A Firearms Primer
A Firearms Primer for People who have Never Actually Used or Learned about Firearms.
Before writing anything about firearms, laws, gun control, assault weapons or anything else, I will cover basic firearms safety. If you are a beginner or novice, safety is the most important thing you can learn. It could save your life, even if you should find a discarded weapon thrown away by a criminal fleeing the police.
Rule #1. Treat Every Firearm as if It Were Loaded and Ready to Fire, Even if You Personally Unloaded the Firearm.
#2. Based on #1, Never Put Your Finger on the Trigger Unless You are Going to Shoot Something, Now.
#3. Unless you are Intentionally Shooting Something, Always Keep the Muzzle (the part of the gun the bullet comes out of), Pointing in a Safe Direction. A safe direction is not up in the air, bullets come down at almost the same speed they went up. Outdoors, a safe direction is usually at soft ground. Indoors, there are few safe directions; a full bookcase would be good. Walls and non-concrete floors & ceilings are not safe. Concrete floors can cause a bullet to bounce off and hit someone.
There are other safety rules, but these 3 are the most important. If you find a firearm or own one and you encounter law enforcement people, do not have the firearm in your hands. Tell the officer or deputy about the firearm and look at it and nod your head towards it. NEVER reach or try to point with your hands.
All the information in this document will be factual, not opinion or belief. If an opinion is expressed, I will say "This is an opinion." The types of firearms discussed will be those normally used by one person. It will not cover military type crew served weapons, cannons or mortars of any size and no military only weapons like small grenade launchers. It also won't cover antique or black powder weapons. Some of this information may be applicable to black powder firearms. This will be text only, if you want to see what I am talking about, just do a search on the item and click on “images.”
What will be covered are handguns, shotguns, rifles and carbines, which are rifles with shorter barrels, usually around 16 inches.
I will cover the major parts of most firearms now.
The barrel is the tube that the bullet (or shot) travels down towards the target. The muzzle is the end of the barrel where the projectile exits. There are two main types of barrels, rifled and smooth (bore). A rifle’s barrel has spiral grooves cut or pressed into the metal so that the bullet will be spun as it travel down the barrel. This spinning makes the bullet travel straighter and further, just like the spin put on an American style football. Smoothbore firearms are usually designed to be able to shoot shot. Shot are small lead or other metal pellets that are supposed to spread out after leaving the barrel, usually used for shooting flying birds such as ducks.
The next part is the receiver or with revolvers, the cylinder. In some firearms, the end of the barrel, where you insert the ammunition is part of the receiver, in function. The receiver is where most of the moving mechanical parts of the firearm are located.
The trigger is the lever that is pulled, or more properly squeezed, to operate the firearm. It is located in the receiver.
Firearms also have a grip, this is the part you hold in your hand, it is located so you can easily put one finger on the trigger. In some firearms, mostly semi auto pistols, the magazine is put into the grip.
There are two types of magazines, fixed and removable. Of the fixed magazines, they are usually part of the receiver in some rifles or a tube under the barrel in some shotguns and pump or lever rifles. The removable magazine is used in semi auto pistols, many rifles and a few shotguns. It is basically a box with a spring inside. At the top is a metal tab to keep the cartridges or shells from falling out after they are loaded. You may have heard the term clip used. A clip is not a magazine. It is a roughly U shaped metal piece designed to hold several rounds of ammunition. The clip is placed in a slot at the top of the receiver for a fixed box magazine rifle and you press the ammunition down into the magazine. There are also clips made to be able to easily load ammunition into removable magazines.
Rifles & shotguns also have a stock and a forearm. The stock is the part that goes against your shoulder. It can be fixed or adjustable. The forearm is the place to put the hand that is not on the grip. It is in front of the receiver and is under or around the barrel. It helps steady the firearm and prevent you from burning your hand on a hot barrel if you shoot a lot of rounds. On pump action rifles and shotguns, it is the handle for the pump mechanism to load the ammunition.
The next part is called the bolt or slide. Some slides have a separate bolt. This is the part of rifles, pistols & shotguns that houses the firing pin and picks up a cartridge or shell from the magazine and puts it into the chamber.
The chamber can be part of the receiver or part of the barrel. It is the part that holds the ammunition to be fired. One end points to the barrel the other to the bolt. The chamber of a revolver is the cylinder.
The firing pin is the part of the mechanism that hits the ammunition to make it fire. One some older revolvers, the pin is a pointed part of the hammer.
