Notes

Key Features of the Rifle
The three important features of the rifle are a relatively long barrel—from 16 to 28 inches or more. The inside of the barrel is called the bore. A bore has rifling on the inside to assist in the accuracy of a single projectile, called a bullet, and a butt stock that fits into the shooter’s shoulder for firing.

Stock
The barrel and action are mounted on the rifle stock, which may be made from various materials including wood, laminated wood, and synthetic material. The butt stock is the portion that extends from the grip rearward.

Barrel and Bore
The bore of a firearm is the hole that is cut through the center of the barrel during the manufacturing process, making it basically a long metal tube.

Rifling
Rifling is a term for the grooves that are cut into the inside surface of the rifle barrel in a turning pattern to the right or left, making the bullet spin, which helps keep the bullets stable during flight. Because of the long barrel and rifling, a rifle can be fired accurately at targets out to great distances. For example, a .22 caliber bullet can travel well over a mile, and a large caliber bullet, like a .30-06, can travel well over three miles. Therefore, it is critical to know what lies beyond your target, and always have a safe backstop. For this reason, hunters use a rifle to hunt big game such as pronghorn, deer, and elk.

Caliber
The caliber of a rifle or handgun barrel is the measurement of the bore diameter from land to land, measured in inches or millimeters. For example, a .22 caliber rifle barrel would have a distance of 0.22 inches—almost a quarter of an inch—from land to opposite land. Whereas a .30 caliber rifle would have a distance of 0.30 inches—or almost one third of an inch. Therefore, a .30-06 caliber rifle is larger than a .243, which is larger than a .22. When a bullet passes through a barrel, the lands cut grooves into the bullet, as shown in the illustrations.

Barrel Stamp
The cartridge classification of a particular rifle barrel and the name of the manufacturer are stamped on the outside of the barrel during the manufacturing process. Always match the correct ammunition to a firearm. Use of a wrong cartridge can damage the firearm and may result in serious injury and possibly death for the shooter and bystanders.

Rifle Sights
A rifle shooter uses the sight system for pinpoint aiming at a target. The types of sights for rifles are telescopic sights (or scope) and iron sights, which include open sight and peep (or aperture) sights, front and rear.

Key Features of the Shotgun
Similar to the rifle, the shotgun is a relatively long-barreled firearm—from 18 to 28 inches or more—and it has a shoulder stock. For that reason, both shotguns and rifles are called long guns. However, the distinguishing feature of the shotgun is that the bore is smooth on the inside, having no rifling. The basic purpose of the shotgun is to spray the air with a rapidly widening pattern of shot. Thus, the shotgun is effective for hunting game birds in flight—such as pheasants, quail, woodcock, ducks, and geese—or rabbits and squirrels on the run.

Smooth Bore
The smooth bore shotgun is ideal for firing shotgun projectiles, known as shot, which are usually round pellets made of lead, steel, tungsten, or bismuth. The size of the shot, and the kind of material it’s made of, determine its use.

Birdshot and Buckshot
A shotgun cartridge may be loaded with birdshot and contain hundreds of tiny pellets. The same shotgun cartridge, loaded with buckshot, may contain only a few pellets because they are so much larger than birdshot.

Graphic: Shot sizes of birdshot and buckshot

This image shows the variety of shot sizes available. Number nine shot is primarily used for close-end small game hunting. A 2 and 3/4 inch, 12 gauge shell loaded with one ounce of number nine shot will have approximately 585 pellets. 000 buck is legal in some states for big game hunting. A 2 and 3/4 inch, 12 gauge shell, loaded with 000 buck will have six pellets.

However, only nontoxic shot may be used when hunting waterfowl. Buckshot may be used to hunt deer in some states but is illegal in other states. Take a look at this chart to see how far different types of shotgun shell pellets can travel. Just like a hunter shooting a pistol or rifle firing a single projectile, hunters using a shotgun firing a shot shell loaded with pellets must always have a safe backstop—as a number nine pellet can travel nearly 200 yards and a 000 buck pellet can travel nearly half a mile.

Gauge
The measure of a shotgun bore diameter is known as its gauge. Standard gauges for shotguns, largest to smallest, are 10 gauge, 12 gauge, 16 gauge, 20 gauge, and 28 gauge. A shotgun barrel is gauged by how many round lead balls—of the same diameter as the bore—it takes to equal 1 pound. There is also a .410 shotgun, which is not a gauge but rather a caliber measurement as with rifle and handgun bores. If the .410 caliber shotgun bore is measured as a gauge, the result would be a 68 gauge.

Choke
At the muzzle end of the shotgun barrel is a choke. The purpose of the shotgun choke is to control shot patterns when shooting at closer or more distant game. Four commonly recognized choke sizes are:

Cylinder bore: no choke.
Improved cylinder: Produces slightly tighter patterns than no choke.
Modified cylinder: Produces an even tighter pattern, and increases range over the two previous chokes.
Full choke: Very tight choke for tight shot patterns out to greater distance.
Image: Ranges of different shotgun chokes

This image shows how the use of one type of choke or another affects the shot pattern density, pellet distribution, and effective range. Shotgun barrels may have fixed, variable, or interchangeable shotgun chokes.

Barrel Stamp
The cartridge classification of a particular shotgun barrel including gauge, maximum cartridge length, and the name of the manufacturer, are stamped on the outside of the barrel during the manufacturing process. Always match the correct ammunition to a firearm. Use of a wrong cartridge can damage the firearm and may result in serious injury, and possibly death, for the shooter and bystanders.

Shotgun Sight
The shotgun has a front sight and a rib that extends from the breech to muzzle as aids to accurate shot placement. There is no rear sight on a shotgun barrel. When firing the shotgun, a shooter points—does not aim—the shotgun at the target.