Senjata api adalah alatan yang boleh digunakan sebagai senjata yang ditembak sama ada satu atau berganda projektil yang ditujahkan pada kelajuan tinggi oleh gas yang dihasilkan melalui kecepatan, pembakaran dibataskan dari pendorong. Proses dari kecepatan pembakaran secara teknikalnya dikenali sebagai nyahflagrasi. Pada senjata api kuno, pendorong ini lazimnya serbuk hitam, tetapi senjata api moden menggunakan serbuk tanpa asap, kordit, atau pedorong lain. Kebanyakan senjata api moden (dengan pengecualian yang penting dari senapang berlaras licin) mempunyai laras berpilin untuk memberikan putaran kepada projektil untuk menambah kestabilan semasa dalam penerbangan.
Istilah gan selalu digunakan sebagai sinonim untuk senjata api, tetapi dalam kegunaan spesialis telah membataskan akal-rujukan hanya kepada helai artileri dengan relatifnya muncung kelajuan tinggi, seperti gan padang, gan kereta kebal, gan anti-kereta kebal, atau gan yang digunakan dalam penghantaran senjata api naval. Gan adalah berbeza dari howitzer dan mortar, dimana mempunyai muncung kelajuan lebih rendah dan, lazimnya, trajektori lebih tinggi. Senjata api tangan, seperti raifal, karbin, pistol dan lain-lain senjata api kecil jarang dipanggil "gan" pada batasan akal dikalangan spesialis. Mesingan menembak ubat bedil kecil (umumnya 14.5 mm atau lebih kecil), dan banyak mesingan adalah khidmat kru senjata api, memerlukan khidmat lebih dari satu kru, sama seperti gan "artileri". Umumnya, senjata api otomatik direka untuk satu pengguna dirujuk sebagai raifal otomatik. Bagaimanapun, US BATFE menganggap sebarang senjata api dimana mengagihkan lebih dari satu pusingan dengan satu manipulasi dari alatan menembak merupakan "mesingan" untuk tujuan kawalan. Istilah lain, termasuk "senjata api" itu sendiri, telah ditakrifkan dalam cara ad hoc yang dikhaskan oleh berbagai legislasi.
Pada abad kebelakangan ini, senjata api telah menjadi senjata pradominan yang digunakan oleh manusia. Medan perang moden sejak Pembaharuan telah bergantung pada senjata api, dengan kesan jarak-luas pada sejarah ketenteraan dan sejarah pada amnya. Ini menciptakan jenis peperangan yang baru, dengan tentera era-moden yang dibentukkan.
Untuk pistol tangan dan pistol panjang, projektil ini adalah peluru atau, dalam meriam bersejara, bola meriam. Projektil ini ditembak oleh pembakaran penujah, tetapi dalam senjata kecil jarang mengandungi peletupnya sendiri. Untuk artileri moden projektil ini adalah rangka, dimana hampir sentiasa mengandungi peletup.
Perbezaan kadangkala dibuat antara projektil itu sendiri sebagai senjata dan senjata api sebagai platform senjata. Pada sesetengah kes, senjata api ini boleh digunakan secara terus sebagai senjata tanpa menembak projektil, walaupun ini secara mutlaknya sentiasa cara serangan kedua. Contohnya, senjata seperti raifal, musket, dan kadangkala submesingan boleh mempunyai bayonet yang diletak padanya, menjadikannya lembing atau tombak. Dengan sesetengah pengecualian penting, stok dari pistol panjang boleh digunakan sebagai belantan. Ia juga kemungkinan besar untuk memukul seseorang dengan barel dari gan dipegang tangan atau genggamkannya dengan barel dan memukul seseorang dengan pangkal. Ini dipanggil "pistol-memukul".
masalah yang dihadapi adalah dimana sisa dari ledakkan didalam kebuk yang terkumpul juga sepihan dari peluru itu sendiri dan cebisan kelopak peluru yang terkumpul didalam alat bekerja.Sisa terkumpul ini akan menyebabkan gangguan pada fungsi dalaman senjata api.Oleh yang demikian,kebiasaannya senjatapi yang kerap digunakan hendaklah dikendalikan secara berkala dengan direlaikan dibersihkan dan dilincirkan untuk mengekalkan keupayaan senjata api tersebut.
