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A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, distinguished by having a gun barrel cut with a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling). Most rifles are designed to be held with both hands and braced against the shoulder via a buttstock for stability. Rifles are used in , law enforcement, hunting and shooting sports.
The invention of rifling separated such firearms from the earlier smoothbore weapons (e.g., , , and other long guns), greatly elevating their accuracy and general effectiveness. The raised areas of a barrel's rifling are called lands; they make contact with and exert torque on the projectile as it moves down the bore, imparting a spin. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin persists and lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile due to conservation of angular momentum, increasing accuracy and hence effective range. The class of firearm was originally termed the rifled gun, with the verb to rifle referring to the early modern machining process of creating grooves with cutting tools.
Like all typical firearms, a rifle's projectile (bullet) is propelled by the contained deflagration of a combustible propellant compound (originally black powder and now nitrocellulose and other ), although other propulsive means are used, such as compressed air in , which are popular for pest control, small game hunting, competitive target shooting and casual shooting sport ( plinking).
Modern overlap to some extent in design and function with . In fact, many light machine guns are adaptations of existing automatic rifle designs, such as the RPK and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. A military's light machine guns are typically chambered for the same caliber ammunition as its service rifles. Generally, the difference between an automatic rifle and a machine gun comes down to weight, cooling system, and ammunition feed system. Rifles, with their relatively lighter components (which overheat quickly) and smaller capacity magazines, are incapable of sustained automatic fire in the way that machine guns are; they trade this capability in favor of increased mobility. Modern military rifles are fed by magazines, while machine guns are generally belt-fed. Many machine guns allow the operator to quickly exchange barrels in order to prevent overheating, whereas rifles generally do not. Most machine guns fire from an open bolt in order to reduce the danger of "Cooking off", while almost all rifles fire from a closed bolt for accuracy. Machine guns are often crewed by more than one soldier; the rifle is an individual weapon.
The term "rifle" is sometimes used to describe larger rifled crew-served weapons firing explosive shells, for example, and .
In many works of fiction "rifle" refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if the weapon is not rifled or does not fire solid projectiles (e.g. "laser rifle").
Some of the earliest examples of European grooved gun barrels were reportedly manufactured during 1440, and further developed by Gaspard Kollner of Vienna , although other scholars allege they were a joint effort between Kollner and Augustus Kotter of Nuremberg .Greener, William Wellington (1885). The Gun and Its Development: With Notes on Shooting, pp. 50 and 620. Cassell Books. Military commanders preferred smoothbore weapons for infantry use because rifles were much more prone to problems due to powder fouling the barrel and because they took longer to reload and fire than muskets.
Rifles were created as an improvement in the accuracy of smoothbore muskets. In the early 18th century, Benjamin Robins, an English mathematician, realized that an elongated bullet would retain the momentum and kinetic energy of a musket ball, but would slice through the air with greater ease. The black powder used in early muzzle-loading rifles quickly fouled the barrel, making loading slower and more difficult. The greater range of the rifle was considered to be of little practical use since the smoke from black powder quickly obscured the battlefield and made it almost impossible to aim the weapon from a distance. Since musketeers could not afford to take the time to stop and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle, rifles were limited to use by Marksman and non-military uses like hunting.
were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using spherical ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of precision manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle, the musket ball was a loose fit in the barrel. Consequently, on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired and the final direction on leaving the muzzle was unpredictable.
The performance of early muskets defined the style of warfare at the time. Due to the lack of accuracy, soldiers were deployed in long lines (thus line infantry) to fire at the opposing forces. Precise aim was thus not necessary to hit an opponent. Muskets were used for comparatively rapid, imprecisely aimed volley fire, and the average soldier could be easily trained to use them.
In the Province of Pennsylvania USA, one of the most successful early rifles, the long rifle, was developed over the course of the 18th century. Compared to the more common Brown Bess, these Pennsylvania and Kentucky rifles had a tighter bore with no space between bullet and barrel, and still used balls instead of conical bullets. The balls the long rifle used were smaller, allowing the production of more rounds for a given amount of lead. These rifles also had longer barrels, allowing more accuracy, which were rifled with a helix groove. These first started appearing sometime before 1740, one early example being made by Jacob Dickert, a German immigrant. By 1750 there were a number of such manufacturers in the area. The longer barrel was a departure by local gunsmiths from their German roots, allowing bullets to achieve a higher speed (as the burning gunpowder was contained longer) before emerging from the barrel.
