CHAPTER 2

FIREAMS: ITS NATURE AND CLASSIFICATIONS

Legal Definition of Firearms

Firearms or Arms as herein used, includes rifles, muskets, carbines, shotgun, pistol,
revolvers, and all other deadly weapons, to which a bullet, ball, shot, shell, or other
missiles may be discharged by means of gun powder or other explosives. This term
also includes air rifle, except those of small calibers and limited range used as toys.
The barrel of any firearm shall be considered a complete firearm for all purposes
hereof (Sec. 877 Revised Administrative Code/Sec.290 National Internal Revenue
Code).

Technical Definition

Firearm is an instrument used for the propulsion of projectile by means of the

expansive force gases coming from burning gunpowder.

Classifications of Firearms

Two General Classifications of Firearms

A. According to Interior Barrel Construction

1. Smooth Bore Firearms - firearms that have no rifling (lands and grooves)
inside their gun barrel.

2. Rifled Bore Firearms - firearms that have rifling inside their gun barrel.
Examples: Pistols, Revolvers, and other modern weapons.

B. According to the Caliber of the Projectile Propelled

1. Artillery - refers to those types of Firearms that propel projectile with more
than one inch diameter.

Examples: Cannons, Mortars, and Bazooka

2. Small Arms - these are firearms that propel a projectile with less than one
inch diameter and it can be handled, moved, and operated by one man.

Examples: Machine gun, shoulder arms, and handguns

Shoulder Arms

Shoulder arms are those types of firearms that were normally fired from the
shoulder e.g. rifles and shotguns.

Rifles

A shoulder weapon designed to fire a projectile with more accuracy through a long
rifled bore barrel, usually more accuracy through a long rifled bore barrel, usually
more than .22 inches. Just like any other type of gun, rifles appear in various
forms. First, is the Single Shot rifle, this is the simplest and yet of many types.
Some with breech block opened by means of a lever, chamber feed type, breech
block opened and closed by hand etc. Second, is the Repeating rifle, a type of rifle
loaded with several cartridges at one time and carries the cartridge into the
chamber when it is ready to be fired, rather than for the shooter to do it by hand.
This can be further divided into: bolt action type, lever type, slide action type and
automatic type.

Types of Repeating Rifles

1. Bolt Action type - the bolt action type may appear as either turning bolt or
a straight- pull bolt type. The turning bolt type is manipulated by turning the bolt
handle first upward, making the bolt in an unlocked position before pulling the
handle to open the chamber causing the cartridge to be exposed and be ready for
another loading and closing before firing. In the straight pull action type as its
name implies, the bolt is directly pulled to the rear without being turned by. The
chamber will open; loading will follow, and then close again before firing. The Swiss
army rifle called Schmidt-Rubin is a good example of this type.

2. Lever type - the name was derived from its manipulation system. It is
operated by downward-forward movement first of the lever by hand, causing the
opening, cocking and placing of the cartridge in its position for loading.

3. Slide Action type - in this type of rifle, a box type magazine is attached
and removed every time that loading and unloading is desired. The operation is
simply done by pulling the slide backward to open the breech and forward to move
the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber at the same time cocks the
hammer and locks the breech block. Another type of a rifle is called Automatic type.
It is a type of a rifle in which firing can be made continuously by a single press of
the trigger and while the trigger is pressed. Firing will only stop either by the action
of the gunner or when all the cartridges have been used.
Carbine

It is a short barrel rifle, with its barrel rifle, measuring not longer than .22 inches.
It fires a single projectile through a rifle-bore either Semi-automatic or fully
automatic for every press of the trigger.

Muskets

It is an ancient smoothbore and muzzle loading military shoulder arms designed to

fire shots or single round lead ball. There are three types of muskets: (1) the Flint
Lock, (2) the Match Lock, and (3) the Wheel Lock.

Handguns

These types of firearms are designed or intended to be fired using one hand e.g.
pistols and revolvers.

1. Pistol

In early firearm history, all handguns are generally called as pistols. There were
three (3) classes of pistols in that period. The single shot pistol, the Semi-
automatic, and the revolving pistol now known as the revolver. The single shot
pistol is operated by depressing the lever causing the barrel to be unlatched and
tipped upward. In this position the cartridge is inserted to the chamber and locked.
The hammer pulled rearward to be cocked and ready to fire. The Semi-automatic
pistol is the type of pistol most common in existence. This is located through the
magazine, a slide Action is taken to first load a cartridge to the chamber, upon
firing the empty shell will be extracted and ejected from the firearm at the same
time another cartridge is automatically loaded to the chamber without the gunner
exerting additional effort.