Senjataapi adakalanya dipanggil sebagai senjata kecil.senjata kecil adalah senjata api adalah yang dibawa secara perseorangan. Menurut persidangan antarabangsa berkaitanLaws of War,senjata kecil adalah ditafsirkan sebagai senjata yang melancarkan tembakan bergaris pusat tidak melebihi 15 mm (0.60 inci).[perlu rujukan] Senjata kecil diacukan kearah sasaran secara pandangan tepat. Jarak ketepatan bagi senjata kecil umumnya sejauh satu batu (1600 m), malah kebiasannya kurang, Tetapi jarak yang berjaya dicatatkan ketika ini Sniper menjangkau lebih 1.5 batu(2.4 km). Senjata Artillery adalah lebih besar dibandingkan senjata api,di bawa dengan induk pengerak, mempunyai laras melebihi 18 inci (46 cm) dan mempunyai berat beberapa tan. Artillery menjangkau ketapatan melebihi 26 batus (42 km) dan dengan pencapaian yang boleh dilaraskan(contohnya kereta kebal), dituju secara tepat mengunakan altitude/azimuth . Adalah ditegaskan ia bukan lagi dikenali sebagai senjahe direct ancestor of the firearm is the fire-lance, a gunpowder-filled tube attached to the end of a spear and used as a flamethrower; shrapnel was sometimes placed in the barrel so that it would fly out together with the flames.[1][2] The earliest depiction of a gunpowder weapon is the illustration of a fire-lance on a mid-10th century silk banner from Dunhuang.[3]
In due course, the proportion of saltpeter in the propellant was increased to increase its explosive power.[2] To better withstand that explosive power, the paper and bamboo of which fire-lance barrels were originally made came to be replaced by metal.[1] And to take full advantage of that power, the shrapnel came to be replaced by projectiles whose size and shape filled the barrel more closely.[2] With this, we have the three basic features of the gun: a barrel made of metal, high-nitrate gunpowder, and a projectile which totally occludes the muzzle so that the powder charge exerts its full potential in propellant effect.[4]
The earliest depiction of a gun is a sculpture from a cave in Sichuan dating to the 1100s of a figure carrying a vase-shaped bombard with flames and a cannonball coming out of it.[5][6] The oldest surviving gun, made of bronze, has been dated to 1288 because it was discovered at a site in modern-day Acheng District where the Yuan Shi records that battles were fought at that time; Li Ting, a military commander of Jurchen descent, led foot-soldiers armed with guns in battle to suppress the rebellion of the Christian Mongol prince Nayan.[7]
Senjata kecil
[sunting] Piston tangan
Mesingan
A machine gun is a fully automatic firearm. Although not widely fielded until World War I, early machine guns were being used by the military in the late 19th century (e.g., the Gatling gun). They are primarily defensive firearms, mainly because of the difficulties involved in moving and placing them, and their inherent lack of accuracy. In contrast, light machine guns (such as the U.S. military's M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) and the M60 machine gun, both of which are small-caliber firearms) are often wielded by a single infantryman; they provide a high rate of fire typically used as either suppressing fire or covering fire during infantry movement. Machine guns are also often mounted on vehicles or helicopters, and have often been used since World War II as offensive firearms in fighter aircraft and tanks (e.g., for air combat or suppressing fire for ground troop support).
A submachine gun is a machine gun that fires cartridges that would otherwise be used in a handgun. Probably the most well-known example of a submachine gun is the Thompson submachine gun (the "Tommy Gun" of gangster movies), which fires .45 ACP cartridges. Other well-known examples are the Israeli Uzi, the British Sten, and the German MP5, all of which implement the 9 mm Luger Parabellum, and the U.S.'s M3 Grease Gun which fires .45 ACP.
In United States law, a Machine Gun is defined (in part) by The National Firearms Act of 1934, United States code Title 26, Subtitle E, Chapter 53, Subchapter B, Part 1, § 5845 as:
"... any firearm which shoots ... automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger."
In the United States, purchases by civilians of machine guns manufactured after 1986 were banned by the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA), passed in that year. Importation of machine guns for civilian sale in the U.S. was banned by the Gun Control Act of 1968. Machine guns manufactured prior to 1986 or imported prior to 1968 can still be legally transferred to civilians who pay a substantial tax to the BATFE and pass a background investigation. In addition, "transferable" machine guns must have been registered with the BATFE prior to 1986. Machine Gun parts kits (which do not include a functional receiver) can be transferred without restriction. Permission must be received from BATFE to move a machine gun between states.