The last main parts of a firearm is or are the sights. On most shotguns, it is a small, shiny bead soldered to the end of the barrel. Most other firearms have two sight parts, a front sight and a rear sight. The basic front sight is a small post and the rear sight is a U or V shaped notch. To aim the weapon, you put the front sight on your target and then you align the front sight in the notch of the rear sight. Today we also have a few types of optical sights. One type is a small telescope with what are called cross hairs inside. The cross hairs look like a + . You put the center of the cross on your target to aim the firearm. Some of these sights have the ability to illuminate the cross.
There is also what is called a red dot sight. It is basically a single, small pane of glass or plastic with a small bulb or LED that shines a red (and now, green or blue) dot, circle or cross on the glass. You place the dot on the target to aim. Optical sights are adjustable so you can set them to be correct at various distances, depending on the use of the firearm. If you are competing in 1000 yard target shooting, the sight is adjusted so the bullet will hit the target at that distance. Bullets fly in an arc, just like a thrown baseball or a hit golf ball.
The last type of "sight" isn't a sight at all. It is called a laser sight. It is a red or green laser that is mounted on the firearm, hopefully close to the barrel and adjusted so that the light shines on the target and creates a small dot. It is adjusted so the bullet will hit where the dot is located.
There are a lot of small parts in a firearm that do not need to be part of this document. Springs, levers, cams etc.
Before I talk about the firearms, I will cover the ammunition used. There are two main types used in modern firearms, rim fire and center fire. All ammunition has several components. The main one is the powder. This is the stuff the burns very quickly and produces a lot of hot gas. The pressure produced by this gas is what propels the projectile down & out the barrel. The projectile is usually either a bullet (or slug in a shotgun), or shot (small metal pellets). Shot ammunition usually has a seal between the shot and the powder and some type of cup to hold the shot and prevent it from rubbing against the barrel and changing way it travels after it leaves the barrel.
Lastly is the primer. In rim fire ammunition this is placed into a thin slot at the base of the cartridge. The cartridge looks like a fat T. The cross part holds the primer material. Primer is a chemical compound that will explode if hit hard enough. The firing pin or hammer strikes the rim of a rim fire cartridge; the primer explodes and ignites the gunpowder. In center fire ammunition and shotgun shells, the primer is loaded into a small cup shaped device. This device is them loaded into the center rear of the cartridge, before the powder and bullet (or shot) is loaded. The firing pin or hammer strikes the primer cup.
The next few paragraphs are the most important when discussing firearms and “gun control.” The damage done to the target has nothing to do with the way a firearm looks, how it operates, what kind of sights, stock, grip, barrel etc. it has. What is important is the type of projectile used in the particular firearm. Excluding shotguns for the moment, the bullet used in a rifle, carbine or handgun is what determines what happens to the target.
There are two main types of bullets, military and hunting/self defense. Military bullets are of the FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) otherwise known as ball ammo, design. Because of international agreements, military bullets are designed to wound rather than kill the enemy. The bullets are designed to not expand or break up and to be able to go through one enemy and possibly hit more behind the first one hit. The other reason for this is that the enemy will need to have people to take care of the wounded person(s), thus cutting down on the number of people fighting.
Hunting bullets are designed to expand and/or fragment, to kill the animal quickly and humanely. Whether someone is hunting for sport or to feed a family is not important. Hunters don’t want the animal to suffer and possibly run away to slowly die or even worse, live injured until a predator kills it.
Self Defense ammunition and the bullets they use serve the same purpose as hunting ammunition. Please. Let me explain. Wounding someone who is attacking you or your family in a life threatening manner, basically the only reason to use a firearm in self defense, is a very bad idea. Wounded people don’t stop attacking unless completely incapacitated or unconscious. I know of a police officer who was stabbed to death by a man, after the officer shot him 6 times in the chest with his revolver. The man did die soon after. The attacker was on PCP. This is not Hollywood and TV or movies, this is the real world.
Generally rifles & carbines will shoot a bullet faster than a handgun, even if they use the same type of ammunition. The longer barrel is the reason. Faster is more deadly, however, there are handguns that use much more powerful and deadly ammunition than the type of ammunition commonly used in the AR-15 and similar firearms.
Shotguns can shoot shot or slugs. I will cover this in the shotgun section.
There are three types of handguns in common use today, small derringer types, usually single shot or two shot with one or two barrels, respectively. Then there are revolvers, single action and double action. Single action revolvers require the shooter to manually set the hammer for each shot. Double action revolvers set the hammer by pulling the trigger. In double action revolvers, the trigger pull is longer and harder than single action, since the trigger mechanism has to pull back the hammer turn the cylinder and release the hammer. The last type of handgun is the semi auto pistol. These are also single and double action. Single actions requires the hammer or striker to be manually set before the trigger can be pulled, double actions again, the trigger initiates all the mechanical movements needed to fire the gun.
