The Firearm Guide to Firearm Types: What are the different categories of firearms?

"What are the different categories of firearms?"

Well when you think of categories of firearms, what generally comes to mind?

"Rifles, pistols, shotguns-"

Nope!

At least, not in the context we'll go over. We'll discuss what I consider to be the primary categories that most firearms fall under, and generally explain each one. I consider rifle, shotgun, pistol, etc. to be a type of firearm. Those classifications are a little bit longer of a conversation because some categorizations are influenced legally - not just by their capabilities.

Semi-Automatic Firearms

Semi-Automatic Firearms are characterized by their ability to fire off as quickly as you can squeeze the trigger.

That's a pretty broad category huh? That means that the majority of the firearms you can think of probably fall under this category.

But how does it work?

We won't cover this here. But when I dive into the anatomy of a firearm, I'll definitely touch base on a lot of cool stuff like this.

I don't have much else to say about this, as it's pretty cut-and-dry, so lets move on.

Automatic Firearms

Automatic Firearms are characterized by their ability to continue firing whilst the trigger is squeezed.

A lot of you might immediately think of firearms like machineguns, and you're right.

Machineguns are generally characterized by the fact that they're automatic. Some, like the M2 .50 Cal, even have single-shot abilities, but because they are first and foremost able to fire continuously while their trigger is squeezed, they fall under the automatic category and not semi-automatic.

Now, this category doesn't pertain to just firearms that continue to fire until you run out of ammunition. Oh no, we get a little fancier than that.

Firearms with burst capabilities also fall under being considered an automatic weapon because it does continuously fire, just only 2-3 times. It's the nature of being able to re-cock itself and fire a round immediately after another that gives it its automatic classification.

Single-Shot Firearms

Single-shot firearms are categorized as requiring the operator to manually feed another round into the chamber after every trigger pull.

In my experience, single-shot is commonly mixed with semi-automatic because semi-automatic firearms shoot one at a time. This, as you'll see here, is not what single-shot means at all. You're not wrong really, you're just not 100% right.

You see, with semi-automatic firearms there is a system in place to automatically rechamber another round and have it prepared to be fired. With single-shot firearms there is not - you must provide an action.

Generally, there are a few common actions that most single-shot firearms will employ:

• Pump-action: Think pump-action shotguns! The user has to 'pump' an attached handguard. The rearward movement ejects the shell or round, and the forward movement rechambers another shell or round and re-cocks the firearm to fire again. And yes, I said "shell or round" because there are in fact pump-action rifles, and some grenade-launchers utilize this system as well.

• Bolt-action: Think of 'sniper' rifles! While not every long-range rifle uses this action, they generally have that cool characteristic of having to manually pull the bolt back and push it forward again, like the Kar98. This works basically the same way as a pump-action with the rearward and forward actions handling the ejection, rechambering, and re-cocking of the rounds.
  

• Lever-action: Think old western rifles! While being super fun to fire, these firearms typically employ a cocking handle near the trigger mechanism that requires it to be pushed forward and pulled back into place in order to, you guessed it, eject, rechamber, and re-cock rounds.

So as you can kind of see, single-shot firearms are simply firearms that require you to use a mechanism to manually prep the firearm to fire. The actions generally all do the same thing, there's just different ways of doing it.

Or you could do something fun like the FP-45 Liberator, which was scarcely manufactured for resistance forces during WWII. You have to manually place each round into the chamber after every shot. Pretty cool, actually.

These are the most common categories of firearm you'll see, and I hope this helps you out in gaining the knowledge you seek without taking up too much of your time.

Keep an eye out for more guides!