Single-shot
Encyclopedia
Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

, and must be reloaded after each shot. The history of firearms
History of firearms
Gunpowder was invented in the 9th century and firearms in the 12th century in China. These inventions were later transmitted to the Middle East and to Europe.-Firearms in China:...

 began with single-shot designs, and many centuries passed before multi-shot designs became commonplace. Single-shot designs are less complex than revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...

s or magazine
Magazine (firearm)
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm or removable . The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action...

-fed firearms, and many single-shot designs are still produced by many manufacturers, in both cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

- and non-cartridge varieties, from zip guns to the highest-quality shooting-match weapons.

Pre-cartridge era

Most firearms before the era of cartridges
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

 were single-shot and muzzleloading, with the exception of the cap-and-ball revolvers, such as Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E...

's, which appeared shortly before the cartridge era.

Rifles

Many of the early cartridge-fed rifles were single-shot designs, taking advantage of the strength and simplicity of single-shot actions. A good example is the "trapdoor" or Allin action used in early cartridge conversions of 1863 Springfield muzzleloading rifles. The conversion consisted of filing out
File (tool)
A file is a metalworking and woodworking tool used to cut fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It most commonly refers to the hand tool style, which takes the form of a steel bar with a case hardened surface and a series of sharp, parallel teeth. Most files have a narrow, pointed tang at one...

 (or later milling out
Milling machine
A milling machine is a machine tool used to machine solid materials. Milling machines are often classed in two basic forms, horizontal and vertical, which refers to the orientation of the main spindle. Both types range in size from small, bench-mounted devices to room-sized machines...

) the rear of the barrel, and attaching a folding bolt, the "trapdoor", that flipped up and forwards to allow the cartridge to be loaded in the breech. Once loaded, the bolt was closed and latched in place, holding the round securely in place. The bolt contained a firing pin that used the existing percussion hammer, so no changes were required to the lock. After firing, the act of opening the bolt would partially extract the fired case from the chamber, allowing it to be removed. In 1866, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 standardized on the .50-70 cartridge, chambered in trapdoor conversions of rifled musket
Rifled musket
The term rifled musket or rifle musket refers to a specific type of weapon made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels rifled...

s used in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The trapdoor mechanism continued with the adoption of the Springfield 1873
Springfield Model 1873
The Model 1873 "Trapdoor" Springfield was the first standard-issued breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States Army...

 rifle, chambered in the new .45-70
.45-70
The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government, was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873...

 cartridge. The Springfield stayed in service until 1893, when it was replaced by the Krag-Jørgensen
Krag-Jørgensen
The Krag-Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States of America and Norway...

 bolt-action rifle.

Another muzzleloader conversion similar in concept to the Allin action was the British Snider-Enfield
Snider-Enfield
The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a type of breech loading rifle. The firearm action was invented by the American Jacob Snider, and the Snider-Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. It was adopted by British Army as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853...

, also introduced in 1866, which hinged to the side rather than forward. Unlike the US Army, which kept its trapdoors for decades, the British soon moved beyond the Snider to a more sophisticated dropping-block single-shot action somewhat resembling the Peabody action
Peabody action
The Peabody action was an early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle. The Peabody action most often used an external hammer to fire the cartridge.The Peabody...

. Martini-Henry
Martini-Henry
The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...

s were the standard British rifles of the late Victorian era, and Martini-Enfield
Martini-Enfield
Martini-Enfield rifles were, by and large, conversions of the Zulu War era .450/577 Martini-Henry, rechambering the rifle for use with the newly introduced .303 British cartridge...

 conversions continued in second-line service until the Second World War.

Single-shot rifles were the preferred tools of big-game hunters in the later 19th century. The buffalo hunters of the American West used Sharps, Remington and Springfield single-shots; ivory and trophy hunters in Africa and Asia used Martini and break-action "express rifles" and "elephant guns." These rifles were designed for very large black-powder cartridges, from military-issue .45-70 on up to the enormous .50-140 Sharps
.50-140 Sharps
The .50-140 Sharps rifle cartridge is a black powder cartridge that was introduced in 1884 as a big game hunting round. It is believed to have been introduced for the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle. The cartridge is very similar to the .500 Nitro Express....

 and .500 Express
.500 Black Powder Express
The .500 BPE or Black Powder Express was first used in a Purdey Double Express rifle in the 1860s. It is very similar to the .50-140 Sharps cartridge....

