Projectile weapons

thumb|upright=1.35|The M16 rifle and the [[AK-47, two common firearms with significant influences on firearm design]] A firearm is any type of gun that shoots projectiles using high explosive pressure generated from combustion (deflagration) of chemical propellant, most often black powder in antique firearms and smokeless powder in modern firearms. Small arms is a subset of light firearms that is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term "firearm" is however variably defined in both technically and legally in different countries (see legal definitions), and can be

300px|thumb|Traditional target arrow (top) and replica medieval arrow (bottom) thumb|Modern arrow with plastic fletchings and nock

sports involving firearms used to hit targets

thumb|Simple slingshot

projectile weapon, typically used to propel small stones

thumb|Basic diagram of an Onager (weapon)|onager, a type of catapult

thumb|upright=1.3|Inuit|Inuk hunter with harpoon in Kayak, Hudson Bay, thumb|upright=1.3|Unaaq , a harpoon used by Inuit, long, MHNT

thumb|SIG Pro semi-automatic pistol thumb|Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61)|USS Iowa fires a full broadside from its nine sixteen-inch [[naval guns]]

thumb|Illustration of a ballista being loaded and drawn

thumb|upright=1.35|Glenn Eller surgery at [[2008 Summer Olympics double trap finals]] thumb|upright=1.35|Olympic competitive air rifle shooting by Nancy Johnson in Sydney 2000 Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can be considered acts of shooting. When using a firearm, the act of shooting is often called firing as it involves initiating a combustion (deflagration) of chemical propellants.

protective weapon mount or firing position

class of weapon

type of knife

secret weapon

thumb|Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the Saalburg, Germany; left: polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935) thumb|A modern reconstruction of the repeating "polybolos" catapult of Dionysius of Alexandria, in Museum of Ancient Greek Technology|Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, [[Athens, Greece.]] The polybolos (the name means "multi-thrower" in Greek) was an ancient Greek repeating ballista, reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria (a 3rd-century BC Greek engineer at the Rhodes arsenal,) and used in antiquity. The polybolos was not a cr

type of firearm

The Arbalète sauterelle type A, or simply Sauterelle ( French for grasshopper), was a bomb-throwing crossbow used by French and British forces on the Western Front during World War I. It was designed to throw a hand grenade in a high trajectory into enemy trenches. It was initially dismissed by the French Army but General Henri Berthelot thought it had practical value.

thumb|upright=1.35|A Roman carroballista from the time of Trajan Carroballista was an ancient, cart-mounted ballista, a type of mobile field artillery. According to the Roman author Vegetius (Epitoma rei militaris II.25), each legion had 55 carroballistae (one per centuria) which were arrow/bolt-shooter of the cheiroballistra () type. Vegetius tells us that each carroballista was carried by mules and operated by one contubernium (i.e., eight soldiers commanded by one decanus). Surviving representation of a carroballista are from the bas-reliefs of Trajan's Column (Scene XL and Scenes LXV/LXVI)