2. Revolver

The revolver is a type of a hand firearm designed to position cartridges into position
for firing with the aid of a rotating cylinder serving as its chamber. There are two
types of revolvers according to its mechanical firing action, there are as follows: (a)
the single action, a type of revolver that needs manual cocking of the hammer
before squeezing the trigger; and (b) the double action, a type of revolver that
does not need manual cocking. The gunner just presses the trigger and it both
cocked and released the hammer causing a much faster firing.
Types of Firearms According to Mechanical Construction

1. Single shot firearms - types of firearms designed to fire only one shot for every
loading.

Ex: single shot pistols, revolvers, and shotguns

2. Repeating Arms - types of firearms designed to fire several shots in one loading
and for every press of the trigger.

Ex: automatic pistols, Revolvers, rifles, and shotguns

3. Automatic firearms - types of firearms that constitute continuous firing in a

single press of the trigger and while the trigger is pressed.

4. Slide Action type - types of firearms in which loading takes place by back and
forth manipulation of the under/over forearms of the gun. It is a firearm which
features a movable forearm which is manually actuated in motion parallel to the
barrel by the shooter. Forearm motion is transmitted to a breach bolt assembly
which performs all the functions of the firing cycle assigned to it by the design or
also known as PUMP ACTION.

Ex: shotgun and pistols

5. Bolt action type - types of firearms in which reloading takes place by

manipulating the bolt back and forth.

Ex: Rifles, shotguns, and machine guns

6. Lever type (break type) - loading takes place by lever action on the firearms.

Ex: Rifles and shotguns

9. Machine Gun- is a type of firearm that is primarily designed for military use.
Investigations involving shooting cases in cities rarely find this type of firearm
having been used. It can be grouped in three general types:

a. Recoil-operated - a type of machine gun devised with a recoil spring that is

responsible for forcing the breech block to move forward causing another cartridge
to be loaded only after the breech block moves rearward and the empty shell is
extracted upon firing.

b. Gas Operated - a type of machine gun equipped with gas port at the
interior portion of the barrel. When a cartridge is fired and the bullet reaches the
gas port some high- pressure gas will move to the gas cylinder causing the piston
to move to the rear moving or pulling the breech block to the rear. At this time, the
pressure in the chamber has dropped to safe limits and the various parts are
returned to the firing position by the action of the spring around the piston.

c. Combined recoil and gas - operated action-in this type of machine gun, the
gas operation merely serves to unlock the breech block by the pressure moving to
the gas port, passing through the gas cylinder and causing the piston to move to
the rear, moving the cam to raise the lock through a stud. Once this is completed,
recoil action causes the breech block to move rearward and completes the opening
cycle. The spring will return the various parts to their closed position and cycle will
be repeated for the next shot.

10. Sub Machine- stock that may or may not be folded and designed to be fired
with both hands. Basically, there are two types of this firearm according to its
mechanism. One has a boot operated by a trigger sear causing the cartridge to be
fired in open bolt and the other is fired with a closed bolt position.

11. Shotgun- a smooth bore and a breech loading shoulder arms designed to fire a
number of lead pellets or shots in one charge. A shotgun operates almost exactly in
the same way as other rifles. It only differs in some extent such as the interior
barrel construction. Generally all shotguns are equipped with a smooth bore barrel
designed to fire a number of lead pellets in a single charge. This type of firearm
also appears in various mechanism types. They are as follows:

a. Single Barreled Shotgun

It is similar to a single shot rifle. It is loaded with a single shotgun cartridge, closed,
fired and to be reloaded manually by the shooter. This is common in a break type,
and breech-loading shotgun.

b. Double Barreled Shotgun

It appears in different variation depending on the barrel position. There are double
barreled shotgun positioned side by side, one over the other (over/under shotgun),
with individual trigger pull or with single trigger pull causing two hammer and firing
pin to fire at the same time.

c. Pump Action Shotgun

It is also known by the name “slide Action type. The hammer of this shotgun is
completely built inside the receiver which makes it unexposed, thus, making it
known also as “hammerless shotgun”. Its operation is done by back and forth
manipulation of the slide by the shooter.

d. Auto loading Shotgun

This type of shotgun has a mechanism similar to auto-loading or self-loading rifles
that permits reloading by the action of the recoil without the shooter taking added
effort. The barrel construction of shotguns may also be found in different bore
construction. These are:

(a) The cylinder bore type, a type of shotgun bore with the same diameter
throughout the barrel (from breech to muzzle end);

(b) The choke bore type, a type of a shotgun bore with a diminishing or reducing
bore diameter towards the muzzle. It is designed to limit the spread of the shots or
making the shots travel longer before they spread; and

(c) The paradox shotgun, a very rare type of shotgun bore, having rifling only in a
few inches from its muzzle point.