; early repeating actions were not capable of handling rounds of this power and physical size. The single-shot big-game rifle would only be displaced by bolt action repeaters firing high-velocity smokeless-powder cartridges in the early 20th century.

After the advent of high-powered repeating rifles, single-shot rifles were primarily used for target shooting matches, with the first official match shooting event, opening at Creedmoor, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 in 1872. From about 1872 until the U.S. entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 (1917), target shooting with single-shot rifles was nearly as popular in America as golf is today. During that golden age of match shooting, the most popular target rifles were made by Bullard
Bullard
-People:* Charles W. Bullard, American criminal* Edward Bullard, geophysicist* Edward P. Bullard Sr, founder of the Bullard Machine Tool Company* Edward P...

, Stevens
Stevens Arms
Stevens Arms was an American firearms manufacturer founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864. The company introduced the .22 Long Rifle round and made a number of rifle, shotgun, and target pistol designs before being bought by Savage Arms in 1920. After 1920, Stevens made training rifles and machineguns...

, Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....

, Maynard
Edward Maynard
-External links:*...

, Ballard
Ballard
-Places:*Ballard, California*Ballard, Utah*Ballard, Seattle, Washington, a neighborhood that was once a city before being annexed by Seattle in the early 20th century*Ballard County, Kentucky*Ballard Down, an area in Dorset, England*Ballardvale, Massachusetts...

, Farrow
Farrow
Farrow is a surname, and may refer to* Amariah Farrow , professional football player in the Canadian Football League* Brad Farrow , Canadian judoka* Dave Farrow, Guinness World Records holder for memory...

, and Winchester
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...

. Calibers used by some of these rifles during matches ranged from the .25/20, .32/40, .33, .35, .35-55, .38-55
.38-55 Winchester
The .38-55 Winchester cartridge is named for its approximately .38 caliber bullet and was introduced in 1876 by Ballard which belonged to Marlin Firearms from 1875 on for various single-shot target rifles and in their 1893 lever action. It was later used by Winchester for its Model 1894...

, .40-50, .40/70, and a host of .44's (.44/105, .44/77, etc.) for over-600-yard shooting at Creedmoor. But two calibers maintained consistency throughout their tenure during the single-shot era: the .32-40 and the .38-55 calibers. The minimum standard in the beginning of the sport had been 200 yard firing from the standing position (off-hand position). No rifle scopes, no bench rests, no prone (lying down on the front) positions, but shooting, as famed rifle barrel maker, Harry Melville Pope (1861–1950), once stated, "standing on his hind legs and shooting like a man." The .32-40 and .38-55 were able to buck the wind better at 200 yards, and not wear the rifleman out by heavy recoil, all while sustaining great accuracy. In the end though, it was the .32-40 single shot rifle that became the dean of match shooters, as the recoil from the .38-55 took its toll after hundreds of rounds had been fired during a match.

In 1878, John Moses Browning patented arguably the greatest single-shot rifle ever produced: after Browning sold his design to Winchester
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...

 it was brought out as the Model 1885 Winchester Single Shot Rifle. Although fewer than 200,000 Model 1885 Single Shots were built, it remained in production from 1885 to 1920.

Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....

, Sharps
Sharps
Sharps may refer to:* Medical instruments etc which are disposed of as Sharps waste* Sharps, Virginia, unincorporated community in USA* Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company firearms company* Sharps Buffalo Rifle* Sharps Carbine...

, and Browning
Browning Arms Company
Browning Arms Company is a maker of firearms, bows and fishing gear. Founded in Utah in 1927, it offers a wide variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, pistols, and rimfire firearms and sport bows, as well as fishing rods and reels....

 all made single-shot rifles using different actions, such as the rolling block
Rolling block
A rolling block is a form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is shaped like a section of a circle....

 and falling block
Falling block action
A falling-block action is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon and actuated by a lever....

