By: Stephen Bush

Cannons date back as early as the B.C years. Cannons weighed around 20,000 lbs. and required a lot of people to move and fire it. Cannons were very essential in the American Revolution when America fought for its freedom. Cannons fired many projectiles such as the traditional cannonball and canister shot- this is a projectile that when fired it sent many small, sharp objects at its target.

The hand cannon is the first handheld firearm. It originated in China. It was loaded and fired as a cannon was except it.

A musket is a muzzle loaded long gun that was common in the 18 th and 19 th century. Muzzle-loader refers to the way the gun is loaded The musket is loaded from the muzzle.( Shown right.) Gunpowder and the lead ball are stuffed in.

Firearms really made a huge change during this century. They transitioned from muskets to Gatling Guns and Winchester rifles to the first box magazine. To the left is a standard Gatling gun. It is operated using a crank that spins the barrels to shoot multiple rounds.

Firearms in the 1900’s changed significantly with 2 guns from WWII. One of those is the Thompson Sub-Machinegun (A.K.A the Tommy gun). The second is the M1 Garand. M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle in the world. M1 Garand Thompson Sub-Machine

Hand Guns A handgun/pistol is a modernized handheld gun that usually only fires one shot at a time. Handguns are very common for police officers. To the left is a Glock 17. The glock is a popular chain of semi-automatic handguns. (Semi automatic means the empty round is ejected after firing and a new one is put into the barrel)

Revolvers  A revolver is a handgun variation that has a 5-6 round (bullet) revolving chamber.  Smith and Wesson ( Founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson in 1852) is the largest manufacturing business in the U.S. (1852-present) Horace SmithDaniel B. Wesson This is a Colt revolver made by Samuel Colt.

Sniper Rifles  A sniper rifle is a rifle that is very long and has a scope to make accurate shots from a long distance. To the left is the.50 caliber sniper rifle. It is the most powerful and effective sniper rifle today because it is semi- automatic. Below is the.50 BMG Nato round that measures 138mm.

Shotguns  A shotgun is a firearm that made to be fired from the shoulder like a rifle. The projectiles are called slugs.  These slugs are filled with small pellets that are forced at a target with a wide spread.  There are 6 types: single barrel, double barrel, lever action, pump action, semi- automatic and fully automatic.

Shotguns (continued) This is a Winchester M1897- A pump action shotgun. This is a double barrel shotgun. This is an automatic shotgun- The AA12- The Auto Assault-12 (originally the Atchisson Assault Shotgun)

Rifles  Rifles are long guns that are made to be fired from the shoulder. It also includes spiraling in the barrel to make the bullet spin at a greater velocity.  Rifles are most commonly used in the Army or on the Swat. This is a modern SG 550 Rifle. This is an old Springfield Rifle.

Assault Rifles  Assault rifles are rifles that is commonly used in the Army.  Common Assault rifles are the popular AK-47 (Bottom left) and the M-16: (Bottom Right)

Automatic Firearms  An automatic firearm is a firearm that fires without stopping from one pull of the trigger.  There are automatic shotguns, handguns, rifles, handguns, etc.. The M2HB heavy machine gun is a automatic firearm.

RPG- Rocket Propelled Grenade  A RPG is a Rocket Propelled Grenade.  RPG’s are used to destroy tanks and other heavily armored vehicles. This is a RPG-7, The most common RPG. The Warhead is the rocket and the other part is the launcher.

Firearms