11. Miscellaneous Guns

1. Zip Gun - generally referring to home-made gun used by juvenile delinquents in

the

United States of America. In the Philippines, it is referred to as “paltik”.

2. Cane gun, knife pistols, cell phone gun, etc.- devices principally designed for
other purpose to which a gun mechanism is incorporated or attached. It is also
called as Freakish gun. A type of a zip gun designated to prevent easy
identification.

3. Flare gun - designed for tracing or sending signals or locating enemy troops.

4. Gas gun - generally referring to all gun designed for firing tear gas.

5. Harpoon gun - refers to a barbed spear in hunting large fish.

6. Liberator - U.S. government made smooth bore gun used in Europe and designed
to fire an automatic colt pistol cartridge caliber .45.

7. Multi-barreled Gun - refers to all types of gun containing a number of barrels.

8. Paradox gun - a type of gun which contains lands and grooves in the few inches
from the muzzle point.

9. Tool guns - are devices that resemble a gun’s design but are generally used for
construction of furniture e.g. Nail-gun, drilling machine, etc.

10. Trap Gun - refers to gun used for trapping animals. (sec.C and D)
NOMENCLATURE OF FIREARMS AND ITS FUNCTIONS

1. Barrel - the passage way of the bullet. It initiates the motion of the bullet.

2. Bolt - disengages center pin to allow opening of cylinder and blocks hammer.

3. Center pin - serves as locking device for the cylinder.

4. Center pin spring - holds the center pin in a locked position.

5. Chamber - that part of the firearm in which the cartridge is placed when ready to
be fired.

6. Cylinder - serves as the chamber and magazine for a revolver.

7. Cylinder notch - helps hold cylinder in place and aligned for ready firing.

8. Cylinder shop - stops and holds the cylinder in alignment for firing.

9. Double action sear - built into weapon to allow double action firing.

10. Extractor - pulls the empty shells from the cylinder simultaneously.

11. Frame - houses the internal parts of the firearm.

12. Hand (pawl) rotates the cylinder when the hammer is locked

13. Hammer - strikes the blow that initiates the ignition of the primer.

14. Hammer block - safety device that prevents hammer blows to the primer.

15. Mainspring - provides energy to the hammer to activate firing mechanism.

16. Ratchet - helps in the withdrawal of the cartridge or shells from the chamber of
the cylinder.

17. Rebound slide - returns trigger, activates hammer block, and locked hammer.

18. Side plate - provides access to the internal parts.

19. Side plate screws - hold the side plate and yoke in place.

20. Strain screws - controls tension on the mainspring.

21. Thumb latch - actuates the bolt to release the cylinder.

22. Trigger - activates the part necessary to fire the weapon.

23. Trigger guard - guards the trigger to unnecessary action to avoid accidental
firing.

24. Trigger spring - provides energy for return movement or rebound slide.
25. Trigger level - contacts rebound slide to return trigger forward.
26. Trigger stop - prevents excessive rearward movement after hammer release.
27. Yoke – pivots connection between the frame and cylinder.

Figure 2. Caliber 45
Figure 3. Caliber 38

INVENTORS AND MANUFACTURER

Prominent Personalities behind Firearms

John M Browning - Wizard of the modern firearms and pioneered the breech
loading single shot rifle that was adopted by Winchester.

Samuel Colt - Patented the first practical revolver and maker of the Colt Peace
Maker, one of the most famous revolvers in history.

Alexander John Forsyth - Father of the percussion powder. He successfully

invented the priming mixture and caused the integration of the primer, bullet,
gunpowder and she’ll into one unit.

Major Uziel Gal - An Israeli army who designed the UZI (Israel) in the year 1950.

Col. Calvin H. Goddard - Father of modern Ballistics. He is the man who first
utilized the bullet comparison microscope to prove the identify of a fired bullet
through comparison with a test bullet.

John C. Garand - Designed and invented the Semi-automatic U.S. Rifle Cal.30.M1
garand.

George Hyde - A well-known expert in the field of SMG, (also known as grease
gun) developed in 1941.M3A1 (USA).

Michael Kalashnikov - Designed the AK (Automat Kalashnikova) 47 (Soviet

Union) adopted by the Russian Army in the year 1951.

George Luger - Designed the Luger MP08 (Germany).

John Wolfe Marlin – founder of the Marlin Firearms Company.

Peter Paul Mauser - Invented and designed the Mauser M1912 (Germany).

James Wolfe Rifley - Stimulated the development of the model 1855 rifle-
musket.

Eliphalet Remington - One of the early rifle makers.

Elisha King Root - Designed the machinery for making Colt firearms.

