Gun

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For other uses, see Gun (disambiguation).

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SIG Pro semi-automatic pistol

USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside during a target exercise nearVieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984.

A gun is a normally tubular weapon or other device designed to discharge projectiles or other material.[1] The
projectile may be solid, liquid, gas or energy and may be free, as with bullets and artillery shells, or captive as
with Taser probes and whaling harpoons. The means of projection varies according to design but is usually
effected by the action of gas pressure, either produced through the rapid combustion of a propellant or
compressed and stored by mechanical means, operating on the projectile inside an open-ended tube in the
fashion of a piston. The confined gas accelerates the movable projectile down the length of the tube, imparting
sufficient velocity to sustain the projectile's travel once the action of the gas ceases at the end of the tube or
muzzle. Alternatively, acceleration via electromagnetic field generation may be employed in which case the tube
may be dispensed with and a guide rail substituted.
The first devices identified as guns appeared in China around CE 1000. By the 12th century the technology was
spreading through the rest of Asia, and into Europe by the 13th century.[2]
Contents
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1Etymology

2History

3Operating principle

4Components
o

4.1Barrel

4.2Projectile

5Terminology

6Types
o

6.1Military

6.2Machine guns

6.3Handguns

6.4Autocannon

6.5Artillery

6.6Tank

6.7Hunting

6.8Rescue equipment

6.9Training and entertainment

6.10Energy

7See also

8Notes

9References