MAIN MECHANISMS OF A FIREARM

The 3 essential firearm mechanisms are the barrel, the breech mechanism, and the firing
mechanism.
The gun’s BARREL gives direction to the projectile. It is the part of the gun that initiates the
path of a bullet. 
The BREECH MECHANISM closes the rear end of the barrel, holding the cartridge in the
chamber.  Modern firearms have a breech that can be opened for loading and locked for safety.
Most small arms usually have a movable metal cylinder called bolt that locks the cartridge ready
to be fired at the chamber.  The bolt is manually or automatically drawn back to extract and eject
the empty cartridge case and reload a new round.
The FIRING MECHANISM, aka action, is the main operating mechanism of a firearm that
loads, fires, and ejects the cartridge.  In most firearms, action consists mainly of the firing pin,
hammer, sear, and trigger.  For hammerless firearms, a spring drives the firing pin thru the
breech bolt against the primer of the cartridge.  The firing pin is cocked (drawn back) against a
lever or hook called sear.  When the trigger is pulled, the sear releases the firing pin, which in
turn strikes the primer. 
Types of action:  bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action, semi-automatic, and full-automatic.
 
PARTS OF COMMON SMALL ARMS
Barrel; initiates the path of bullet
Bore: the space inside the barrel of the gun from chamber to muzzle
Breech:  part of the barrel at the opposite end of the muzzle
Breech-block:  also known as the bolt; the metal block that closes the breech against the
backward force of the expanding gases during firing.  (The face of this block which comes in
contact with the base of the cartridge is the breech-face.)
Butt:   base part of the stock which is held against the shoulder to stabilize the gun during firing
(for rifles and shotguns)
Chamber:  part of the bore into which a cartridge is placed; the enlarged space at the breech of
the barrel where the cartridge is fed
Choke: constriction near the muzzle in shotgun barrels designed to cause the pellets to leave the
bore in a more compact pattern and retain this pattern for longer period
Cylinder:  part of the revolver that serves as the magazine as well as chamber for cartridges
Ejector:  mechanism that throws the empty shell or unfired cartridge out from the firearm
Extractor:  mechanism that pulls the empty shell or unfired cartridge from the chamber
Forearm:  also called for-end; the part of the stock under the barrel held by one hand of the
shooter to maintain proper balance of the gun while firing
Frame:  also called receiver; the part of the gun that houses the internal parts. It is a solid metal
to which the barrel, stock, pistol grip, sights, etc. are fixed and within which lies the firing and
breech mechanism.
Front sight:  fixed device above of the barrel near the muzzle used to aim the gun at the target
Grooves:  depressed portions of the rifling; canals that cut in spiral direction along the bore
surface from the chamber to the gun muzzle; sometimes called ‘valleys’
Grip:  smaller part of the stock behind the trigger guard (for rifles and shotguns); the part firmly
held by the shooter thus stabilizing the gun while aiming and squeezing the trigger
Hammer:  the part of the firing mechanism t released by the main spring or sear once the trigger
is pressed; responsible in pushing the firing pin causing this pin strike the primer.
Lands:  elevated parts of the rifling that spiral along the bore surface from the chamber to the
gun muzzle; also known as ‘hills’
Magazine:  a device for storing cartridges in a repeating firearm for loading into the chamber
Main spring:  the spring in a pistol or revolver which propels the hammer
Muzzle:  front end of the barrel where projectiles exit
 Rear sight:  the device found above the breech area that must be aligned with the front sight
while looking for the target.  (The rear sight can be adjusted depending on the range.)
 Recoil spring:  the spring in automatic or self-loading weapons which returns the bolt or breech
block after recoil; sometimes known as the return spring
Trigger:  the part of the gun that initiates the action when the shooter is ready to fire his weapon
Trigger Guard:  the safety device designed to protect the trigger from accidental bumping or
pressing that may result to accidental firing
Safety:  the gun mechanism that prevents the firearm from firing; it may be a button, moveable
pin, lever, thumb hammer or sliding plate
Note: Always set the safety on – set it off only when you are ready to shoot.
Sear:  the part of the firing mechanism, linked to the trigger, which engages with the hammer or
striker against spring pressure and, when pulled clear by trigger action, allows firing
Stock:  the wooden, plastic, or metal frame of a rifle, shotgun, carbine, and sub-machine gun that
holds the barrel and action; used to get and keep the aim of the shooter; it helps in absorbing the
recoil when firing
Striker: alternative term for firing pin when it is axially mounted and spring propelled inside the
bolt
Yoke:  the pivot connection between the frame and cylinder of revolvers

