A handgun is a firearm designed to be held in the hand when used. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from their larger cousins: long guns such as rifles and shotguns, mounted weapons such as machine guns and autocannons, and larger weapons such as artillery.
Some handgun subtypes include single-shot pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, and fully automatic, or machine pistols.
The overlapping variations in meaning of the words "pistol" and "handgun" are discussed below
Etymology of the word "pistol"
The word "pistol" is derived from the French pistole (or pistolet), which has these possible origins:
* From the Czech pistole and this one from the Czech píšťala (flute or pipe, referring to the shape of a Hussite firearm).
* From the city of Pistoia, Italy, where perhaps a manufacturer was one Camillio Vettelli in the 1540s.
* That early pistols were carried by cavalry in holsters hung from the pommel (or pistallo in medieval French) of a horse's saddle.
Types of handguns
The general types of handguns are listed below in their order of historical appearance. Each type can be classified into many subtypes. Some of these types can also be differently classified using the general distinction between muzzle-loading firearms (loading from the front of the barrel) and breech-loading firearms (loading from behind the barrel).
Single-shot pistols
Single-shot pistols are the theoretically simplest pistols. 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 essentially nothing more than miniature cannons, small enough to be handheld.
Improvements followed in subsequent centuries, as various types of locks (ignition devices) were invented. In the matchlock, the separate match cord was affixed to a spring-loaded pivot which could be tripped by a trigger. In the wheellock, a mechanism analogous to that used in today's cigarette lighters replaced the smoldering match cord. In the 17th century, the flintlock, which strikes a flint against steel, appeared. (The flintlock, amazingly, remained state-of-the-art for some two hundred years.) In the 19th century, percussion caps were developed, followed shortly by modern integrated-primer cartridges, and hammers therefore traded their flint for firing pins.
Single-shot pistols are not completely things of the past, as they have continued to be built (for various reasons) throughout the breech-loading era. However, for most applications, the single-shot handgun has been replaced by revolvers and semi-automatic pistols.
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An Internet reference site, with all you ever wanted to know about the M-1911
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