A rifle is gun that is held against the shoulder when firing. It consists of four basic parts : the barrel, the stock, the action and the sights.

The barrel is a strong steel tube with spiral grooves, called rifling, cut along the inside. The front end of the barrel is called the muzzle, and the rear end is the breech.

The stock of a rifle helps keep the rifle steady when firing. The butt of the stock is placed against the shoulder when firing. The front end extends under the barrel.

The action is the basic machinery of the rifle. The action includes the parts that feed a cartridge into the firing chamber, fire the bullet, and eject the used cartridge.

The sights are used to aim the rifle. When aimed properly, the rear sight, the front sight, and the target should be in alignment. A rifle is ready to fire when a cartridge has been fed into the firing chamber. Then the rifle is ready to fire when a cartridge has been fed into the firing chamber. Then the rifle is aimed and the trigger squeezed. The hammer or firing pin strikes the rear end of the cartridge and ignites the primer. The primer in turn ignites the propellant powder in the cartridge. The powder burns rapidly, creating pressure that drives the bullet down the barrel.

The rifling in the barrel makes the bullet spin. Without spinning, a bullet will not stay pointed forward in flight, but will tumble over and over. The spinning motion increases the accuracy of a bullet.

NOTE : Not so long ago, tanks were designated ‘male’ or ‘female’. Each model of tank was made in two versions, one lighter than the other. The heavier one was called ‘male’ and the lighter one was called ‘female’.