A. THE FIRST FIREARMS

The exact origin of firearms is unknown.  They already exist during the early part of 14th century
and were fairly common in Europe by mid-14th century.  Most historians agree that firearm was
invented because of man’s desire to increase the range of his weapons.  It started when various
types of catapults and ‘ballistae’ were made.  These were large slings capable of hurling stones,
big arrows, and other large objects to long range targets.  Such effort led to the discovery of
gunpowder and then eventually firearms.
One of the earliest stories about a weapon that used gunpowder as propellant was the gun
allegedly made in 1313 by a German monk named Berthold Schwarz (identified by some authors
as Konstantin Angeleisen or Anklitzen).   Schwarz’s version of firearm was reproduced in Ghent,
Belgium and described by historians as ‘pots de fer’ and ‘vasi’.
The first official reference regarding the use of firearm was found in an 1826 English manuscript
entitled ‘De Officils Regnum’ (On the Duties of Kings) that contained an illustration of a small
cannon being fired. 
Another record about the beginnings of firearm was the use of ‘bombard’ (ancient cannon) in
1346 by King Edward III of England during the battle of Crecy known in history as the Hundred
Year’s War.  Bombards were initially made of wooden or iron staves bound together with
hoops.  They were later strengthened with wrought iron and finally cast metal.  By mid-
14th century, bombards were made of cast bronze.  In 1387, the first cast bronze gun was made in
Augsburg, Germany.
By the end of 14th century, the first ‘hand gonne’ appeared.  Hand gonne was a development of
the ‘ridaudequin’ which came out about 1830.  Hand gonne consisted of a number of small
caliber cannon barrels mounted on a light cart.  Since the barrels were fixed in carts, this weapon
could not deal with enemy who suddenly appeared on the flanks.  The logical remedy was to take
one of the barrels and attach it to a wooden pole, which could then be carried by one man.  In
this manner, the first portable hand gun was used in the battlefield. (Hogg, 2003)
It is important to remember that from 14th century until the early years of 19th century, firearms
were primarily designed to launch round projectiles (balls) made of lead.
 
B. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HANDGUNS
Handheld firearms were first made in China where gunpowder was initially developed.  They
were hand cannons although they were not necessarily fired from the hand, but rather at the end
of a handle.   These small short-range early firearms existed already in Europe during the
14th century. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2009)
The first firearms developed were small arms in the form of miniature artillery weapons initially
called ‘hand-cannons’.   Ancient hand-cannons were hand-carried thus they can be examples of
small arms rather than artillery.
The first hand-held firearms can be categorized as follows:

1. Firelock
2. Matchlock
3. Wheel lock
4. Snaphance
5. Flintlocks

During the 18th century, speakers and authors began using the words ‘pistol’ and ‘revolver’ and
the use of ‘handgun’ became prevalent by the mid-20th century.  Previously, these terms had been
used interchangeably.  In fact, Samuel Colt's original patent was for a ‘revolving-breech pistol.’
The word ‘pistol’ is derived from the French pistole (or pistolet) with the following possible
origins:

 From the Czech píšťala (flute or pipe, referring to the shape of a Hussite firearm), from

Middle High German pischulle.
 From the city of Pistoia, Italy, where hand-held guns (designed to be fired from
horseback) were first produced in the 1540s.
 That early pistols were carried by cavalry in holsters hung from
the pommel (or pistallo in medieval French) of a horse's saddle.

