air attack involved more than 10,000 Allied aircraft and concentrated primarily on Luftwaffe airfields and the German transportation system. Operation Plunder began at 9 pm on the evening of 23 March, the airlift consisted of 541 transport aircraft containing airborne troops, and a further 1,050 troop-carriers towing 1,350 gliders
36.
Special Operations Executive
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The Special Operations Executive was a British World War II organisation. Few people were aware of SOEs existence, to those who were part of it or liaised with it, it was sometimes referred to as the Baker Street Irregulars, after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as Churchills Secret Army or the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, SOE operated in all countries or former countries occupied by or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed with Britains principal Allies. It also made use of territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled just over 13,000 people, after the war, the organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946. A memorial to SOEs agents was unveiled on the Albert Embankment by Lambeth Palace in London in October 2009, the organisation was formed from the merger of three existing secret departments, which had been formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Immediately after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the Foreign Office created an organisation known as Department EH. In the autumn of the year, the War Office expanded an existing research department known as GS. GS was renamed MI in early 1939 and these three departments worked with few resources until the outbreak of war. There was much overlap between their activities and Section D and EH duplicated much of each others work, on the other hand, the heads of Section D and MI knew each other and shared information. They agreed a rough division of their activities, MI researched irregular operations which could be undertaken by regular uniformed troops, during the early months of the war, Section D was based first at St Ermins Hotel in Westminster and then the Metropole Hotel near Trafalgar Square. The Section attempted unsuccessfully to sabotage deliveries of vital materials to Germany from neutral countries by mining the Iron Gate on the River Danube. MI meanwhile produced pamphlets and technical handbooks for guerrilla leaders, on 13 June 1940, at the instigation of newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Hankey persuaded Section D and MI that their operations should be coordinated. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of a single sabotage organisation, on 16 July, Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation. As Dalton was leaving Churchills study after being given his new task, the new organisation was formally created on 22 July. Dalton used the Irish Republican Army during the Irish war of Independence as a model for the organisation, Campbell Stuart left the organisation, and the flamboyant Major Grand was returned to the regular army. At his own request, Major Holland also left to take up an appointment in the Royal Engineers. However, Hollands former deputy at MI, Brigadier Colin Gubbins, one department of MI, MI R, which was involved in the development of weapons for irregular warfare, was not formally integrated into SOE but became an independent body codenamed MD1
37.
Office of Strategic Services
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The Office of Strategic Services was a wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II, and a predecessor of the modern Central Intelligence Agency. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces, other OSS functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning. It had no direction, coordination, or control. The US Army and US Navy had separate code-breaking departments, Signal Intelligence Service, the FBI was responsible for domestic security and anti-espionage operations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about American intelligence deficiencies, Colonel Donovan was employed to evaluate the global military position to offer suggestions concerning American intelligence requirements because the U. S. did not have a central intelligence agency. Thereafter the organization was developed with British assistance, Donovan had responsibilities but no actual powers, until some months after Pearl Harbor, the bulk of OSS intelligence came from the UK. The British immediately made available their short-wave broadcasting capabilities to Europe, Africa, during the war, the OSS supplied policymakers with facts and estimates, but the OSS never had jurisdiction over all foreign intelligence activities. The FBI was left responsible for work in Latin America. At the height of its influence during World War II, the OSS employed almost 24,000 people, OSS officer Archimedes Patti played a central role in OSS operations in French Indochina and met frequently with Ho Chi Minh in 1945. One of the greatest accomplishments of the OSS during World War II was its penetration of Nazi Germany by OSS operatives, the OSS was responsible for training German and Austrian individuals for missions inside Germany. Some of these agents included exiled communists and Socialist party members, labor activists, anti-Nazi prisoners-of-war, the OSS also recruited