What is a rifle? What is it made up of? What are the major components? Hunting rifles and sniper rifles are generally the same basic concept. The main difference is what they are used for, and how well tuned they are. I won't really go into much detail about assault weapons, or machine guns on this blog.
Here I have attached a small diagram that I made showing the basic parts on the outside of a rifle.
#1. Most hunting rifles have scopes on them. The scope helps you to see your shot closer up, and to compensate for for windage and distance.
#2. The Muzzle is the tip of the barrel, where the bullet comes out of the gun when fired.
#3. The muzzle brake is used to help the rifle to shoot with greater accuracy. Most hunting rifles don't have muzzle brakes come standard. ( I plan to go more into detain on muzzle brakes on another post).
#4. Bipods don't generally come standard on a rifle, they are normally an after-market part that you buy. They are used to help rest the rifle when you are shooting. If you don't have a bipod, you usually need to look for something to rest your rifle on when shooting. This helps you to keep the rifle more steady, and helps you to shoot with greater accuracy.
#5. The magazine is where the ammo is held, that is waiting to be fired. There are different types of magazines, the one shown in this picture is an external magazine, which means that it can be removed, and reloaded independent of the rifle. My .243 has an internal magazine, so that means that I can't take it out of the rifle to reload. I have to open the bold and put them in into the magazine.
#6. The stock is what you put your forward hand on to help you control the rifle. The barrel gets pretty hot when you're out shooting, so its good to have something there to hold on to, that isn't a hot barrel.
#7. The butt is what you press your shoulder against when shooting. You can also rest your head on it when shooting to help you see through the scope or sights better.
#8. The trigger is what you pull on with your finger to fire the weapon.
#9. The barrel is the long metal tube that the bullet moves through before exiting the weapon.
#10. The action is where the bolt is,and where the bullet is hit with a small pin to cause it to go off.
Most rifles have a bolt in them, whether semi-auto, auto, or bolt-action. The bolt is used to load a round into the chamber, and it houses a firing pin that is thrust into the primer of the round which causes it to go off, and it's also used to eject the expended round.
So now we know the major components of a rifle. Next week we'll talk about how it all works.
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