The first generation pistols were ‘muzzle-loaders’ (firearms loaded with ammunition thru the gun
muzzle).  After Alexander John Forsyth introduced percussion-ignition in 1807, percussion-
system pistols began to be developed and these were ‘breech-loaders’ (guns loaded at the breech
end of the barrel).  Popular examples of these breech-loader handguns were called ‘derringers’
named after Henry Deringer, Jr. (American pistol maker during the 1800s). 
THE REVOLVER
The first revolvers came out because gun makers tried to improve pepper-box type weapons
(those with revolving cylinder and one set of firing mechanism but having multiple barrels). 
Revolvers fire projectiles thru a single barrel thus saving the expense and weight of having
multiple barrels.
The earliest example of revolver is a revolving arquebus (or harquebus) produced by Hans
Stopler in 1597.  Another early example is a flintlock revolver attributed to John Dafte of
London that came out about mid-17th century.  In 1818, Elisha Collier patented a flintlock
revolver in Britain and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822.  However,
similar designs were patented in the same year by Artemus Wheeler in the United States and by
Cornelius Coolidge in France.  (Wikipedia, 2018)
In 1835, Samuel Colt of Hartford, Connecticut made the first practical revolver.  He received a
British patent for his revolver in 1835 and an American patent (#138) in 1836 for a revolving
gun.  His revolver patents led to widespread use of revolver.  He released the Colt 1837 revolver
model which became the first standard army handgun issue.  Innovations led to the development
of Colt .45 revolver to replace the Colt 1837 model as standard sidearm issue of the army. 
(Wikipedia, 2018)
Revolvers proliferated largely due to Colt's ability as a salesman.  Revolvers remain popular in
many countries until this time although they have been replaced by magazine-fed semi-automatic
pistols in most military and law enforcement organizations.
 
C. THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION
Invention of the percussion-ignition system led to the development of the first effective breech-
loading firearm.  The first 19th-century breech-loading guns used a cartridge (case) containing
black powder and a lead ball.  Later on, the ball was replaced by a lead bullet (elongated
projectile).  This ammunition for the first breech-loaders was called ‘pin-fire cartridge’ since it
had a nipple holding a percussion cap that was fired by the impact of the striker when released by
the trigger.  In the 1850s, the self-contained ‘center-fire cartridge’ came into use.  Its one-piece
case design was basically identical to the modern center-fire cartridge.
During the early 1880s, black powder was replaced by more powerful and cleaner-
burning nitrocellulose-based  gunpowder designed to launch projectiles from breech-loading
firearms.  If black powder produced large quantity of smoke and residue upon combustion
thereby fouling the gun barrel, nitrocellulose-based propellant produced mostly gas and that is
why it was labeled later as ‘smokeless powder’.  This powder produced three times the energy of
black powder and burned at a faster rate.  Longer and smaller-diameter projectiles were
eventually used because of these characteristics of smokeless powder.
Because lead projectiles tend to melt down when using smokeless powder, some inventors
introduced the idea of using harder metal as jacket of lead bullets.  The first who perfected a full-
length, copper-jacketed bullet was a Swiss military officer named Eduard Alexander Rubin in
1881.
 
D. HISTORY OF SHOULDER WEAPONS
Tracing the background of the shoulder firearms is imperative in understanding the history of
small arms.  The main source of the following historical data is the Encyclopedia Britannica.

1. First ‘SMOOTHBORE MUZZLE-LOADERS’

Earlier than 17th century before the invention of percussion ignition, small arms were classified
muzzle-loaders with smooth bores and these were heavy, unreliable, or expensive weapons for
infantry soldiers.  The first matchlock called mosquetes (muskets) issued to Spanish infantry
soldiers weighed about 25 lbs (10 kgs).
In the United States, Ordnance Office Decree of 1722 set the standard army musket called Long
Land with a 46-inch barrel having a caliber of 0.75 inch (19 millimeters).  The Long Land
became popular in America as the first model Brown Bess musket.  In 1768, the Short Land
musket, with a 42-inch barrel, became the standard firearm.  The Short Land known as the
second model Brown Bess became one of the basic weapons used during the American
Revolution (1775-1783).  Short Land rifles were replaced in 1797 by the 39-inch barrel ‘India
Pattern’ muskets.
Using smoothbore muskets, soldiers can deliver bone-crushing and tissue-destroying lead balls to
a human target within 75 yards.  But beyond 75 yards, trained infantrymen had a difficulty in
hitting a single enemy soldier or inflicting a lethal injury. 
Another problem was that highly trained soldiers could load and shoot their muskets five times
per minute.  To increase the rate of fire, the loading process must be faster.  The remedy of
inventors was to make lead balls that fit loosely at the bore so that they can be quickly rammed
from muzzle to breech.
In 1826, Henri-Gustave Delvigne of France designed a means of expanding the projectile by
creating a narrow powder chamber at the breech end of the barrel where a loosely fitting lead
ball is rammed.  Ramrod blows expanded the soft lead at the mouth of the chamber causing the
ball to be deformed.  When fired, the deformed ball which is now cylindrical in shape eventually
fit tightly thru the rifling.  

