Unveiling the Nick`s & Names of Guns

Understanding Gun Types and Their Names

The development of gun types is brought by the dynamic change in warfare since the invention of firearms. Added to it, are the vast competing companies that continuously design and remodel firearms to create newer models. Newer gun models mean newer designs and new purposes for each firearm depending on the needs of the individual user and the military, resulting in the development of different gun types. 

Gun types were developed to address different needs for the use of firearms. Easy-to-carry firearms are common for private citizens, security guards, and cops. Some guns are used for sports, and some are standard issued by special forces and military personnel. Below are all the existing types of gun names that exist today.

Handguns

Handguns are firearms designed to be used with one hand, thus the term “handgun”. They are smaller and can be holstered at the waist. Handguns are typically carried by security personnel and police. It can also be issued to civilians in some countries for self-defense purposes or sport. There is other gun term for Handguns such as pistols and “side arm”. The word “pistol” was first used in the 16th century to describe a small gun. It originated from the French word pistolet, which means a “gun” or “knife”. The term “side arm”, on the other hand, was used to refer to handguns as a secondary weapon or backup weapon. There are a few types of Handguns depending on their structure and usage such as Revolvers (manually revolving-barrel handguns), Semi-automatic Pistols (have a self-loading mechanism to fire rounds successively), and Tactical Pistols (Semi-automatic pistols used in military and police).

Rifles

The term “rifle” came from the English term “riflen”, which describes a gun with rifled bore. It is a borrowed word from the Old French word “rifler” which means “to scratch” or “to scrape”. These definitions are most likely attributed to the spiral rifling inside the barrel of the gun. A firearm with no spiral rifling in its bore is called a “smoothbore” firearm.

Rifles are shoulder-fired firearms with rifled bore inside its barrel which is intended to spin the bullet, stabilizing the projectile during flight. Because of this rifled bore, a rifle is ideal for mid-range to long-range warfare. Some existing types of rifles are the Assault Rifle (a rifle that can switch between automatic and semi-automatic through selective fire), Sniper Rifle (designed for long distances, with accuracy and precision considered), and Bolt Action Rifle (manually reloaded rifle).

Shotguns

Shotguns are designed to shoot a burst of many “small-shot” pellets in a scattered pattern in front of the user. The load of a shotgun is called a “slug” and contains many pressurized pellets in it. This makes it different from common guns which use bullet tips as projectiles. Unlike handguns and rifles, shotguns are more effective in close-quarter combats. The most popular shotgun to exist is the Winchester Model 1912. It is a pump-action shotgun used by the Americans in World War 2 to clear Japanese trenches. It is very effective in clearing trenches and bunkers, thus earning its gun nickname “trench gun”. The gun was so effective, it leaves no survivor when shot at close range, prompting the Japanese Empire to call for a ban on the use and production of such weapons during the war. 

Machine guns

A Machine gun is a fully automatic weapon that can fire bullets at a rapid rate. Its name is derived from the combined terms “machine” and “gun”. This term was primarily adopted due to the automatic mechanized feature of the gun, allowing it to continuously fire bullet rounds by simply holding the trigger, or until the ammunition is exhausted. However, because of this feature, a common machine gun is typically bulkier and heavy. It could only be used effectively after being deployed by an operator (called a machine gunner) and an assistant. The very first concept of machine guns was developed by Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861. He designed a rapid-firing multiple-barrel gun (called a Gatling Gun)  that is driven by an electric motor, which rotates alternately after firing a single cartridge for each barrel. This allows the gun to do a “fire-reload” sequence rapidly.

Modern-day machine guns are further categorized into three types: the Light Machine Gun (LMG), the Medium Machine Gun (MMG), and the Heavy Machine Gun (HMG).

The Light Machine guns are a lightweight version of machine guns. It is designed to be operated by single personnel. LMGs are also called “Squad Automatic Weapons”.

The Medium Machine gun is a belt-fed gun that uses a rifle cartridge. Although it is light enough to be carried by a single infantry, it is still reliant on a mounting surface or weapon platform before it could be operated effectively. 

The Heavy Machine gun is a larger and more deadly version of the machine gun. It cannot be carried easily by single personnel and would require a group of two to three infantry to be deployed properly. Heavy Machine guns are usually stationary, being mounted on weapon platforms or atop an armored vehicle. Some Heavy machine guns have heavy-caliber rounds which can penetrate armored vehicles, such as tanks, and pillboxes. 

Submachine Guns

The Submachine gun (SMG) is a lightweight and fully automatic weapon. Its gun name was coined by John T. Thompson to describe a fully automatic firearm with less firepower but has the capabilities of a machine gun to fire rounds rapidly. Different gun names were associated with submachine guns depending on the country of origin such as “machine carbines” (British) and “machine pistols” (also Machinenpistole, in German). The very first introduction of the submachine gun to the battlefield was in World War I. The Germans developed automatic handguns that can be used in close quarters. This submachine gun was called the MP18 (Machine Pistol 18), also known as Bergmann Muskete (Bergmann’s Musket). The fascinating invention of the Germans prompted other powerful countries to develop their own, thus the creation of the Machine Carbines by the British, and the Thompson Submachine Gun (also known as Tommy Gun) by the Americans. At the end of World War I, numerous submachine gun models started to sprout across different countries such as Beretta Model 38 (Italy), Bergmann Model 34 (Germany), British Sten Gun (UK), PPSh M1941 (Russia), the Grease Gun (American), and the Uzi Submachine gun (Israel).