Gun (artillery)
A gun is any of several types of object that propels another object or projectile. The projectile is generally fired through a hollow tube known as the gun's barrel. The barrel's diameter, or caliber, determines the size of projectile used, which is usually designated in fractions of an inch or in millimeters. Differing from the musket, most modern guns are rifled, with a series of grooves spiraling along the barrel; exceptions include smoothbores on tanks, AFVs and some artillery.
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Terminology
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In military usage, the term "gun" refers to heavy and light artillery that fires projectiles at high velocity, such as naval guns (which are never referred to as cannons) or tank guns. By military terms, mortars and all hand-held firearms are excluded from the definition of guns. Two exceptions to this include: the shotgun, which is a smoothbore hand-held gun that fires a load of shot or a single projectile known as a slug, and the machine gun, which is a fully-automatic weapon mounted on a tripod or bipod and is almost always operated by a crew.
In a gun-type fission weapon the "gun" is part of a nuclear weapon. The projectile is fissile material that is fired and captured inside the device. In the case of nuclear artillery, it should not be confused with the gun that fires the whole warhead. In a captive bolt gun the projectile is also caught within the mechanism. Such captive piston guns are often used to humanely stun farm animals for slaughter.[1]
A gunner is a member of the team charged with the task of operating and firing a gun.
See also
Types of guns
Military and sporting guns
- Artillery
- Autocannon
- Grenade launcher
- Machine Gun
- Mortar
- Recoilless rifle
- Small arms