2. Development of RIFLED MUZZLE-LOADERS

For more than a century, soldiers carrying muzzle-loaders had been issued paper cartridges
containing the musket ball and corresponding powder charge.  To use these cartridges, they
simply bit off the end of the paper tube, poured a little powder into the pan of a flintlock,
dumped the rest down the barrel, and then rammed the ball and paper down on top.
Discharging loosely fit balls wobbled while passing thru smoothbore barrel, contributing to
erratic flight after exiting from the muzzle.  Gun makers solved this problem by cutting grooves
that spiral along the barrel’s interior surface, thus making the first barrel with rifling.  Based on
experiments, rifled barrels were known to improve accuracy by imparting a gyroscopic spin to
the projectile.  This development led to the use of ‘rifle’ as description of shoulder firearms with
long rifled barrel.
The MINIÉ RIFLE
During the 19th century, one of the famous and important muzzle-loaders with rifling was the
Minié rifle.  Developed in 1849 by the French army Captain Claude-Étienne Minié, this rifle was
designed to allow rapid muzzle loading of rifles, an innovation that brought widespread use of
rifled muskets as mass battlefield weapon.  Inspired by Delvigne's work with elongated
projectiles, he developed the Minié ball – a projectile which is not actually round-shaped but a
conical-cylindrical lead projectile.  This became one of the first true bullets (cylindrical shaped
projectiles) that became popular.  Minié balls are bullets with longer and smaller-diameter but
with greater velocity.
Minie rifles worked better than earlier types of rifles because lead balls expand while easily
rammed to the breech.  However, Minie rifles fired deformed projectiles that flew with reduced
accuracy.

3. Development of ‘BREECH-LOADERS’

Reloading the first rifled muskets (rifled muzzle-loaders) was slow because the lead ball must be
driven into the barrel with lands and grooves.  Greased cloth or leather patches eased the
problem, but the reloading was still much lower compared to the use of smoothbore muskets. 
One possible solution was the creation of mechanisms that allowed the bullet to be loaded at the
breech instead of the muzzle.  For this reason, inventors concentrated on adapting rifled barrels
to muzzle-loaders.
Breech-loading rifles became practical only with the design of cartridges that housed the primer
as well as the propellant in a single case and that provided an effective seal when the weapon
was fired.
A milestone in the development of breech-loading infantry weapons was achieved by a Prussian
gun-maker named Johann Nikolaus Dreyse.  His ‘Zündnadelgewehr’ (needle-fired gun) which
was introduced in 1838, used a paper cartridge with a priming pellet located at the base of a solid
egg-shaped bullet.  A long, needle-shaped firing pin, shot forward by a spring, pierced the
cartridge and powder charge to detonate the primer.  This needle was housed in a steel cylinder
called the bolt, which slid forward in the frame of the receiver until it was locked firmly against
the base of the cartridge in the chamber.  Once the weapon was fired, the user released a latch
with his thumb, grasped a knob at the end of a handle projecting from the bolt, turned it until
locking lugs on the bolt were disengaged from slots in the receiver, and slid the bolt back to open
the chamber for reloading.  This bolt action, simple in concept and yet requiring precise
workmanship, constituted a revolution in small-arms design.

