Bullet in the context of Automatic firearm

A muzzleloader is any firearm in which the user loads the projectile and the propellant charge into the muzzle end of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern designs of breech-loading firearms, in which user loads the ammunition into the breech end of the barrel. The term "muzzleloader" applies to both rifled and smoothbore type muzzleloaders, and may also refer to the marksman who specializes in the shooting of such firearms. The firing methods, paraphernalia and mechanism further divide both categories as do caliber (from cannons to small-caliber palm guns).

Modern muzzleloading firearms range from reproductions of sidelock, flintlock and percussion long guns, to in-line rifles that use modern inventions such as a closed breech, sealed primer and fast rifling to allow for considerable accuracy at long ranges.

A firearm is any type of gun that shoots projectiles using high explosive pressure generated from combustion (deflagration) of chemical propellant, most often black powder in antique firearms and smokeless powder in modern firearms. Small arms is a subset of light firearms that is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term "firearm" is however variably defined in both technically and legally in different countries (see legal definitions), and can be used colloquially (sometimes incorrectly) to refer to any type of guns.

The first firearms originated in 10th-century Song dynasty China (see gunpowder weapons in the Song dynasty), when bamboo tubes containing gunpowder and pellet projectiles were mounted on spears to make the portable fire lance, which was operable by a single person and was later used effectively as a shock weapon in the siege of De'an in 1132. In the 13th century, fire lance barrels were replaced with metal tubes and transformed into the metal-barreled hand cannon, and the technology gradually spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Older firearms typically used black powder as a propellant, but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other explosive propellants. Most modern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore shotguns) have rifled barrels to impart a stabilizing spin to the bullet for improved external ballistics.

A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in warfare and sports (for example, a thrown baseball, kicked football, fired bullet, shot arrow, stone released from catapult).

In ballistics, mathematical equations of motion are used to analyze projectile trajectories through launch, flight, and impact.

Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft, and ships.

Civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by officials (e.g., presidential limousines), reporters and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common. Civilian armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo.

Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term Ammunition includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target (e.g., bullets and warheads).

The purpose of ammunition is to project a force against a selected target to have an effect (usually, but not always, lethal). An example of ammunition is the firearm cartridge, which includes all components required to deliver the weapon effect in a single package. Until the 20th century, black powder was the most common propellant used but has now been replaced in nearly all cases by modern compounds.

A spitzer bullet (from German Spitzgeschoss 'point shot') is a munitions term, primarily regarding fully-powered and intermediate small-arms ammunition, describing bullets featuring an aerodynamically pointed nose shape, called a spire point, sometimes combined with a tapered base, called a boat tail (then a spitzer boat-tail bullet), in order to reduce drag and obtain a lower drag coefficient, resulting in an aerodynamically superior torpedo shaped projectile, which decelerates less rapidly and has improved external ballistic behaviour, at the expense of some potential weight and kinetic energy relative to blunter ogive/round/flat-nose flat-base projectiles.

The type was developed for military purposes in the late 19th and early 20th century and was a major design improvement compared to earlier rounder or flatter-tipped bullets in terms of range and accuracy. Its introduction, along with long-range volley sights for service rifles, changed military doctrines. Area targets at ranges up to 1,420–2,606 m (1,550–2,850 yd) could be subject to rifle fire. With improvements in machine guns at the turn of the 20th century, the addition of clinometers meant that fixed machine gun squads could deliver plunging fire or indirect fire at more than 3,000 m (3,280 yd). The indirect firing method exploits the maximal effective range, that is defined by the maximum range of a small-arms projectile while still maintaining the minimum kinetic energy required to put unprotected personnel out of action, which is generally believed to be 15 kilogram-meters (147 J / 108 ft⋅lbf).

Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets and the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.

A ballistic body is a free-moving body with momentum, which can be subject to forces such as those exerted by pressurized gases from a gun barrel or a propelling nozzle, normal force by rifling, and gravity and air drag during flight.

Nutation (from Latin nūtātiō 'nodding, swaying') is a rocking, swaying, or nodding motion in the axis of rotation of a largely axially symmetric object, such as a gyroscope, planet, or bullet in flight, or as an intended behaviour of a mechanism. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the second Euler angle. If it is not caused by forces external to the body, it is called free nutation or Euler nutation (after Leonhard Euler). A pure nutation is a movement of a rotational axis such that the first Euler angle is constant. Therefore it can be seen that the circular red arrow in the diagram indicates the combined effects of precession and nutation, while nutation in the absence of precession would only change the tilt from vertical (second Euler angle). However, in spacecraft dynamics, precession (a change in the first Euler angle) is sometimes referred to as nutation.

The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. Its invention gave rise to the caplock mechanism or percussion lock system which used percussion caps struck by the hammer to set off the gunpowder charge in rifles and cap and ball firearms. Any firearm using a caplock mechanism is a percussion gun. Any long gun with a cap-lock mechanism and rifled barrel is a percussion rifle. Cap and ball describes cap-lock firearms discharging a single bore-diameter spherical bullet with each shot.

Stopping power is the supposed ability of a weapon — typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm — to cause a target (human or animal) to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon's ability to make the target cease action, regardless of whether or not death ultimately occurs. Which ammunition cartridges have the greatest stopping power is a much-debated topic.

Stopping power is related to the physical properties and terminal behavior of the projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), the biology of the target, and the wound location, but the issue is complicated and not easily studied. Although higher-caliber ammunitions usually have greater muzzle energy and momentum and thus traditionally been widely associated with higher stopping power, the physics involved are multifactorial, with caliber, muzzle velocity, bullet mass, bullet shape and bullet material all contributing to the ballistics.

A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to the human ear.

The crack of a supersonic bullet passing overhead or the crack of a bullwhip and the snapping of a rolled up towel are examples of a small sonic boom.

A blunt instrument is any solid object that can be used as a hand tool, weapon or thrown projectile for striking a target, exerts impact via direct transfer of force and momentum, and has no sharp point or edge on the contact surface with the target. A blunt weapon may be contrasted with edged weapons in that the former causes mostly closed trauma instead of open incisions or puncture wounds, and are also different to kinetic projectiles such as bullets or arrows, whose speed and kinetic energy are so significant that they cause penetrating trauma often with cavitations even if the projectile is of a blunt shape.

Blunt instruments typically inflict blunt force trauma, causing contusions, fractures and internal bleeding while leaving the skin intact, although they occasionally can produce irregular lacerations by shearing. Depending on the parts of the body struck, organs may be ruptured or otherwise damaged, and attacks with a blunt instrument may be fatal, especially when striking vital areas such as the head, neck and chest.

Plastic bullet can refer to:

• Plastic baton round: a large, blunt, low-velocity projectile fired from a specialized gun, intended as a less-lethal weapon for riot control and an alternative to rubber bullets.
• Plastic bullet: a conventionally sized and shaped bullet made from a composite material including plastic, fired from a conventional rifle and capable of penetrating human tissue, intended as a less lethal weapon for riot control.

• Plastic bullet (target shooting): a blunt, lightweight handgun bullet intended for short-range target practice, not intended for use as a weapon.

Both types of plastic bullet intended for riot control have caused deaths.

Crimping is a method of joining two or more pieces of metal or other ductile material by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The bend or deformity is called the crimp. Crimping tools are used to create crimps.

Crimping is used extensively in metalworking, including to contain bullets in cartridge cases, for electrical connections, and for securing lids on metal food cans. Because it can be a cold-working technique, crimping can also be used to form a strong bond between the workpiece and a non-metallic component. It is also used to connect two pieces of food dough.