. These rifles were originally chambered in large black powder cartridges, such as .50-110, and were used for hunting large game, often bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

. Later production rifles would be in popular smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...

 cartridges, such as the .30-40 Krag
.30-40 Krag
The .30-40 Krag was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the U.S. armed forces with a smokeless powder cartridge suited for use with modern small-bore repeating rifles to be selected in the 1892 small arm trials...

.

Single-shot rifles co-existed for some time with the lever action rifle, but they began to fade out of manufacture with the advent of reliable bolt action rifles.

Pistols

Single-shot pistols were less common, as the revolver was a fairly mature technology by the advent of cartridge arms, and cartridge conversions existed for the common models of revolver. Versions did exist, which usually fell into two categories: single shot derringer
Derringer
The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gun makers worldwide, and the name was often misspelled; this misspelling soon became...

s, and target pistols, which were essentially single-shot rifle actions cut down to pistol size. The Remington Rolling Block is perhaps the most well known of these. As the era of single-shot rifles faded, so did these early single-shot pistols.

In 1907, J. Stevens Arms, a maker of inexpensive break-open single-shot rifles in pistol calibers, started making pistol versions of their rifles. This pistol was chambered in .22 Long Rifle
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...

 and came with adjustable iron sight
Iron sight
Iron sights are a system of shaped alignment markers used as a sighting device to assist in the aiming of a device such as a firearm, crossbow, or telescope, and exclude the use of optics as in telescopic sights or reflector sights...

s and grips designed for target shooting. These models were discontinued in 1939.

Shotguns

Single-barrel shotguns have always been popular as an inexpensive alternative to double-barreled shotgun
Double-barreled shotgun
A double-barreled shotgun is a shotgun or combination gun with two parallel barrels, allowing two shots to be fired in quick succession.-Construction:...

s. Single shotguns are almost always break-open designs, like the double-barreled designs, but far less expensive since they do not require the precise aligning of parallel
Parallel (geometry)
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...

 barrels. Single shotguns are also lightest, which can be an advantage if they are carried hunting, though it does mean they have the most felt recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...

. Single shotguns are not widely used in shotgun sports, as most events require the ability to quickly fire two successive shots, which would require reloading a single-shot design while a target is in the air.
These simple shotguns are often referred to as a "kitchen door gun" or a "farm gun" due to its low cost as a self-defense weapon.

Trapdoor actions

The earliest metallic-cartridge breechloaders designed for general military issue began as conversions of muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. The upper rear portion of the barrel was filed or milled away and replaced by a hinged breechblock which opened upward to permit loading. An internal angled firing pin allowed the re-use of the rifle's existing side-hammer. The Allin action
Springfield Model 1865
The Springfield Model 1865 was an early breech-loading modification of the Springfield rifle musket design.During the U.S. Civil War, the advantage of breech loading rifles became obvious. The rifled muskets used during the war had a rate of fire of 3 or 4 rounds per minute...

 made by Springfield Arsenal in the US hinged forward; the Snider-Enfield
Snider-Enfield
The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a type of breech loading rifle. The firearm action was invented by the American Jacob Snider, and the Snider-Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. It was adopted by British Army as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853...

 used by the British opened to the side. Whereas the British quickly replaced the Snider with a dropping-block Peabody style Martini action, the US Army felt the trapdoor action to be adequate and followed its muzzleloader conversions with the new-production Springfield Model 1873
Springfield Model 1873
The Model 1873 "Trapdoor" Springfield was the first standard-issued breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States Army...

, which was the principal longarm of the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...

 and was still in service with some units in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

.

Other trapdoor actions include the rare Confederate Tarpley carbine
Tarpley carbine
The Tarpley Carbine was a Confederate weapon produced and used during the American Civil War, however, it was not produced in great numbers. The Tarpley Carbine was a breechloader, and was comparable in this sense to the Sharps Rifle and Carbine more widely used by the Union.On , there are some...

, the Austrian Wanzl
Wanzl
The Wanzl rifle was a breechloading conversion of the Lorenz musket used as the service rifle of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1854 until it was replaced by the M1867 Werndl-Holub....