4. The MAGAZINE REPEATERS

France was the first country to issue a small-bore, high-velocity repeating rifle.  This was the
Modèle 1886 Lebel, which fired an 8-millimeter, smokeless-powder round.  However, the
tubular magazine of this rifle soon became obsolete.
In 1885, Ferdinand Mannlicher of Austria introduced a boxlike magazine fitted into the bottom
of the rifle in front of the trigger guard.  This magazine was easily loaded by a device called clip,
a light metal openwork box that held five cartridges and fed them up into the chamber through
the action of a spring as each spent case was ejected.  Other magazine rifles, such as the Mauser,
used a different loading device called charger.  This was simply a flat strip of metal with its
edges curled to hook over the rims or grooves of a row of cartridges (also usually five).  To load
his rifle, a soldier drew back the bolt then slipped the charger into position above the opened
receiver, and finally, pushed the cartridges down into the magazine where they were held in
tension against a spring.
During World War I (1914-18), all involved countries adopted smokeless-powder, bolt-action,
and magazine-fed repeating rifles.   For durability, safety, and efficiency, the 1898 Mauser was
probably the epitome of bolt-action military rifles.  It was sold and copied around the world.  In
the United States, the Mauser was only slightly altered and issued as the 0.30-inch M1903
Springfield.
Following Germany's lead in the design of ammunition, all armies replaced their blunt-nosed
projectiles with aerodynamically superior pointed bullets called ‘Spitzgeschossen’ in German. 
Barrel continued to become shorter partly in response to more efficient propellants and partly to
make rifles easier to use in the field.
5. The SEMI-AUTOMATIC WEAPON

The earlier versions of automatic rifles were called semi-automatic rifles because they reload and
re-cock automatically after each shot.  The trigger must be released and then pulled again to fire
each succeeding shot.  Therefore, semi-automatic rifles are self-loading magazine-fed rifles that
provided a radical increase in rate of fire.
By 1914, many British soldiers could fire 15 aimed shots per minute, and very skilled riflemen
could exceed 30 shots per minute.  To transcend the limits imposed by manual operation, gun
designers such as Mannlicher and Hiram Maxim came up with experimental self-loading rifles,
which used the energy generated by a fired round to load a fresh round into the chamber.  This
manner of operation came to be known as semi-automatic fire.
After World War I, all nations with firearms industry sought to produce a semi-automatic rifle. 
However, only the United States was successful in developing and manufacturing a battle-
worthy weapon.
One of the more popular semiautomatic rifles that were used during the 2nd World War was the
caliber 30 M1 Garand rifle developed by John C. Garand.  Regarded as a technological ‘tour de
force’, the Garand rifle was officially adopted by the US military in January 9, 1936 as the first
automatic reloading rifle used as standard infantry weapon of a major army.
Reloading of M1 Garand rifle design is simple to understand.  During firing, a small hole or gas
port on the underside of its barrel near the muzzle directs part of the propellant gases into a small
cylinder holding a piston that connected to the bolt.  As gas pressure forces back the piston and
bolt, the empty cartridge case is ejected and the hammer is cocked.  A spring then forces the bolt
forward.  As it moves forward, the bolt pushes the top cartridge from 8-round clip and positions
it in the chamber, ready to fire.  Gas pressure performed automatically the reloading task.  In
other words, reloading uses the force of the recoil.
During World War II, the M1 carbine became popular as another semi-automatic weapon. 
Artillerymen, engineers and signalmen were armed with the M1 carbine.  Late in World War II,
the M1 carbine was modified to permit full automatic as well as semiautomatic fire.  The M1
carbine operates by means of gas since a small port near the muzzle passes sufficient gas to
propel a rod that operates the breech mechanism, ejecting the fired cartridge case and loading a
fresh round from an 8-shot magazine.
In 1957, the M14 rifle originally designed to fire in semi-automatic manner was adopted by the
US Army to replace the M1 carbine.  M14 rifle can be classified also as an assault weapon.
Shoulder weapons capable of rapid fire loaded thru large clips of cartridges or magazines are
called automatic rifles.  Automatic rifles continue firing until their magazine is exhausted as long
as the trigger is pressed. Semi-automatics led to the invention of automatic weapons.  Automatic
rifles pave the way to assault rifles.

