A pistol is a type of handgun, characterized by a barrel with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" is derived from the Middle French pistolet, meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the English language c. 1570 when early handguns were produced in Europe. In colloquial usage, the word "pistol" is often used as a generic term to describe any type of handgun, inclusive of revolvers and the pocket-sized derringers.
A government-issue M1911 pistol manufactured in 1914
Soviet TT pistol manufactured in 1937
European hand cannon (Germany, about 1475)
French Navy pistol model 1837
A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun which needs to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder. Handguns have shorter effective ranges compared to long guns, and are much harder to shoot accurately. While most early handguns are single-shot pistols, the two most common types of handguns used in modern times are revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, although other handguns such as derringers and machine pistols also see infrequent usage.
Modern handguns (clockwise from top left) Glock 22 * Glock 21 *Kimber Stainless Raptor II* Dan Wesson Commander Classic Bobtail * Smith and Wesson 340PD * Ruger Blackhawk* Ruger SP101* SIG Sauer P220 Combat.
Hand cannon from the Chinese Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
Early German musket with serpentine lock
A wheellock pistol or Puffer, Augsburg, c. 1580