One of the most popular, most produced and most used automatic rifles in the world is the Soviet AK-47. It served in the Soviet army as standard infantry firearm issue, as well as in many other Eastern Bloc states, and is still used as standard military equipment in some former Warsaw Pact countries. As over 100 million AK-47s were manufactured[perlu rujukan], it has also become the firearm of choice worldwide for many criminal or terrorist organizations[perlu rujukan]. A semi-automatic version of this firearm is available in many locales where fully automatic firearms are not available.
[sunting] Mekanisma suapan dan tembakan
[sunting] Meriam suapan mulut
The cannon is loaded with gunpowder and the cannonball through the muzzle, while a fuse is placed at the rear. This fuse is lighted, causing the gunpowder to ignite and propel the cannonball. Most cannons were land- or ship-based guns, although hand cannons also existed. In military use, the standard cannon was tremendously powerful, while hand cannon was somewhat useless. In the 19th century, the muzzle-loaded cannon was made obsolete by the breech-loaded artillery piece with a rifled barrel.
[sunting] Muzzleloader
Muzzle-loading muskets (smooth-bored long guns) were among the first small arms developed. The firearm was loaded through the muzzle with gunpowder, optionally some wadding and then a bullet (usually a solid lead ball, but musketeers could shoot stones when they ran out of bullets). Greatly improved muzzleloaders (usually rifled instead of smooth-bored) are manufactured today and have many enthusiast s, many of whom hunt large and small game with their guns. Muzzleloaders have to be manually reloaded after each shot; a skilled archer could fire multiple arrows faster than most early muskets could be reloaded and fired, although by the mid-18th century, when muzzleloaders became the standard small armament of the military, a well-drilled soldier could fire six rounds in a minute using prepared cartridges in his musket. Before then, effectiveness of muzzleloaders was hindered by both the low reloading speed and, before the firing mechanism was perfected, the very high risk posed by the firearm to the person attempting to fire it. One interesting solution to the reloading problem was the "Roman Candle Gun". This was a muzzleloader in which multiple charges and balls were loaded one on top of the other, with a small hole in each ball to allow the subsequent charge to be ignited after the one ahead of it was ignited. It was neither a very reliable nor popular firearm, but it enabled a form of "automatic" fire long before the advent of the machine gun.[8]
[sunting] Matchlock
Matchlocks were the first and simplest small arms firing mechanisms developed. Using the matchlock mechanism, the powder in the gun barrel was ignited by a piece of burning cord called a "match". The match was wedged into one end of an S-shaped piece of steel. As the trigger (often actually a lever) was pulled, the match was brought into the open end of a "touch hole" at the base of the gun barrel, which contained a very small quantity of gunpowder, igniting the main charge of gunpowder in the gun barrel. The match usually had to be relit after each firing.
Senjata api paling kecil adalah pistol. Kebiasaannya terdapat 3 jenis pistol: tembakan sebutir (paling banyak digunakan), revolver, dan pisotl separuh automatik. Revolver mempunyai beberapa ruang penembakan atau "ruang isian" di dalam silinder pusingan; setiap ruang di dalam silinder berisi dengan satu kartrij. Pistol semi-automatik mempunyai satu mesin ruang penembakan yang di pasang kepada bahagian laras belakang, dan satu kelopak peluru yang boleh ditanggalkan supaya ia boleh digunakan untuk menembak lebih dari satu pusingan. Revolver Mateba buatan Itali adalah "hibrid" yang jarang,iaitu revolver semi-automatik. Setiap kali picu ditekan ia akan menembak satu kartrij dan menukar silinder supaya kartrij yang seterusnya boleh ditembak dengan segera. Firma senjata Britain iaitu Webley juga ada membuat satu "revolver automatik" sekitar abad ke 20.
Pistol berbeza dengan raifal dan shotguns in that they are smaller, lack a shoulder stock, are usually chambered for less-powerful cartridges, and are designed to be fired with one or two hands. sementara istilah "pistol" boleh digunakan utk menggambarkan semua handgun, adalah biasa untuk merujuk kepada satu-tembakan atau isian-automatik handgun sebagai "pistol" dan revolver sebagai "revolver".