, the Belgian Albini-Braendlin rifle and Terssen conversion (some of which were made from French 1777 pattern flintlocks!), the M1842/59/67 Swiss Milbank-Amsler, the M1859/67 Spanish Berdan, and the Colt-manufactured Russian Berdan Type I
Berdan rifle
The Berdan rifle is a Russian rifle created by famous American firearms expert and inventor Hiram Berdan in 1868. Standard issue in the Russian army from 1869-1891, the Berdan was replaced by the Mosin-Nagant rifle...

. All of these designs save the 1863 Tarpley date from the period 1865-1869, and all but the Tarpley and the Russian Berdan were conversions from muzzle-loaders.

Break actions

Perhaps the most common type of single-shot action, usually found in shotguns, small pistols, and black-powder "elephant" guns, a break action connects the barrel assembly to the breechblock with a hinge. When a locking latch is released, the barrel assembly pivots away from the receiver, opening the breech and, at least on better firearms, partially extracting the spent cartridge.

Rolling block actions

In a rolling block action the breechblock takes the form of a part-cylinder, with a pivot pin through its axis. The operator rotates or "rolls" the block to open and close the breech; it is a simple, rugged and reliable design. Rolling blocks are most often associated with firearms made by Remington
E. Remington and Sons
E. Remington and Sons was a manufacturer of firearms and typewriters. Founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, on March 1, 1873 it started manufacturing the first commercial typewriter.-Becoming "E. Remington & Sons":...

 in the later 19th century; in the Remington action the hammer serves to lock the breech closed at the moment of firing, and the block in turn prevents the hammer from falling with the breech open. An interesting variation of the rolling block was the Austrian M1867 Werndl-Holub
M1867 Werndl-Holub
The M1867 Werndl-Holub was a single-shot breechloading rifle adopted by the Austro-Hungarian army in 1867. It replaced the breechloader-conversion Wanzl rifle...

, in which the pivot pin was parallel to the barrel and the block rotated sideways.

Dropping block actions

These are actions wherein the breechblock lowers or "drops" into the receiver to open the breech, usually actuated by an underlever. There are two principal types of dropping block: the tilting block and the falling block.

Tilting block actions

In a tilting or pivoting block action, the breechblock is hinged at the rear. When the lever is operated, the block tilts down and forward, exposing the chamber. The best-known pivoting block designs are the Peabody, the Peabody-Martini, and Ballard actions.

The original Peabody rifles, manufactured by the Providence Tool Company, used a manually cocked side-hammer. Swiss gunsmith Friedrich Martini devised an action that resembled the Peabody but incorporated a hammerless striker cocked by the operating lever with the same motion that pivoted the block. The 1871 Martini-Henry
Martini-Henry
The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...

 which replaced the "trapdoor" Snider-Enfield was the standard British Army rifle of the later Victorian era, and the Martini was also a popular action for civilian rifles.

Charles H. Ballard's self-cocking tilting-block action was produced by the Marlin Firearms Company from 1875, and earned a superlative reputation among long-range "Creedmoor" target shooters. Surviving Marlin Ballards are today highly prized by collectors, especially those mounted in the elaborate Swiss-style Schützen stocks of the day.

Falling block actions

In a falling block action the block does not pivot, but rather slides vertically in a slot milled into the receiver. Falling blocks are among the strongest smallarm actions ever produced, and are also used in heavy artillery. Well-known falling block designs include the Sharps rifle
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...

s and carbines, the Browning/Winchester Single Shot
Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle
The Winchester Model 1885 is a single shot rifle with a falling block action. It was principally designed by John Browning. Two models were produced, the Low Wall and the High Wall....

, the Farquharson rifle
Farquharson rifle
The Farquharson Rifle is a single shot hammerless falling block action rifle designed and patented by John Farquharson, of Daldhu, Scotland in 1872. George Gibbs, a gun maker in Bristol, became a co-owner of the Farquharson patent in 1875 and was the sole maker of Farquharson rifles until the...