Horace Smith - founded the great firm of Smith and Wesson and pioneered the
making of breech loading rifles.
Eugene Stoner - Designed the U.S. M16 Armalite under licensed by Colt Company
from July 1959 onwards.

L.C. Smith - Developed the shotgun bearing his name and is now known as the
Ithaca gun Company.

John T.Thompson - Developed in the course of WW1 the Thompson M1A1 and the
1928 model of the A1 (USA). He pioneered the making of the Thompson
submachine gun.

Daniel B. Wesson-the partner of Horrace Smith in the making of the famous

revolver bearing their names.

David “Carbine”Williams – He is the maker of the first known Carbine.

Oliver Winchester - One of the earliest rifle and pistol makers.

IMPORTANT DATES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIREARMS

● 1242A.D - Roger Bacon published the “De Mirabili Potestate Artis et Naturae” (On
the Marvelous Power of Arts and Nature), which noted the black powder formula.

● 1200 - Roman Candle.A hallow tube, strengthened with wire or shrunken rawhide,
and loaded with alternate charges of powder and balls of tallow wrapped in cloth. It
is ignited at the muzzle. It is said that the Chinese used the Roman Candle as early
as the mid-1200’s.

● 1326AD-The oldest authenticated illustration of gun powder used to hurl projectile

in cannons was demonstrated in Walter de Millemete’s manuscript. In the same
period “the metrical life of Robert the Bruce” by John Barbour also indicates the use
of cannon by Edward III at Crecy, although this is not completely authenticated.

● 1343AD-Cannon locks were used in the military as depicted in the Italian

Frescoes by Neri.

● 1390-Codex Germanicus 600-Translates “directionsfor preparation of gun

powder”. This provides instructions on how to load the gun and discharge them.

●1450- the evolution of the Match Lock ignition.

● 1450-1500 Serpentine Lock was used to modify the conventional match lock,
using the S-shaped instead of C-shaped piece with the bottom portion serving the
trigger.
● 1469-A drawing from an English manuscript shows a “ribauldegium”, a multi
charged cannon lock weapon.

● 1498-More improved rifling and sights were introduced and breech loaders were
attempted although they never succeeded. Nevertheless, even multi-shot arms did
not also succeed due to the absence of a good ignition system.

●1500’s- the development of the Wheel lock which operated in the same principle
as the modern day cigarette lighter. In the mid-1500’s, “snaphaunce” was
developed.

● 1575-Paper Cartridge was developed. Ball and powder charged were wrapped in
chemically treated paper to allow the carrying of numerous pre-measured charges
or pre-loaded rounds.

● 1750-The development of Breech-loading firearms leading to the making of the

Ferguson Rifle of Major Patrick Ferguson; the development of the COLLIER Rifle,
which is a flint lock repeating rifle operated on a revolving principle and; as well as
the HALL Rifle patented in 822 by Co. John Hall and was the 1stbreechloader
adopted by the U.S. Army.

●1805-The Percussion System- Alexander John Forsyth discovered a compound

that would ignite when it is blown, thus igniting the powder charge. In 1840, it
replaced the flintlock ignition and was adopted in 1838 by the British and in 1842
by the Americans.

● 1835-The first to realcartridge was developed “The Flobert Cap” same as the BB
and was considered the forerunner of the 22 short cartridge.

● 1835-Samuel Colt patented the first revolver and marketed in 1872; it is a breech
loading revolver.

● 1836-The Pin fire Cartridge was developed by Le Faucheux. A much real pin fire
Cartridge was also developed in the same year by Houiller.

● 1845-Rin fire Cartridge, Flobert developed the BB (bullet breech) cap, which was
considered the forerunner of the 22 cal cartridge. In the same year, New Havens
Arms Company owned by Oliver F. Winchester, through the effort of Tyler Henry
developed a 44cal rim fire cartridge for Henry Rifle.

● 1846-The Smokeless powder was discovered. It was used first in the shotgun in
the year 1864 by Capt.Schultze of the Prussian Army and in Rifle by the year 1884
by M.Vieille of France.
● 1857-The first patent on a center fire cartridge was issued in France. The Snider
conversation and the Morse cartridge were also developed.

● 1873-Colt Peace Maker, model 1873,.45 cal., the most famous revolver in history
and legend was manufactured.

● 1884-Hiram Maxim developed the first fully automatic machine gun.

● 1937-M1 Garand was adopted by the American.

● 1960-Bill Ruger produced his Ruger Single Shot, which was followed by Clerke’s
design and Christian Sharp’s dropping block system, one of the earliest and most
successful of the breech loading designs. The Christian Sharp’s design is where the
term “sharpshooters” was derived.