A pistol is a type of

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

, characterised by a

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the

Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...

''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

when early handguns were produced in Europe. In colloquial usage, the word "pistol" is often used as a generic term to describe ''any'' type of handgun, inclusive of

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

s (which have a single barrel and a separate cylinder housing multiple chambers) and the pocket-sized derringers (which are often multi-barrelled). The most common type of pistol used in the contemporary era is the

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

. The older single-shot and lever-action pistols are now rarely seen and used primarily for nostalgic

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and historical reenactment. Fully-automatic machine pistols are uncommon in civilian usage because of their generally poor recoil-controllability (due to the lack of a buttstock) and strict laws and regulations governing their manufacture and sale (where they are regarded as

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

equivalents).

Terminology

Technically speaking, the term "pistol" is a hypernym generally referring to a

and predates the existence of the type of guns to which it is now applied as a specific term; that is, in colloquial usage it is used specifically to describe a handgun with a single integral chamber within its

. ''

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

'' defines it as "a handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel". This makes it distinct from the other types of handgun, such as the

, which has multiple chambers within a rotating cylinder that is separately aligned with a single barrel; and the derringer, which is a short pocket gun often with multiple single-shot barrels and no reciprocating action. The 18 U.S. Code § 921 legally defines the term "pistol" as "a

weapon A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

originally designed, made, and intended to

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

projectile 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 ...

( bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand, and having: a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently aligned with, the bore(s); and a short

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

designed to be gripped by one hand at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s)", which includes derringers but excludes revolvers. Commonwealth usage, for instance, does not usually make distinction, particularly when the terms are used by the military. For example, the official designation of the Webley Mk VI revolver was "Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No. 1 Mk VI". In contrast to the Merriam-Webster definition, the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

(a descriptive dictionary) describes "pistol" as "a small firearm designed to be held in one hand", which is similar to the Webster definition for "handgun"; and "revolver" as "a pistol with revolving chambers enabling several shots to be fired without reloading", giving its original form as "revolving pistol".

History and etymology

The pistol originates in the 16th century, when early handguns were produced in Europe. The English word was introduced in from the

''pistolet'' (). The etymology of the French word ''pistolet'' is disputed. It may be from a Czech word for early hand cannons, ''píšťala'' ("whistle" or "pipe"), used in the Hussite Wars during the 1420s. The Czech word was adopted in German as ''pitschale'', ''pitschole'', ''petsole'', and variants. Alternatively the word originated from Italian ''pistolese'', after Pistoia, a city renowned for Renaissance-era gunsmithing, where hand-held guns (designed to be fired from horseback) were first produced in the 1540s. However, the use of the word as a designation of a gun is not documented before 1605 in Italy, long after it was used in French and German.

Action

Single-shot

Single-shot handguns were mainly used during the era of flintlock and musket weaponry where the pistol was loaded with a lead ball and fired by a flint striker, and then later a percussion cap. The handgun required a reload every time it was shot. However, as technology improved, so did the single-shot pistol. New operating mechanisms were created, and some are still made today. They are the oldest type of pistol and are often used to hunt wild

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

. Additionally, their compact size compared to most other types of handgun makes them more concealable.

Revolver

With the development of the

, short for revolving pistol, in the 19th century, gunsmiths had finally achieved the goal of a practical capability for delivering multiple loads to one handgun barrel in quick succession. Revolvers feed

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

via the rotation of a cartridge-filled cylinder, in which each cartridge is contained within its own ignition chamber and is sequentially brought into alignment with the weapon's barrel by an indexing mechanism linked to the weapon's trigger ( double-action) or its hammer ( single-action). These nominally cylindrical chambers, usually numbering between five and eight depending on the size of the revolver and the size of the cartridge being fired, are bored through the cylinder so that their axes are parallel to the cylinder's axis of rotation; thus, as the cylinder rotates, the chambers revolve about the cylinder's axis.

Semi-automatic

After the revolver, the

was the next step in the development of the pistol. By avoiding multiple chambers—which need to be individually reloaded—semi-automatic pistols delivered faster rates of fire and required only a few seconds to reload, by pushing a button or flipping a switch, and the magazine slides out to be replaced by a fully-loaded one. In blowback-type semi-automatics, the recoil force is used to push the slide back and eject the shell (if any) so that the magazine spring can push another round up; then as the slide returns, it chambers the round. An example of a modern blowback action semi-automatic pistol is the Walther PPK. Blowback pistols are some of the more simply designed handguns. Many semi-automatic pistols today operate using short recoil. This design is often coupled with the Browning type tilting barrel.

Machine pistol

A machine pistol is a pistol that is capable of burst-fire or fully automatic fire. The first machine pistol was produced by

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

in 1916, as the ''Steyr Repetierpistole'' M1912/P16, and the term is derived from the German word ''maschinenpistolen''. Though it is often used interchangeably with

, a machine pistol is generally used to describe a weapon that is more compact than a typical submachine gun. COP 357

Multi-barreled

Multi-barreled pistols, such as the pepper-box, were common during the same time as single shot pistols. As designers looked for ways to increase fire rates, multiple barrels were added to pistols. One example of a multi-barreled pistol is the COP .357 Derringer.

Harmonica pistol

Around 1850, pistols such as the Jarre harmonica gun were produced that had a sliding magazine. The sliding magazine contained pinfire cartridges or speedloaders. The magazine needed to be moved manually in many designs, hence distinguishing them from semi-automatic pistols.

Lever-action

Lever action pistols are very rare, the most notable of which is the Volcanic pistol and Pistola Herval.

Gallery

File:Обманка с пистолетами.jpg, Manner of Jean-François De le Motte (1625–1685). Still Life in Trompe-l'oeil Style With Pistols and a Henri Iv Medaillon 7th CenturyFile:Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts (1657-1683), Trompe l'oeil med pistoler, 1672 Kms3062.jpg, Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, 1672, Trompe l'oeil med pistoler File:Carl Hofverberg - Trompe l´oeil 1737 - Google Art Project.jpg, "Trompe l´oeil 1737" by Carl Hofverberg File:Läckö slott interior 49.jpg, 17th century pistols at Läckö Castle. File:Pair of Miquelet Flintlock Pistols MET 2011.361-362.jpg, Pair of Miquelet Pistols, in the Peninsular Spanish style, made in colonial Mexico, dated 1757, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art File:William Michael Harnett 001.jpg, "The Faithful Colt" 1890 by William Michael Harnett File:M1911_A1_pistol.jpg, The M1911, an early

File:CZ_75_SP-01.jpg, The CZ-75, one of the most successful Wonder Nines File:Westdog-lds-mp5k_001.JPG, An MP5K machine pistol File:Volcanic.JPG, Photo depicting a Volcanic Pistol

References

{{Authority control Handguns Pistols 16th-century introductions