, and the modern Ruger No. 1
Ruger No. 1
The Ruger No. 1 is a single shot rifle, with Farquharson-style internal hammer falling block action, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It was introduced in 1967. An underlever lowers the block allowing loading and cocks the rifle. A falling block action is an inherently strong design, and the Ruger...

.

Bolt actions

Although bolt actions are usually associated with fixed or detachable box magazines, in fact the first general-issue military breechloader was a single-shot bolt action: the paper-cartridge Prussian Needle Gun
Needle gun
The Dreyse needle-gun was a military breechloading rifle, famous as the main infantry weapon of the Prussians, who adopted it for service in 1848 as the Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr, or Prussian Model 1848...

 of 1841. France countered in 1866 with its superior Chassepot rifle, also a paper-cartridge bolt action. The first metallic-cartridge bolt actions in general military service were the Berdan Type II
Berdan rifle
The Berdan rifle is a Russian rifle created by famous American firearms expert and inventor Hiram Berdan in 1868. Standard issue in the Russian army from 1869-1891, the Berdan was replaced by the Mosin-Nagant rifle...

 introduced by Russia in 1870, the Mauser Model 1871
Mauser Model 1871
The Mauser Model 1871 adopted as the Gewehr 71 or Infanterie-Gewehr 71 was the first of millions of rifles manufactured to the designs of Paul Mauser and Wilhelm Mauser of the Mauser company.During 1870-71 trials with many different rifles took place, with the "M1869 Bavarian Werder" being the...

, and a modified Chassepot, the Gras rifle of 1874; all these were single-shots.

Today most top-level smallbore match rifles are single-shot bolt actions.

Single-shot bolt actions in .22 caliber were also widely manufactured as inexpensive "boys' guns" in the earlier 20th century; and there have been a few single-shot bolt-action shotguns, usually in .410 bore.

Other single shot actions

  • The Ferguson rifle
    Ferguson rifle
    The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech loading rifles to be widely tested by the British military. Other breech loaders were experimented with in various commands, including earlier versions of the Ordnance rifle by Patrick Ferguson when he was in the "Fever Islands" . It was often...

    : British Major Patrick Ferguson designed his rifle, considered to be the first military breechloader, in the 1770s. A plug-shaped breechblock was screw-threaded so that rotating the handle underneath would lower and raise it for loading with ball and loose powder; the flintlock action still required conventional priming.

  • The Hall rifle : The United States' first breechloading cavalry carbine, the Hall was introduced in 1819. The lever tipped the breechblock including the chamber upwards and back, allowing it to be loaded with powder and ball without the inconvenience of loading and ramming from the muzzle. Originally flintlocks, Halls later were made as or converted to percussion locks.

  • The Kammerlader
    Kammerlader
    The Kammerlader, or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech loading rifle, and among the very first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single shot black powder rifle, the kammerlader was operated with a crank mounted on the side of the receiver. This...

    : A crank-operated Norwegian firearm produced around the time of the Prussian Needle-gun. Originally used a paper cartridge. Later many were converted to rimfire.

  • The Burnside carbine
    Burnside carbine
    The Burnside carbine was a breech-loading carbine that saw widespread use during the American Civil War.-Design:The carbine was designed and patented by Ambrose Burnside, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to devote himself full time to working on the weapon. The carbine used a special...

    : Invented by future general Ambrose Burnside
    Ambrose Burnside
    Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...

     in 1857, this percussion-cap carbine became the third-most common cavalry breechloader in the Civil War after the Sharps and Spencer. Essentially a modification of the Hall concept, the Burnside featured a unique conical cartridge with a crushable hollow front rim, designed to seal the breech on closing.

  • The Rising breech carbine
    Rising Breech Carbine
    The Rising breech carbine was a Confederate weapon produced and used during the American Civil War.-External links:**...

    : An unusual action produced by Bilharz, Hall and Co. for the southern Confederacy
    Confederate States of America
    The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

    , the rising breech's underlever caused the breechblock including the chamber to slide vertically above the line of the barrel, the reverse of a falling-block; the chamber was loaded from the front with a paper cartridge.

  • The Morse Carbine : Its action is similar to the Hall rifle but the shape of its chamber is different.

