breech-loading
Loaded from behind
Breech-loading describes firearms loaded from the rear of the barrel rather than the muzzle.
Before breech-loading mechanisms became standard in the mid-19th century, soldiers had to ram powder and shot down the barrel—a slow process that left them vulnerable.
A breech-loading rifle can be reloaded while prone or behind cover: The breech-loading carbine gave cavalry a decisive advantage.
Long-barreled shoulder weapon
- shotgunLong gun firing shot
- carbineShort-barreled lightweight firearm
- pistolCompact one-handed firearm
- revolverPistol with rotating chamber
musket · cannon · artillery · Springfield · Ferguson · howitzer · mortar · Peabody
Firearm's rear-sealing mechanism
- chamberEnclosed room or cavity
- actionProcess of doing
- cartridgeSealed container for supplies
- boltThreaded rod for nuts
receiver · extractor · ejector · firing pin · hinged · lever-action · trapdoor · toggle
Act of changing states
- percussion capImpact-triggered ignition charge
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- Crimean War1850s Russo-European conflict
- Franco-PrussianRelating to 1870 war
colonial · cavalry · infantry · rate of fire · trench warfare · obsolescence · standardization · ordnance
rifle
Long-barreled shoulder weapon
- shotgunLong gun firing shot
- carbineShort-barreled lightweight firearm
- pistolCompact one-handed firearm
revolver · musket · cannon · artillery · Springfield · Ferguson · howitzer · mortar · Peabody · Mauser
breechblock
Firearm's rear-sealing mechanism
bolt · receiver · extractor · ejector · firing pin · hinged · lever-action · trapdoor · toggle · cocking
conversion
Act of changing states
- percussion capImpact-triggered ignition charge
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- Crimean War1850s Russo-European conflict
Franco-Prussian · colonial · cavalry · infantry · rate of fire · trench warfare · obsolescence · standardization · ordnance · armory
breech-loadingmuzzle-loading
Charged via the bore
front-loading · muzzleloader · black powder · flintlock · matchlock