This article is about guns in general, including cannons and other mounted weapons. For hand-held guns in particular, see Firearm. For other uses, see Gun (disambiguation).
SIG Pro semi-automatic pistolBattleship USS Iowa fires a full broadside from its nine sixteen-inch naval guns
A gun is a device designed to propel a projectile using pressure or explosive force.[1][2] The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Tasers, spearguns and harpoon guns). A large-caliber gun is also called a cannon.
The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected pneumatically by a high gas pressure contained within a barrel tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid exothermic combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns). The high-pressure gas is introduced behind the projectile, pushing and accelerating it down the length of the tube, imparting sufficient launch velocity to sustain its further travel towards the target once the propelling gas ceases acting upon it after it exits the muzzle. Alternatively, new-concept linear motor weapons may employ an electromagnetic field to achieve acceleration, in which case the barrel may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns).
The first devices identified as guns or proto-guns appeared in China from around AD 1000.[3] By the end of the 13th century, they had become "true guns", metal barrel firearms that fired single projectiles which occluded the barrel.[4][5] Gunpowder and gun technology spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century.[6][7][8]
A machine gun (MG) is a fully automatic, rifled auto-loading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms...
Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount...
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by...
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson...
Look up stun gun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Stun gun may refer to: Electroshock weapon, an incapacitating weapon that momentarily disables either...
The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The...
An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate...
The Naked Gun media franchise, also known as Police Squad!, consists of several American crime spoof-comedies, based on an original story written by the...
Man with the Golden Gun may refer to: The Man with the Golden Gun (novel), a 1965 Ian Fleming novel The Man with the Golden Gun (film), a 1974 film,...
Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to models of 40 mm calibre automatic anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:...
A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher...
A spud gun is a small toy gun used to fire a fragment of potato. To operate, one punctures the surface of a potato with the gun's hollow tip and pries...
The Deer gun, developed by the CIA, was a successor to the Liberator pistol. The single-shot Deer gun was intended for distribution to South Vietnamese...
The Lewis gun (or Lewis automatic machine gun or Lewis automatic rifle) is a First World War–era light machine gun. Designed privately in the United States...
Machine Gun Kelly most often refers to: Machine Gun Kelly (gangster) (1900–1954), American gangster Machine Gun Kelly (musician) (born 1990), American...
A grease gun is a common workshop and garage tool used for lubrication. The purpose of the grease gun is to apply lubricant through an aperture to a specific...
Gun Interactive (formerly Gun Media; stylized as Gun.) is an American video game publisher based in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded by Ronnie Hobbs...
Look up run-and-gun or run and gun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Run and gun may refer to: Run and gun video game, a sub-genre of shoot 'em up video...
A long gun is a category of firearms with long barrels. In small arms, a long gun or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced...
Mountain guns are artillery pieces designed for mountain warfare and other areas where wheeled transport is not possible. They are generally capable of...
A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim...
gun. The term gun control itself is considered politicized. Many gun control advocates prefer the use of terms like "gun-violence prevention", "gun safety"...
A deluge gun, fire monitor, master stream or deck gun is an aimable controllable high-capacity water jet used for manual firefighting or automatic fire...
Global Information