Revolvers have a cylinder that acts as both the magazine and chamber of the firearm. Most revolvers today are loaded when a lever is pressed and the cylinder swings out from the rest of the gun, the push arm in the front of the cylinder pushes out the empty cartridges and you can manually load new ones or use a clip or speed loader, then you close the cylinder and the gun is ready to use. There are some revolvers called break open. They work on a hinge that allows the back of the mechanism to fall away from the back of the cylinder and the cartridges can be removed, some rifles and shotguns are also break open or break action. Some derringers are also break open.
Most semi auto handguns use a magazine that is inserted into the grip or handle of the gun. Some of the earlier ones used a magazine that sat in front of the trigger, like many rifles of today. At the top of most of these firearms, there is a device called a slide. You grip the slide with one hand and pull it back, allowing the internal spring to drive it forward, picking up a cartridge from the magazine and putting it in the chamber. Pulling back cocks the hammer or striker. Cocking is the pulling back of the hammer against a hammer spring and catching it on a metal hook that prevents it from snapping forward and hitting the primer of the bullet. Pulling the trigger releases the hook and the gun fires; the recoil of the gun pushes the slide back and cocks the hammer again. This is the semi automatic part of the handgun.
Derringers are small single or double barrel handguns, usually break open. You inset a cartridge into the chamber of each barrel, close the action and if you cock the hammer, it is ready to fire.
Shotguns commonly are of three types of actions (or mechanisms); break open (break action), pump and semi auto. Pump and semi auto shotguns usually use a tube type magazine that sits under the barrel. A few have a removable box magazine. Break open shotguns are usually one or two barrel designs, the two barrel designes are over/under and side by side. Shotguns use a type of ammunition called a shell. This is a center fire cartridge with a metal base and a plastic tube. The powder is in the base and the shot cup and shot are in the plastic area.
Semi auto shotguns work in a similar manner to semi auto handguns. Pump action shotguns work by the shooter pulling back on the fore grip that is connected to the mechanism of the shotgun. This is similar to pulling back the slide of a pistol, but you have to push the fore grip forward, there is no spring to operate the mechanism. Then you can pull the trigger.
There are less types of ammunition for a shotgun than other types of firearms. The most common shell sizes are .410, 20 gauge, 16 gauge and 12 gauge. Less common are 28 gauge and 10 gauge. The smaller the number, the bigger the hole in the barrel and the larger the slug or more shot by weight the shell contains. The most common gauge is the 12 gauge. It can fire a single slug or a load of shot weighing between 1 and 1.5 ounces! A 12 gauge shotgun shell using #00 Buck ("double-aught") has 9 balls of .330" (8.38 mm) diameter, weighing 54 grains. The usual bullet in an AR-15 is .223” and 55 grains in weight. Getting shot by a #00 buck shell could be considered worse than getting shot 9 times by an AR-15 because the holes made by the #00 buck are 33% larger.
Because of the weight of the projectile in a shotgun, they have a lot of recoil, especially with “magnum” loads. In a shotgun shell, a magnum load is one with a larger metal base to hold more powder; often a longer shell and more shot, sometimes up to 1.75 ounces. The standard shot shell is 2.75” long, there are 3” and 3.5” magnum shells. You need a magnum capable shotgun to use these.
A shotgun slug from a 12 gauge shotgun is larger in diameter than a .50 caliber rifle or handgun round. Because of its size & weight it can do a lot of damage. Shotgun slugs are often used for deer hunting. Buck shot is also used for deer hunting. Smaller pellets are used for target shooting, called skeet and trap shooting. They also can be used for shooting birds. Different sized shot is used for different sized birds. Smaller shot can range from BB to the smallest #9 shot.
Finally, rifles & carbines. Carbines, generally, are rifles with a barrel less than 18” long. Rifles can have barrels up to 36” for long range target shooting and military sniper rifles. Rifles can have one of several mechanisms, break open, bolt action, pump action, lever action, semi auto(matic) and full auto(matic).