Istilah "pistol automatik" kadangkala mengelirukan dengan istilah "automatik" tidak dirujuk kepada mekanisma penembakan, tetapi merujuk kepada mekanisma pengisian. Apabila ditembak, pistol automatik menggunakan rekoil dan/atau dorongan gas untuk mengeluarkan kelongsong yang telah digunakan dan memasukkan kelongsong baru daripada kelopak peluru. Kebiasannya (dan bukan selalu), mencekah senjata secara automatik. Pistol automatik menembak satu tembakan untuk satu tarikan picu, tidak seperti senjata api automatik seperti mesingan, yang akan menembak selagi picu ditekan dan tiada lagi kelongsong yang tidak digunakan di dalam ruang penembakan atau di dalam kelopak peluru. Walaubagaimanapun terdapat beberapa pistol automatik sepenuhnya (selalu dirujuk sebagai pistol mesin jadi, untuk mengelakkan kesamaran dan kekeliruan, istilah semi-automatik digunakan apabila merujuk kepada senjata api yang menembak satu tembakan untuk satu tarikan picu.
Prior to the 19th century, all handguns were single-shot muzzleloaders. With the invention of the revolver in 1818, handguns capable of holding multiple rounds became popular. At the end of the 20th century, most handguns are semi-automatic, although revolvers are still widely used. Generally speaking, military and police forces use automatic pistols due to their high magazine capacities (10 to 17 or, in some cases, over 25 rounds of ammunition) and ability to rapidly reload by simply removing the empty magazine and inserting a loaded one. Handgun hunters use revolvers almost exclusively because hunting cartridges are generally much more powerful than autopistol cartridges (which are designed for self-defense) and the strength, simplicity and durability of the revolver design is well-suited to them. Lawfully armed citizens carry either type, depending on personal preference.
Handguns come in many shapes and sizes. For example, the "derringer" (a generic term based on the mid-19th century "Deringer" brand name) is a very small, short-barreled handgun, usually with one or two barrels but sometimes more (some 19th century derringers had four barrels) that have to be manually reloaded after being fired. Carefully matched single-shot duelling pistols were used primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries to settle serious differences among "gentlemen": Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are probably the most prominent Americans who used duelling pistols to settle their differences. Fully automatic, relatively easily concealed machine pistols, such as the MAC-10, GLOCK 18, and the Beretta 93R, were a late 20th century development.
Handguns are small and usually made to be carried in a holster, thus leaving both hands free. Small handguns can easily be concealed, thus making them a very common choice for personal protection. In the military, handguns are usually issued to those who are not expected to need more potent (and more expensive) firearms, such as general and staff officers, and to those for whom there is no room for a full-sized rifle, such as armored vehicle and air crews. In this last role, they often compete with the carbine, a short, light rifle, which is also usually issued to airborne infantry because of its small size. Outside the military, handguns are the usual armament for police (in those jurisdictions where police are armed) and, where legal, for private citizens. Private citizens in most jurisdictions usually carry only concealed handguns in public except when hunting, since an unconcealed firearm would attract undue attention, and would therefore be less secure, although there are significant numbers of states in the US that continue to permit open carry of handguns. In the United States, the number of states which permit concealed carry has recently grown to over 35, and several states have well over 200,000 permit holders. Despite Second Amendment constitutional roots in the United States, the concept of citizens carrying a concealed firearm for self-defense is often a contentious political issue; see gun politics for more information.
Handguns are also used for many sporting purposes and hunting, although hunting usage is usually viewed as somewhat atypical due to the limited range and accuracy of handguns. Some hunters, however, do their hunting in areas of dense cover where long guns would be awkward, or they relish the increased challenge involved in handgun hunting due to the necessity of approaching the game animal more closely. Small-bore (e.g., .22 caliber rimfire) handguns have long been very popular for competitive target shooting, partially due to the low cost of both the firearms and the ammunition, and there is also a rapidly growing number of sporting competitions for larger calibers.