6. The history of ASSAULT RIFLE

The assault rifle is a military firearm chambered for ammunition with reduced size or propellant
charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and full automatic fire.  It is
light and portable yet still able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at
modern combat range of 300 to 500 meters (1,000 to 1,600 feet). This rifle replaced the high-
powered bolt-action and semiautomatic rifle of the World War II era as the standard infantry
weapon of modern armies.  The ease of handling makes the assault rifle ideal for mobile assault
troops jammed in personnel carriers or helicopters, as well as for guerrilla fighters engaged in
jungle or urban warfare.  The widely used assault rifles are the US M16, the Soviet Kalashnikov
(the AK-47 and modernized versions), the Belgian FAL and FNC, and the German G3.
Assault rifles operate by using either propellant gas or blowback force after firing a round to
force back the bolt, eject the spent cartridge case, and cock the striker/hammer.  A spring then
pushes the bolt forward as a fresh cartridge is fed into the chamber, and the gun is fired again. 
Cartridges are fed into the guns from magazines holding 15-30 rounds.  Many assault rifles have
attachments for grenade launchers, sniper-scopes, and bayonets.
The prototype of assault rifle appeared during World War I, when Vladimir Grigorevich
Fyodorov (the father of Russian automatic weapons) adopted the 6.5-millimeter cartridge of the
Japanese Arisaka rifle to an automatic rifle.  In 1916 he unveiled his new weapon, the Avtomat
Fyodorova.  This weapon led the way to future infantry weapon design.
During World War II, Hugo Schmeisser designed a light rifle to fire the 7.92-millimeter Kurz
(short) cartridge, which was of the same caliber as the Mauser rifle cartridge but was lighter and
shorter and was therefore of a less potent, intermediate power.  The weapon, known variously as
the MP43, MP44, or Sturmgewehr (assault rifle) 44, was loaded by a curved box-magazine
holding 30 rounds and was designed for most effective fire at about 300 yards.  Only 425,000 to
440,000 of these rifles were built but they were based on a concept that dominated infantry
weapons for the rest of the century.
In 1947, they Soviets adopted a weapon designed by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov,
naming it the Avtomat Kalashnikova.  Like the German weapon, the AK-47 was operated by
diverting some of the propellant gases into a cylinder above the barrel; this drove a piston that
forced the bolt back against its spring and cocked the hammer for the next round.  At the turn of
a selector switch, the action could be changed from semiautomatic to fully automatic, firing at a
rate of 600 rounds per minute.
Kalashnikov's assault rifles became the most significant infantry weapon of the post-World War
II era.  It has various versions that were adopted and made by countries all over the world. 
Between 30 and 50 million AKs were produced within four decades, more than any other firearm
in history.  The AK-47 has many variations in various countries today.
In 1953 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reluctantly agreed to standardize
7.62mm cartridge that was a half-inch shorter than the M1 cartridge but with the same caliber
and power.  To fire this new round, the United States produced an improved version of the M1
Garand rifle, featuring a 20-round detachable magazine and being capable of selective fire. 
Called the US Rifle 7.62mm M14, it replaced the M1 Garand beginning in 1957.  As a self-
loading rifle the M14 performed well, but it was too heavy as a close-combat weapon, and the
extreme recoil generated by the NATO round caused it to be totally unmanageable as an
automatic rifle.
Other NATO forces adopted more satisfactory 7.62mm rifles, although even these were
employed as advanced self-loaders rather than automatics.  Most commonly, they were either the
gas-operated Fusil Automatique Léger (FAL), introduced by the Belgians in 1957, or the
blowback-operated Gewehr3 (G3) produced in West Germany by the Heckler & Koch company
beginning in 1959.
In 1958, the US military chose the AR-15 rifle to fire a small-caliber, high-velocity round.  The
AR-15 is based on the 7.62mm AR-10 semi-automatic rifle designed by Eugene Stoner of the
Fairchild ArmaLite corporation.  The AR-15 was developed as a lighter 5.56mm version of the
AR-10.  The ‘AR’ in AR-15 was derived from the name ArmaLite.  The name ‘AR-15’ is a Colt
registered trademark, which refers only to the semi-automatic rifle.  AR-15 is a selective fire
assault rifle which was adopted by United States armed forces as the M16 rifle.
By reducing the number of working parts and chambering the rifle for a smaller cartridge, Stoner
designed a lightweight weapon that, even on automatic fire, produced a manageable recoil yet
capable of inflicting fatal wounds at 300 yards and beyond.  In 1961 the US Air Force purchased
the AR-15 and renamed this selective fire assault rifle as M16.  Six years later, with US army
adopted it as M16-A1 for their units deployed in Vietnam as effective weapon under the close
conditions of jungle warfare.
In 1980, a modified version of this assault rifle was issued to the US military troops deployed in
Europe.  M16-A2 was released with a rifle barrel designed to launch the standard 5.56mm
NATO cartridge.  This ammo contained a brass-jacketed bullet that, having a heavier lead core
and steel nose, was lethal at longer ranges than the original AR-15 bullet. 
About the same time, European military forces improved their assault weapons.  West Germany
introduced the G41, a 5.56mm version of the G3, and Belgium replaced the FAL with the FNC. 
The British and French armies developed new assault rifles with compact ‘bullpup’ designs, in
which the bolt, receiver, and magazine were behind the handgrip and trigger and much of the
shoulder stock was occupied by the operating mechanism.  This permitted a much shorter
weapon than orthodox designs, in which the magazine and receiver were ahead of the trigger.

