A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries.
A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic sights. Modern snipers use high-precision rifles and high-magnification optics. They often also serve as scouts/observers feeding tactical information back to their units or command headquarters.
An embrasure is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay. This term designates the internal part of this space, relative to the closing device, door or window. In fortification this refers to the outward splay of a window or of an arrowslit on the inside.
A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, and mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses by military snipers. The modern sniper rifle is a portable shoulder-fired rifle with either a bolt action or semi-automatic action, fitted with a telescopic sight for extreme accuracy and chambered for a high-ballistic performance centerfire cartridge.
An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried and used by one person, but is sometimes used for larger weapons. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armor became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other "soft" targets, though recoilless rifles and rocket-propelled grenades such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-layer defense against tanks.
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand.
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 features that improve performance in extremely cold conditions without impairing operation in less extreme conditions.
An elephant gun is a large caliber gun, rifled or smoothbore, originally developed for use by big-game hunters for elephant and other large game. Elephant guns were black powder muzzle-loaders at first, then black powder express rifles, then later used smokeless powder cartridges.
The lock of a firearm is the mechanism used to initiate firing. It is a historical term, in that it generally refers to such mechanisms used in muzzle-loading and early breech-loading firearms. Side-lock refers to the type of construction, in which the individual components of the mechanism are mounted either side of a single plate. The assembly is then mounted to the stock on the side of the firearm. In modern firearm designs, the mechanism to initiate firing is generally constructed within the frame or receiver of the firearm and is referred to as the firing or trigger mechanism.
The Rifle, .303 Pattern 1914 was a British service rifle of the First World War period, principally manufactured under contract by companies in the United States. It was a bolt-action weapon with an integral 5-round magazine. It served as a sniper rifle and as second-line and reserve issue, until declared obsolete in 1947. The Pattern 1914 Enfield was the successor to the Pattern 1913 Enfield experimental rifle and the predecessor of the U.S. Rifle M1917 Enfield.
The Lahti L-39 is a Finnish 20 mm anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It had excellent accuracy, penetration and range, but its size made transportation difficult. It was nicknamed "Norsupyssy", and as tanks developed armor too thick for the Lahti to penetrate, its uses switched to long range sniping, tank harassment and with the L-39/44 fully automatic variant, employment as an improvised anti-aircraft weapon.
The .600 Nitro Express is a large bore Nitro Express rifle cartridge developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant.
The .577 Nitro Express is a large-bore centerfire rifle cartridge designed for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single-shot and double express rifles for hunting in the Tropics or hot climates in general and is a cartridge associated with the golden age of African safaris and Indian shikars.
Counter-sniper tactics have evolved in sniper warfare to reduce the effectiveness of snipers.
Mouse-holing is a tactic used in urban warfare in which soldiers create access to adjoining rooms or buildings by blasting or tunneling through a wall. The tactic is used to avoid open streets since advancing infantry, caught in enfilade, are easily targeted by machine-gun and sniper fire. Another purpose is to reach enemy troops hidden within a structure.
The .475 No 2 Nitro Express is a British rifle cartridge developed by Eley Brothers in the early 20th century.
An arrowslit is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts.
Hesketh Vernon Prichard, later Hesketh-Prichard was an English cricketer, explorer, adventurer, writer, big-game hunter, and marksman who contributed to sniping practice within the British Army during the First World War. Concerned not only with improving the quality of marksmanship, the measures he introduced to counter the threat of German snipers were credited by a contemporary with saving the lives of over 3,500 Allied soldiers.
The .333 Jeffery and .333 Jeffery Flanged are medium-bore rifle cartridges developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co and introduced in 1908.