Repeating, semiautomatic, and automatic firearms
Many small arms are "single shot" firearms: i.e., each time a cartridge is fired, the operator must manually re-cock the firearm and load another cartridge. The classic single-barreled shotgun is a good example. A firearm that can load multiple cartridges as the firearm is re-cocked is considered a "repeating firearm" or simply a "repeater". The lever-action rifle of Old West fame, a pheasant-hunter's pump shotgun, and a police sniper's bolt-action rifle are good examples of repeating firearms. A firearm that automatically re-cocks and reloads the next round with each trigger pull is considered a semiautomatic firearm. An automatic (or "fully automatic") firearm is one that automatically re-cocks, reloads, and fires as long as the trigger is depressed. Many modern military firearms have a "selective-fire" option, which is a mechanical switch that allows the firearm be fired either in the semiautomatic or fully automatic mode. In the current M16A2 and M16A4 variants of the U.S.-made M16, continuous full-automatic fire is not possible, having been replaced by an automatic burst of three cartridges that makes full-automatic fire considerably more accurate.
The first "rapid firing" firearms were usually similar to the 19th century Gatling gun, which would fire cartridges from a magazine as fast as and as long as the operator turned a crank. Eventually, the "rapid" firing mechanism was perfected and miniaturized to the extent that either the recoil of the firearm or the gas pressure from firing could be used to operate it (which made the firing mechanisms truly "automatic"). Automatic rifles such as the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (the "BAR") were in common use by the military during the early part of the 20th century, and automatic rifles that fired handgun rounds, known as submachine guns, also appeared in this time.
Submachine guns (such as the well-known Thompson gun) were originally about the size of carbines. Because they fire pistol ammunition, they have limited long-range use, but in close combat can spray bullets in a deadly and controllable manner due to the light recoil of the pistol ammunition. They are also extremely inexpensive and simple to build in time of war, enabling a nation to quickly arm its military. In the latter half of the 20th century, submachine guns were being miniaturized to the point of being only slightly larger than some large handguns. The most widely used submachine gun at the end of the 20th century was the Heckler & Koch MP5. The MP5 is actually designated as a "machine pistol" by Heckler & Koch (MP5 stands for Machine Pistol 5), although some reserve this designation for even smaller submachine guns such as the MAC-10, which are about the size and shape of pistols.
Nazi Germany brought the world's attention to what eventually became the class of firearm most widely adopted by the military: the so-called assault rifle (see Sturmgewehr 44). An assault rifle is usually slightly smaller than a military rifle such as the M1 Garand, the M14 or the K98k. Generally, assault rifles have mechanisms that allow the user to select between single shots, bursts of shots, or automatic fire. Moreover, assault rifles tend to incorporate military characteristics that make them look menacing: bayonet lugs, flash suppressors, and large capacity ammunition magazines. Generally, these design features are trivial in nature, and the modern military assault rifle differs very little in function from a civilian hunting rifle. Universally, civilian versions of military assault rifles are strictly semiautomatic. The cartridge fired by these rifles is midway in power between a pistol cartridge and a high-power rifle round, which gives the soldier the close-in spray ability of a submachine gun with the more precision long-range shooting of a high-power rifle round. Soviet engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov quickly adapted the concept to the AK-47, which has become the world's most widely used assault rifle. In United States, John Garand, the inventor of the M1 Garand rifle used by the U.S. military during World War II, adapted the assault rifle design to produce the M14, which was used by the U.S. military until the 1960s. The significant recoil (hence inaccuracy) of the M14 when fired in full automatic mode was seen as a problem, however, and in the 1960s it was replaced by Eugene Stoner's AR-15, which also marked a switch from the high-powered but heavy .30-caliber rifle used by the U.S. military since before World War I to the much smaller but far lighter and light recoiling (and arguably more accurate) .223-caliber rifle. The military later designated the AR-15 to the "M16". The civilian version of the M16 continues to be known as the AR-15 and looks exactly like the military version, although it lacks the mechanism that permits fully automatic fire.
Modern designs call for compact weapons retaining firepower. The bullpup design, by mounting the ammunition magazine rear of the trigger system, unifies the accuracy and firepower of the traditional assault rifle with the compact size of the submachine gun (though traditional submachine guns are still used because of the ballistic properties of the handgun ammunition that they use); examples are the French FAMAS or the British SA80.
New ammunition design shapes are the future of firearms. Recently, smaller but powerful ammunition types have been introduced, as to allow personal defence weapons to penetrate ballistic armour. Such designs are the basis for the Five-seveN and the FN P90. Caseless ammunition is another trend, though impeded by the large number of traditional firearms, which would make their introduction expensive (an example is the German Heckler & Koch G11). The flechette is yet another improvement over traditional ammunition, allowing for extreme penetration abilities and a very flat trajectory.