7. The SUBMACHINE GUN

Changing conditions in the battlefield led to experiments with automatic weapons firing rounds
of lower velocity or lighter weight.  One result of these experiments was the machine carbine or
submachine gun used during World War I.  Derived from the semiautomatic pistol, submachine
guns were fitted with shoulder stocks (and sometimes forward hand grips).  Such weapons
offered easier handling than rifles while providing greater accuracy and more rapid fire than
handguns.
The first successful submachinegun design was the Maschinen Pistole (MP)1918 Bergmann
(MP18) designed by Hugo Schmeisser and employed by the Germans during the last few months
of the war.  The barrel of the MP18 was less than eight inches long, and it was chambered for
9mm cartridge introduced in 1908 for Parabellum, or Luger, pistols.  This weapon operated
under a principle called blowback and it had a heavy bolt and spring limited the weapon's rate of
fire to about 400 rounds per minute.
Vasily Degtyarev of the Soviet Union incorporated Schmeisser's principles into his own designs,
finally developing the Pistolet Pulemyot Degtyarova (PPD) introduced in 1940.  The PPD was
fed by a drum-shaped magazine containing 71 rounds of 7.62 mm caliber. This Soviet weapon
fired at a rate of 900 rounds per minute – far too fast for accuracy.
In the US, John Thompson's submachine gun, chambered for the .45-inch Colt pistol cartridge,
was adopted by the army in 1928.  Popularly called the ‘Tommy gun,’ the M1928 was effective
but its blowback operation was modified by a retarding mechanism not present in later versions
when its drum magazine was replaced by box magazine.
During World War II, US, Britain, Germany and USSR used millions of submachine guns. The
Germans led the way with the MP38 and MP40.  Known to the Allies as ‘burp guns,’ these
weapons operated at 450 to 550 rounds per minute, the optimal rate for controlled fire.  The
Soviets issued en masse the PPSh of 1941 and the PPS of 1943.  The Americans released the M3
called the ‘grease gun’ for its resemblance to a mechanic's grease dispenser.  The British Sten
gun, extremely simple and inexpensive yet very effective, was issued to paratroops and
commandos in Europe beginning in 1941.
After the war, almost all new submachine guns, such as the British Sterling and West German
MP5, were chambered for 9mm cartridges.  This involved a hollowed-out bolt that slid partially
over the barrel when a round was chambered, resulting in a much shorter weapon.  A prominent
example of this type is the Israeli Uzi, designed by Uziel Gal, which is only 25 inches long with
its shoulder stock extended. The Uzi was accepted around the world as police/military counter-
terrorist weapon.
 
E. Development of MACHINEGUNS
During the flintlock era, heavy guns were developed that can fire several rounds either serially or
in volley.  But during the mid-19th century when center-fire cartridge and better manufacturing
techniques were introduced, such weapons could be put to effective military use.