Gun
Solid projectiles may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Tasers, spearguns and harpoon guns).
The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected pneumatically by a high gas pressure contained within a barrel tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid exothermic combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns).
Alternatively, new-concept linear motor weapons may employ an electromagnetic field to achieve acceleration, in which case the barrel may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns).
Domina Gunilda was the name given to a remarkably large ballista, a mechanical bolt throwing weapon of enormous size, mounted at Windsor Castle during the 14th century.
[12] According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a gun could mean "a piece of ordnance usually with high muzzle velocity and comparatively flat trajectory," " a portable firearm," or "a device that throws a projectile.
[3] As such, the fire lance, which appeared between the 10th and 12th centuries AD, as well as other early metal barrel gunpowder weapons have been described as "proto-guns"[15] Joseph Needham defined a type of firearm known as the "eruptor," which he described as a cross between a fire lance and a gun, as a "proto-gun" for the same reason.
This "classic" form displayed longer, lighter, more efficient, and more accurate design compared to its predecessors only 30 years prior.
[24][25][26] It was depicted in a silk painting dated to the mid-10th century, but textual evidence of its use does not appear until 1132, describing the siege of De'an.
By the late 1100s, ingredients such as pieces of shrapnel like porcelain shards or small iron pellets were added to the tube so that they would be blown out with the gunpowder.
[29] To better withstand that explosive power, the paper and bamboo of which fire-lance barrels were originally made came to be replaced by metal.
[23] And to take full advantage of that power, the shrapnel came to be replaced by projectiles whose size and shape filled the barrel more closely.
[27] With this, the three basic features of a gun were put in place: a barrel made of metal, high-nitrate gunpowder, and a projectile which totally occludes the muzzle so that the powder charge exerts its full potential in propellant effect.
[33] In 1287, the Yuan dynasty deployed Jurchen troops with hand cannons to put down a rebellion by the Mongol prince Nayan.
The passage on the 1288 battle is also the first to use the name chong (銃) with the metal radical jin (金) for metal-barrel firearms.
[36] The Nihon Kokujokushi, written around 1300, mentions huo tong (fire tubes) at the Battle of Tsushima in 1274 and the second coastal assault led by Holdon in 1281.
The Hachiman Gudoukun of 1360 mentions iron pao "which caused a flash of light and a loud noise when fired.
[45] Around the late 14th century in Europe, smaller and portable hand-held cannons were developed, creating in effect the first smooth-bore personal firearm.
[47] In Southeast Asia, Đại Việt soldiers used hand cannons at the very latest by 1390 when they employed them in killing Champa king Che Bong Nga.
[54]: 1–2 [55][56]: 220 Majapahit under Mahapatih (prime minister) Gajah Mada utilized gunpowder technology obtained from the Yuan dynasty for use in the naval fleet.
It originally described a hand cannon with a lug or hook on the underside for stabilizing the weapon, usually on defensive fortifications.
The "classic gun" is so called because of the long duration of its design, which was longer, lighter, more efficient, and more accurate compared to its predecessors 30 years prior.
They no longer needed the help of a wooden plug to load since they offered a tighter fit between projectile and barrel, further increasing the accuracy of firearms[79] – and were deadlier due to developments such as gunpowder corning and iron shot.
The new cartridge contained a conical bullet, a cardboard powder tube, and a copper base that incorporated a primer pellet.
[82] While rifled guns did exist prior to the 19th century in the form of grooves cut into the interior of a barrel, these were considered specialist weapons and limited in number.
[84] Rifles were deployed during the Crimean War with resounding success and proved vastly superior to smoothbore muskets.
[88] The world's first submachine gun (a fully automatic firearm which fires pistol cartridges) able to be maneuvered by a single soldier is the MP 18.1, invented by Theodor Bergmann.
It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Stosstruppen (assault groups specialized in trench combat).
[citation needed] In civilian use, the captive bolt pistol is used in agriculture to humanely stun farm animals for slaughter.
This principle is similar to that of internal combustion engines, except that the bullet leaves the barrel, while the piston transfers its motion to other parts and returns down the cylinder.
The more conventional measure is reporting the interior diameter (bore) of the barrel in decimal fractions of the inch or in millimetres.
