About this item
A complete compendium of rifles and shotguns through the ages. A "rifled" firearm is one in which the projectile is made to spin as it travels up the bore. The term "rifle," however, was originally applied to muskets to differentiate them from the earlier smoothbore weapons and is used today to designate the infantryman's personal weapon, fired from the shoulder or the hip, or, in some modern weapons, from a bipod. The rifle has also been used by sportsmen to kill larger game and was also used as a working tool by cowboys and trappers during the period of Western Expansion. It progressed from being a muzzle-loader to a breechloading, bolt-operated weapon, then to a semi-automatic weapon, and finally to a lightweight "assault rifle.