A full auto rifle could be called an assault rifle or assault weapon or even machine gun. It operates in a similar manner to a semi auto handgun or shotgun except the mechanism is designed to keep firing as long as the trigger is held down. A semi auto firearm requires the trigger to be release and pulled again for each shot. There are full auto firearms in many calibers ranging from .22 long rifle (a small rim fire cartridge) to .50 caliber machine guns, most of which need two or more people to operate. Full auto firearms have never been used in a mass shooting in the USA. It is possible to own one, but they are very expensive (starting about $10,000 for a non working one and $25,000 and up for a functional one.) You need a special tax stamp and to be investigated by the BATFE. Full auto firearms have a rate of fire between 400 and 900 rounds per minute; depending on caliber and design. The slowest shoot just under 7 rounds a second and a 30 round “high capacity” magazine will be empty in less than 3 seconds. The continuous recoil of most of these firearms makes them difficult to aim properly.
Semi auto rifles & carbines have a much lower rate of fire, pump & lever actions are even slower, the slowest are bolt actions and break action. Break action and bolt action rifles are considered the most accurate. Most military sniper rifles are bolt action.
The two types of actions not discussed yet are bolt and lever. Bolt action rifles have a handle attached to the bolt. To operate it, you take your shooting hand off the grip, grasp the handle, lift, pull back, push forward and pull down. It works internally just like a semi auto or pump action, but it is your shooting hand that operates the mechanism. Lever actions have a lever next to or part of the grip. You rotate the lever down & forward and then up and back to load & cock the mechanism. Most lever & pump action firearms use a fixed tubular magazine.
Why do people own an AR-15? It has NOTHING TO DO WITH ASSAULTING ANYONE OR ANY THING. AR does not stand for assault rifle or automatic rifle. It is short for ArmaLite Rifle, the company that originally designed it. People own AR-15 rifles because they are light weight with very little recoil using the most common caliber, 5.56mm/.223. They can be extremely accurate, if you get a quality one. They are easy to take apart to clean and maintain. They are rifles that the owner can accessorize to the owners needs. The price can run between about $400 to above $2,000; depending on quality, caliber and factory accessories. Many different companies now manufacture AR-15 type rifles & carbines. Most are actually carbines. Other similar rifles can be customized to look a lot like an AR-15, the Ruger Mini-14 is one. Many veterans own AR-15s because they operate the same as the military M-4 except the M-4 can be fired burst or full auto.
This is my opinion: AR-15s can be an ideal home defense firearm, properly set up (accessorized) and using the proper ammunition. These are the reasons for my opinion:
1. Decent quality AR-15s can be purchased for $500 - $750, including most of the accessories needed to make it ideal for home defense.
2. Using 35 grain varmint ammunition, it has very little recoil, making it easy to keep the firearm pointed at an intruder. The 35 grain bullet is designed to expand & or fragment without penetrating too far; preventing the bullet from going through one person and hitting another. It will also be stopped by drywall, but the fragments could hurt someone in the next room. The injuries could be much less than heavier 55 grain & up bullets.
3. The stock on most AR-15s is adjustable for length, allowing people of short stature and taller people to use it accurately.
4. It can use different size magazines. I suggest a 30 round magazine, if legal where you live, because it could take several rounds to incapacitate an intruder, especially if he is using certain drugs. There also could be more than one intruder.
5. I suggest using a red dot holographic sight with a laser sight. They are more effective if they turn on with a grip activated switch. Under the stress of someone breaking into your home, you could forget to turn on another switch, but one that works when you take hold of the hand grip doesn’t require thinking about it. These sights should be co-witnessed with the standard front site (this means they are all set to point to the same spot where the bullet will hit) and be sighted in at the longest distance in your home. Self defense is not shooting someone 50 yards down your driveway, unless they are shooting at you. If you live in the city 10 - 20 yards is the maximum indoor distance, unless you are very rich and have a huge home. If you live on a huge lot in the country, you could have one AR-15 for indoor use and one for outside use; that could also be used for shooting varmints.
This is my opinion: A handgun is not ideal for indoor use. Most effective ammunition can over penetrate and be dangerous to family or neighbors. If required, get a concealed carry permit (or license). Get a handgun you will carry everywhere you can, legally. Chances are you will never need it, but, like car insurance, it is very important if the occasion arises.
However, since you can’t carry a rifle around with you indoors, you should carry your handgun at home, all the time. The exceptions are in the shower/tub or sleeping in bed. I have a small shelf over the door inside my bathroom. Next to my bed is a small handgun safe with a very simple combination. When a break in occurs, you might not be in the room where your rifle is safely stored. If you can shoot 9mm ammunition, I suggest the Liberty Civil Defense Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 50 Grain Fragmenting Hollow Point Lead-Free, if your handgun can shoot +P ammunition safely.
Your handgun should also use a grip activated laser sight.
I don’t own stock or get any kickbacks from the companies I mention or recommend.