During the 1700s (18th century), colonial settlers, particularly those immigrating from Germany and Switzerland, adapted and improved upon their European rifles. The improved long rifles were used for precise shooting, aiming, and firing at individual targets, instead of the musket's use for imprecise fire. During the American Revolution, the colonist troops favoured these more accurate rifles while their use was resisted by the British and Hessian troops. Alt URL
By the time of the American Revolutionary War, these rifles were commonly used by frontiersmen, and Congress authorized the establishment of ten companies of riflemen. One of the most critical units was Morgan's Riflemen, led by Daniel Morgan. This sharpshooting unit eventually proved itself integral to the Battle of Saratoga, and in the southern states where General Morgan commanded as well. Taking advantage of the rifle's improved accuracy, Morgan's sharpshooters picked off cannoneers and officers, reducing the impact of enemy artillery. This kind of advantage was considered pivotal in many battles, such as the battles of Cowpens, Saratoga, and King's Mountain.
Later during the Napoleonic Wars, the British 95th Regiment (Green Jackets) and 60th Regiment, (Royal American), as well as sharpshooters and riflemen during the War of 1812, used the rifle to great effect during skirmishing. Because of a slower loading time than a musket, they were not adopted by the whole army. Since rifles were used by sharpshooters who did not routinely fire over other men's shoulders, long length was not required to avoid the forward line. A shorter length made a handier weapon in which tight-fitting balls did not have to be rammed so far down the barrel.
The invention of the Minié ball in the 1840s solved the slow loading problem, and in the 1850s and 1860s rifles quickly replaced muskets on the battlefield. Many rifles, often referred to as , were very similar to the muskets they replaced, but the military also experimented with other designs. Breech-loading weapons proved to have a much faster rate of fire than muzzleloaders, causing military forces to abandon muzzle loaders in favor of breech-loading designs in the late 1860s. In the later part of the 19th century, rifles were generally single-shot, breech-loading guns, designed for aimed, discretionary fire by individual soldiers. Then, as now, rifles had a stock, either fixed or folding, to be braced against the shoulder when firing.
The adoption of cartridges and breech-loading in the 19th century was concurrent with the general adoption of rifles. In the early part of the 20th century, soldiers were trained to shoot accurately over long ranges with high-powered cartridges. World War I Lee–Enfield rifles (among others) were equipped with long-range 'volley sights' for massed firing at ranges of up to . Individual shots were unlikely to hit, but a platoon firing repeatedly could produce a 'beaten ground' effect similar to light artillery or machine guns.
Currently, rifles are the most common firearm in general use for hunting (with the exception of bird hunting, where shotguns are favored). Rifles derived from military designs have long been popular with civilian shooters.
In Central Asia, Uzbeks, Kazakhs and Tadjiks in the course of the 19th century adopted a form of large-calibre rifle: the or karamultyk.
The original muzzle-loading rifle, with a closely fitting ball to take the rifling grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this reason was not generally used for military purposes. With the advent of rifling, the bullet itself did not initially change but was wrapped in a greased, cloth patch to grip the rifling grooves.
The first half of the 19th century saw a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet. In 1826 Henri-Gustave Delvigne, a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the rifling grooves. Delvigne's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate.
Soon after, Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin invented the Carabine à tige, which had a stem at the bottom of the barrel that would deform and expand the base of the bullet when rammed, therefore enabling accurate contact with the rifling. However, the area around the stem clogged and got dirty easily.
Minié system rifles, notably the U.S. Springfield and the British Enfield of the early 1860s featured prominently in the U.S. Civil War of 1861-1865, due to their enhanced power and accuracy. At the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) the Minié rifle was considered the "best in military use".
Over the 19th century, bullet design continued to evolve, the bullets becoming gradually smaller and lighter. By 1910 the standard blunt-nosed bullet had been replaced by the pointed, 'spitzer' bullet, an innovation that increased range and penetration. Cartridge design evolved from simple paper tubes containing black powder and shot, to sealed brass cases with integral primers for ignition, and black powder was replaced by cordite, and then by other nitro-cellulose-based smokeless powder mixtures, propelling bullets to higher velocities than before.
The increased velocity meant that new problems arose, and so bullets went from using soft lead to harder lead, then to copper-jacketed, in order to better engage the spiral grooves without "stripping" them in the same way that a screw or bolt thread would be stripped if subjected to extreme forces.
Until the late 19th century rifles tended to be very long, some reaching approximately in length to maximize accuracy, making early rifles impractical for use by cavalry. However, following the advent of more powerful smokeless powder, a shorter barrel did not impair accuracy as much. As a result, cavalry saw limited, but noteworthy, usage in 20th-century conflicts.
The advent of the massed, rapid firepower of the machine gun, submachine gun and rifled artillery was so quick as to outstrip the development of any way to attack a Trench warfare defended by riflemen and machine gunners. The carnage of World War I was perhaps the greatest vindication and vilification of the rifle as a military weapon.
