In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have no moving parts other than the trigger, hammer/firing pin or frizzen, and therefore do not need a sizable receiver behind the barrel to accommodate a moving action, making them far less complex and more robust than revolvers or magazine/belt-fed firearms, but also with much slower rates of fire.
In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breech-loading firearm that handles the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle. Instead, the muzzleloader ignition mechanism is referred to as the lock.
John Moses Browning was an American firearm designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms – many of which are still in use around the world. He made his first firearm at age 13 in his father's gun shop and was awarded the first of his 128 firearm patents on October 7, 1879, at the age of 24. He is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 19th and 20th centuries and pioneered the development of modern repeating, semi-automatic, and automatic firearms.
The .50 Browning Machine Gun is a .50 in (12.7 mm) caliber cartridge developed for the M2 Browning heavy machine gun in the late 1910s, entering official service in 1921. Under STANAG 4383, it is a standard service cartridge for NATO forces as well as many non-NATO countries. The cartridge itself has been made in many variants: multiple generations of regular ball, tracer, armor-piercing (AP), incendiary, and saboted sub-caliber rounds. The rounds intended for machine guns are made into a continuous belt using metallic links.
The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed and manufactured by the British company Accuracy International. It has proved popular as a civilian, police, and military rifle since its introduction in the 1980s. The rifles have some features that improve performance in very cold conditions without impairing operation in less extreme conditions.
The Barrett M82 is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing.
Accuracy International is a British firearms manufacturer based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The company produces the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare series of precision sniper rifles. The company was established in 1978 by British Olympic shooting gold medalist Malcolm Cooper, MBE (1947–2001), Sarah Cooper, Martin Kay, and the designers of the weapons, Dave Walls and David Caig. The founders were professional international or national sport shooters. Accuracy International's sniper rifles are used internationally in military units and police departments.
The Steyr HS .50 and the Steyr HS .460 are single-shot anti materiel sniper rifles manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher and chambered in .50 BMG and .460 Steyr, respectively. Unlicensed variants of the HS. 50 include the AM-50 Sayyad produced by Iran and the Golan S-01 produced by Syria.
The Barrett M99 is a single-shot anti-materiel rifle that was first introduced in 1999 by the Barrett Firearms Company as a less expensive alternative to the company's higher-priced offerings. The rifle uses a bullpup configuration with a pistol grip.
The Gepárd anti-materiel rifles are a family of Hungarian weapons manufactured by Sero International designed to destroy unarmored and lightly armored targets. These long-range large-caliber rifles have high accuracy and muzzle velocity. In 1987 the Hungarian People's Army sought to obtain a compact, mobile weapon that could damage lightly armored targets. The project, led by Ferenc Földi, culminated in the creation of the Gepárds.
The AS50 is a semi-automatic .50 BMG anti-materiel precision rifle manufactured by British firearms producer Accuracy International. It enables operators to engage targets at very long range with high accuracy using explosive or incendiary ammunition, and employs a gas operated semi-automatic action and muzzle brake, allowing for lower recoil than the AW50 bolt-action rifle and faster target acquisition. The rifle is highly transportable, ergonomic and lightweight. It can be disassembled in less than three minutes and serviced without tools.
The Barrett M90 is a bolt-action, bullpup rifle chambered in .50 BMG. It was designed and manufactured by Barrett Firearms Company. In 1995, Barrett stopped production of the M90, and replaced it with the M95.
The DSR-Precision DSR-50 is a bullpup bolt-action anti-materiel rifle developed and manufactured by DSR-Precision GmbH and chambered in .50 BMG. It is essentially an upscaled DSR-1.
The Desert Tech Hard Target Interdiction (HTI) is a bullpup bolt-action sniper and anti-materiel rifle designed and manufactured in West Valley City, Utah, United States by Desert Tech.
The Accuracy International AX50 is a .50 BMG anti-materiel precision rifle manufactured by British firearms company Accuracy International.
