Handgun
Before commercial mass production, handguns were often considered a badge of office — comparable to a ceremonial sword – as they had limited utility and were more expensive than the long barreled guns of the era.
[12] The hand cannon has a bulbous base at the breech called the Yoshi (藥室), or gunpowder chamber, where the explosion that propels the projectile occurs.
[15] In 1432, Joseon dynasty under the reign of Sejong the Great introduced the world's first handgun named se-chongtong (세총통).
Se-chongtong is held by cheolheumja (철흠자, iron tong-handle), which allows quick change barrel for the next shot, and fires chase-jeon (차세전, a type of standardized arrow of Joseon) with a maximum fatal range of 200 footsteps (≈250 meters).
Initially, Joseon considered the gun as a failed project due to its short effective range, but se-chongtong quickly saw usage after fielding to the frontier provinces starting in June 1437.
Se-chongtong was used by both soldiers of different units and civilians, including women and children, as a personal defense weapon.
The classic European matchlock gun held a burning slow match in a clamp at the end of a small curved lever known as the serpentine.
Upon the pulling of a lever (or in later models a trigger) protruding from the bottom of the gun and connected to the serpentine, the clamp dropped down, lowering the smoldering match into the flash pan and igniting the priming powder.
The flash from the primer traveled through the touch hole igniting the main charge of propellant in the gun barrel.
A close modern analogy of the wheellock mechanism is the operation of a cigarette lighter, where a toothed steel wheel is spun in contact with a piece of sparking material to ignite the liquid or gaseous fuel.
The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, which was introduced in the early 17th century, and rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies.
The rudimentary percussion system was developed by Reverend Alexander John Forsyth as a solution to the problem that birds would startle when smoke puffed from the powder pan of his flintlock shotgun, giving them sufficient warning to escape the shot.
[20] His invention of a fulminate-primed firing mechanism deprived the birds of their early warning system, both by avoiding the initial puff of smoke from the flintlock powder pan, as well as shortening the interval between the trigger pull and the shot leaving the muzzle.
The .36 caliber (.375–.380 inch) round lead ball weighs 80 grains and, at a velocity of 1,000 feet per second, is comparable to the modern .380 pistol cartridge in power.
It had a six-shot, rotating cylinder, and fired a 0.454-inch-diameter (11.5 mm) round spherical lead ball, or a conical-tipped bullet, typically propelled by a 30-grain charge of black powder, which was ignited by a small copper percussion cap that contained a volatile charge of fulminate of mercury (a substance that explodes upon being subjected to a sharp impact).
It was the first commercially successful revolver to use metallic rimfire cartridges instead of loose powder, musket ball, and percussion caps.
2 Army is a 6-shot, .32 caliber revolver, intended to combine the small size and convenience of the Smith & Wesson Model 1 .22 rimfire with a larger more effective cartridge.
The revolver was popular with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike, but as of the early 21st century, models are mostly bought by collectors and Cowboy Action Shooters.
Top-break actions gave the ability to eject all empty shells simultaneously and exposed all chambers for easy reloading, but having the frame hinged into two halves weakened the gun and negatively affected accuracy due to lack of rigidity.
These new guns were an improvement over the Colt 1889 design since they incorporated a combined center-pin and ejector rod to lock the cylinder in position.
[31] All were single barrel pistols with back action percussion locks, typically .41 caliber with rifled bores, and walnut stocks.
These double-barrel derringers were chambered for .22 Long Rifle and .22 Magnum and were available in blued, nickel, silver, and gold plated finishes.
It uses an internal hammer, which is activated by depressing the trigger to hit a ratcheting/rotating striker that in turn strikes one firing pin at a time.
The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral 10-round, box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock which gives it the stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a holster or carrying case, and a unique grip shaped like the handle of a broom.
Compact variants are popular civilian concealed carry weapons in the U.S. because of the design's relatively slim width and stopping power[42] of the .45 ACP cartridge.
[46][47] They feature exposed hammers, a traditional double-action trigger mechanism,[48] a single-stack 8-round magazine (for .32 ACP version), and a fixed barrel that also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring.
Introduced in 1935, it is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium.
These improvements both involved the magazine, which featured direct feed; that is, The United States' military replaced the M1911A1 .45 ACP pistol with the Beretta 92FS, designated as the M9 in 1985.
In 1982, the Glock 17 entered the Austrian military and police service after performing the best out of other models in an exhaustive series of reliability and safety tests.
[56] Despite initial hesitation from the market to accept a "plastic gun" due to durability and reliability concerns, as well as fears that metal detectors in airports may not detect the polymer frame, Glock pistols have become the company's most profitable line of products, commanding 65% of the market share of handguns for United States law enforcement agencies,[57] as well as supplying numerous national armed forces, security agencies, and police forces in at least 48 countries.