The M1 Garand was a semi-automatic rapid-fire rifle developed for modern warfare use in World War II.
During and after World War II it became accepted that most infantry engagements occurred at ranges of less than 300 m; the range and power of the large full-powered rifle cartridges were "overkill", requiring weapons heavier than otherwise necessary. This led to Germany's development of the 7.92×33mm Kurz (short) round, the MKb-42, and ultimately, the assault rifle. Today, an infantryman's rifle is optimized for ranges of 300 m or less, and soldiers are trained to deliver individual rounds or bursts of fire within these distances. Typically, the application of accurate, long-range fire is the domain of the marksman and the sniper in warfare, and of enthusiastic target shooters in peacetime. The modern marksman rifle and sniper rifle are usually capable of accuracy better than 0.3 mrad at 100 yards (1 arcminute).
The original Grizzly fired a single shot before breaking. Grizzly 2.0 fired fourteen bullets before getting damaged due to the strain.
In October 2020, another 3D-printed 9mm rifle known as the "FGC-9mm" was created. It is reported that it can be made in 2 weeks with $500 of tools. A second model was later made in April 2021.
Some early rifled firearms had barrels with a twisted polygonal bore. The Whitworth rifle was the first such type designed to spin the round for accuracy. Bullets for these guns were made to match the shape of the bore so the bullet would grip the rifle bore and take a spin that way. These were generally large caliber weapons, and the ammunition still did not fit tightly in the barrel. Many different shapes and degrees of spiraling were used in experimental designs. One widely produced example was the Metford rifling in the Pattern 1888 Lee–Metford service rifle. Although uncommon, polygonal rifling is still used in some weapons today, one example being the Glock line of pistols (which fire standard bullets). Many of the early designs were prone to dangerous backfiring, which could lead to the destruction of the weapon and serious injury to the person firing it.
In recent decades, large-caliber anti-materiel rifles, typically firing between 12.7 mm and 20 mm caliber cartridges, have been developed. The US Barrett M82A1 is probably the best-known such rifle. A second example is the AX50 by Accuracy International. These weapons are typically used to strike critical, vulnerable targets such as computerized command and control vehicles, radio trucks, radar antennae, vehicle engine blocks and the jet engines of enemy aircraft. Anti-materiel rifles can be used against human targets, but the much higher weight of rifle and ammunition, and the massive recoil and muzzle blast, usually make them less than practical for such use. The Barrett M82 is designed with a maximum effective range of , although it has a confirmed kill distance of in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002. The record for the longest confirmed kill shot stands at , set by an unnamed soldier with Canada's elite special operations unit Joint Task Force 2 using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle.
Using metric units, the formula divides the number of millimeters in a meter (1000) by the barrel twist in millimeters (the length of travel along the barrel per full rotation). This number is then multiplied by the muzzle velocity in meters per second (m/s) and the number of seconds in a minute (60).
Using imperial units, the formula divides the number of inches in a foot (12) by the rate of twist that the barrel has. This number is multiplied by the muzzle velocity (MV) and the number of seconds in a minute (60). For example, a bullet with a muzzle velocity of leaving a barrel that twists once per foot (1/12") would rotate at 180,000rpm.
The standard calibers used by the world's militaries tend to follow worldwide trends. These trends have significantly changed during the centuries of firearm design and re-design. Muskets were normally chambered for large calibers, such as .50 or .59 (12.7 mm or 15 mm), with the theory that these large bullets caused the most damage.
During World War I and II, most rifles were chambered in .30 caliber (7.62 mm), a combination of power and speed. Examples would be the .303 British Lee–Enfield, the American M1903 .30-06, and the German 8mm Mauser K98.
An exception was the Italian Carcano rifle, which used the 6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano cartridge.
Detailed study of infantry combat during and after World War II revealed that most small-arms engagements occurred within 100 meters, meaning that the power and range of the traditional .30-caliber weapons (designed for engagements at 500 meters and beyond) were essentially wasted. The single greatest predictor of an individual soldier's combat effectiveness was the number of rounds he fired. Weapons designers and strategists realized that service rifles firing smaller-caliber projectiles would allow troops to carry far more ammunition for the same weight. The lower recoil and more generous magazine capacities of small-caliber weapons also allow troops a much greater volume of fire, compared to historical battle rifles. Smaller, faster traveling, less stable projectiles have also demonstrated greater terminal ballistics and therein, a greater lethality than traditional .30-caliber rounds. Most modern service rifles fire a projectile of approximately 5.56 mm. Examples of firearms in this range are the American 5.56 mm M16 and the Russian 5.45×39mm AK-74.
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