and ran one of the wars most important spies, the German diplomat Fritz Kolbe. In 1943, the Office of Strategic Services set up operations in Istanbul, turkey, as a neutral country during the Second World War, was a place where both the Axis and Allied powers had spy networks. The railroads connecting central Asia with Europe as well as Turkeys close proximity to the Balkan states placed it at a crossroads of intelligence gathering, the goal of the OSS Istanbul operation called Project Net-1 was to infiltrate and extenuate subversive action in the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Head of operations at OSS Istanbul was a banker from Chicago named Lanning Packy Macfarland who maintained the story as a banker for the American lend-lease program. Macfarland hired Alfred Schwarz, a Czechoslovakian engineer and businessman who came to be known as Dogwood, Dogwood in turn hired a personal assistant named Walter Arndt and established himself as an employee of the Istanbul Western Electrik Kompani. Through Schwartz and Arndt the OSS was able to infiltrate anti-fascist groups in Austria, Hungary, through this process information about the Nazi regime made its way to Macfarland and the OSS in Istanbul and eventually to Washington. While the OSS Dogwood-chain produced a lot of information, its reliability was increasingly questioned by British intelligence, eventually by May 1944 through collaboration between the OSS, British intelligence, Cairo and Washington the entire Dogwood-chain was found to be unreliable and dangerous. Planting phony information into the OSS was intended to misdirect the resources of the Allies, schwartzs Dogwood-chain, which was the largest American intelligence gathering tool in occupied territory, was shortly thereafter shut down
38.
Special Air Service
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The Special Air Service is a special forces unit of the British Army. The SAS was founded in 1941 as a regiment, and later reconstituted as a corps in 1950, the unit undertakes a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action and hostage rescue. The Special Air Service traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War and it was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947, named the 21st Special Air Service Regiment. It was conceived as a force to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign. Its first mission, in November 1941, was a drop in support of the Operation Crusader offensive. Due to German resistance and adverse conditions, the mission was a disaster,22 men. Its second mission was a major success, transported by the Long Range Desert Group, it attacked three airfields in Libya, destroying 60 aircraft with the loss of 2 men and 3 Willys MB. In September 1942, it was renamed 1st SAS, consisting at that time of four British squadrons, one Free French, one Greek, in January 1943, Colonel Stirling was captured in Tunisia and Paddy Mayne replaced him as commander. In April 1943, the 1st SAS was reorganised into the Special Raiding Squadron under Maynes command and the Special Boat Squadron was placed under the command of George Jellicoe. The Special Raiding Squadron fought in Sicily and Italy along with the 2nd SAS, the Special Boat Squadron fought in the Aegean Islands and Dodecanese until the end of the war. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS and the Belgian 5th SAS. It was tasked with parachute operations behind the German lines in France and carried out supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands. As a result of Hitlers issuing of the Commando Order on 18 October 1942, in July 1944, following Operation Bulbasket,34 captured SAS commandos were summarily executed by the Germans. In October 1944, in the aftermath of Operation Loyton another 31 captured SAS commandos were summarily executed by the Germans, at the end of the war the British Government saw no further need for the force and disbanded it on 8 October 1945. The following year it was decided there was a need for a long-term deep-penetration commando unit, ultimately, the Artists Rifles, raised in 1860 and headquartered at Dukes Road, Euston, took on the SAS mantle as 21st SAS Regiment on 1 January 1947. In 1950, a 21 SAS squadron was raised to fight in the Korean War, after three months of training in Britain, it was informed that the squadron would no longer be required in Korea and so it instead volunteered to fight in the Malayan Emergency. Upon arrival in Malaya, it came under the command of Mike Calvert who was forming a new unit called the Malayan Scouts, the Rhodesians returned home after three years service and were replaced by a New Zealand squadron. By this time the need for a regular army SAS regiment had been recognised, in 1959 the third regiment, the 23rd SAS Regiment, was formed by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which had succeeded MI9 and whose members were experts in escape and evasion
39.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
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Argentina: Made under license and used by the military and police. The army use the M95 and M02AR.[3][19][20]
Australia: Mark III currently the general issue pistol for the Australian Defence Force.[19][20][21]
Austria
Bahrain[20]
Bangladesh[20]
Barbados[20]
Belgium: Adopted by the Belgian Army in 1935.[19][22] and Belgian Federal Police.
