Types Of Pistols

While some pistols may share certain features such as caliber, they are still considered to be different. The five categories are: single shot pistols, multi-barreled pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, and automatic pistols.  

·      Single Shot Pistols

The single shot pistol is designed to fire one single round at a time. It must be manually reloaded in order to be fired again. Although they can perform well with the single round, they are slow to reload and not designed for long term use.  

·      Multi-Barreled Pistols

These guns enable the shooter to fire more than one shot without having to reload. Many of these guns are outdated but modern versions do exist. 

 

·      Revolvers

Revolvers are built around a rotating cartridge-filled cylinder. These cylinders can contain anywhere from five to eight rounds depending on the gun. Each time the shooter presses the trigger, the cylinder rotates, and a new round is put into action. 

 

·      Semi-Automatic Hand Guns

A semi-auto gun uses the energy of the fired round to automatically reload the chamber for the next shot. Most use recoil energy to reload the next shot but a few can use gas from the fired round to cycle the gun. These are magazine fed and allow the shooter to carry a large number of rounds as well as extra magazines for the gun. These are the most commonly seen guns in the firearms industry and the standard for law enforcement.

 

·      Automatic Hand Guns

Automatic handguns are fully automatic weapons capable of rapid and consecutive fire with one simple depression of the trigger. These are not common and are very heavily regulated by the ATF.