Belize[20]
Bermuda[20]
Bolivia[20]
Botswana[20]
Brazil[citation needed]
Brunei[20]
Burundi[20]
Cambodia[20]
Canada: Canadian Forces use pistols made by the John Inglis Co. of Ontario, Canada as their primary service pistol.[3][19][20][23]
Chad[20]
Chile[24]
Republic of China: Used pistols made by the John Inglis Co. of Ontario, Canada.[3]
China: Unlicensed copies were produced by Norinco.[25]
Colombia[20]
Cuba[20]
Cyprus[20]
Democratic Republic of Congo[20]
Denmark[3][20]
Dominican Republic[24]
Ecuador[20]
El Salvador[20]
Estonia[3][26]
Finland[20]
France: Used by Gendarmerie Nationale and French Air Force during first Indochina war and Algerian war.[citation needed]
Ghana[20]
Greece: Used pistols made by the John Inglis Co. of Ontario, Canada.[3]
Guatemala[20]
Honduras[20]
Hungary: Identical copy was produced.[27]
India: Produced locally as Pistol Auto 9mm 1A by Indian Ordnance Factory/Ishapore Arms using stamping dies from the former John Inglis manufacturing facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[19][20][25]
Indonesia: General issue sidearm for Indonesian Armed Forces, especially by Komando Pasukan Katak (Kopaska) naval tactical diver group and Komando Pasukan Khusus (Kopassus) army special forces group.[28] Made under license by Pindad as the P1.[29]
Iran: Used by Iranian Navy special forces.[citation needed]
Iraq[20]
Ireland: Used by the Irish Defence Forces, since replaced by the Heckler & Koch USP.[30]
Israel: Used by YAMAM.[31] Produced locally.[25]
Jamaica: Issued to officers of the Jamaica Defence Force.[32]
Jordan[20]
Kenya[20]
Kuwait[20]
Lebanon[20]
Liberia[20]
Libya[33]
Lithuania[3][20]
Luxembourg:[19] Replaced by Glock 17.[34]
Malawi[20]
Malaysia: General issue sidearms for senior-rank officers and special forces of military and police.[35]
Mozambique[20]
Myanmar[20]
Namibia: Used by Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL)[36]
Nazi Germany: Over 300,000 pistols were made for the Wehrmacht after the FN factory was seized by Germany. Pistols were designated the Pistole 640(b).[3]
North Korea: Used by North Korean Special Forces[37]
Nepal[20]
Netherlands[3][20][26]
New Zealand: replaced by the Sig Sauer P226[citation needed]
Nigeria: Produced under license by the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria[38][20]
Oman[20]
Pakistan: Used by Special Service Group Navy.[39]
Panama[20]
Papua New Guinea: Supplied by Australia.[20][40]
Paraguay[20]
Peru[3][20]
Philippines[20]
Poland[41] Formerly used by Polish special forces (JW GROM), no longer in use.
Portugal: Since 1935, by the gendarmerie Republican National Guard.[20][42]
Rhodesia[3][43]
Romania[3]
Rwanda[20]
Saudi Arabia[20]
Sierra Leone[20]
Sudan[20]
Suriname[20]
Syria[44]
Tanzania[20]
Thailand: Used by the Royal Thai Air Force.[20]
Togo[20]
Trinidad and Tobago[20]
Tunisia[20]
Turkey: Used by General Directorate of Security
Uganda[20]
United Arab Emirates[20]
United Kingdom: Adopted by the British Army in 1954[1][19][20] and by the Northern Ireland Security Guard Service in 1998.[45] To be replaced by the Glock 17 Gen 4.[46]
United States: Used by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team.[31] and standard military issue to SOG during the Vietnam War.
Uruguay:[20] To be replaced by Glock 17[47]
Venezuela[19][20]
Vietnam: A small quantity, brought into the country by Australian Army during the Vietnam War can still be found at Vietnam People's Army's shooting ranges.[citation needed]
Zimbabwe[20]