  • Winchester Model 55 : An unconventional hybrid of a single-shot and a semi-automatic
    Semi-automatic firearm
    A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...

    , this .22-caliber rifle ejected the fired case and recocked itself like a conventional blowback-operated self-loader, but it lacked a magazine and had to be manually reloaded for each shot.

Modern single-shots

Although non-cartridge single-shot firearms are still made in hobbyist contexts (for example, replicas of antique guns), this discussion focuses on newer designs employing cartridges.

Pistols

The modern era of single-shot firearms is most visible in the realm of pistols. Remington introduced the single-shot bolt-action XP-100 pistol in 1963, which heralded the era of high-performance, high-velocity pistols. The .221 Fireball cartridge lived up to its name by reaching velocities of 2700 ft/s (823 m/s) from a 10.5" (26.7 cm) barrel. Essentially a shortened .222 Remington
.222 Remington
The .222 Remington aka the Triple Deuce/Triple Two/Treble Two is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced in 1950, and was the first commercial rimless .22 cartridge made in the United States...

, the compact .221 Fireball delivered accuracy exceeding many rifles, out to ranges unheard of for other handguns.

Even bigger than the XP-100, the 1967 introduction of the Thompson Center Arms
Thompson Center Arms
Thompson/Center Arms Company is an American firearms company based in Rochester, New Hampshire. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable barrel single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson Center manufactures muzzleloading rifles and is credited with creating the resurgence of their...

 Contender pistol changed handgun sports forever. The Contender was a break-open design that allowed barrels to be changed by the shooter in minutes. Available in calibers from .22 Long Rifle
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...

 up to .45-70
.45-70
The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government, was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873...

, and in barrel lengths of 8, 10, and 14 inches (20, 25, and 35.5 cm), the Contender could, in the right hands, handle any type of game, and delivered rifle-like accuracy to match the XP-100.

Many other manufacturers make single-shot pistols, most based on the bolt action rifle, with barrels generally ranging from 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm). Single-shots dominate handgun metallic silhouette
Metallic silhouette
Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at metal cutouts representing game animals at varying distances. Metallic silhouette shooting can be done with airguns, black powder firearms, modern handguns, or modern rifles...

 shooting, and single-shots are the most common handguns used for hunting.

Single-shot pistols have sometimes found popularity among insurgents
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...

, resistance fighters, and street gangs. The mass-produced, low-cost Liberator pistol of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, which was manufactured and distributed by U.S. forces to Allied Resistance forces and Guerrilla fighters as an assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 pistol, is the most common example of a mass-produced single-shot pistol. More than a million units were produced and distributed freely and many remain in private hands. A few varieties of zip guns could also be considered single shot pistols. In recent years these improvised firearms have become more common in the hands of criminals and insurgents, especially when manufactured firearms are difficult to acquire.

Ruger

In 1966, Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...

 introduced their first true rifle. Their earlier long guns had been carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....

s, the first a .44 Magnum
.44 Magnum
The .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles...

 and the next the highly popular Ruger 10/22
Ruger 10/22
The Ruger 10/22 is a semi-automatic rimfire rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle. It has a removable 10-round rotary magazine which allows the magazine to fit flush with the bottom of the stock. Higher capacity magazines are also available...

 in .22 Long Rifle. The rifle Ruger brought out, named simply "#1", (Ruger No. 1
Ruger No. 1
The Ruger No. 1 is a single shot rifle, with Farquharson-style internal hammer falling block action, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It was introduced in 1967. An underlever lowers the block allowing loading and cocks the rifle. A falling block action is an inherently strong design, and the Ruger...

) uses a falling block action
Falling block action
A falling-block action is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon and actuated by a lever....

, and is available in a wide selection of calibers from .22 Hornet
.22 Hornet
The .22 Hornet is a low-end vermin, small-game and predator centerfire rifle cartridge. It is considerably more powerful than the .22 WMR and the .17 HMR, achieving higher velocity with a bullet twice the weight. The Hornet also differs very significantly from these in that it is not a rimfire...

 to .458 Winchester Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express...

. The #1 has always been sought after by shooters who appreciate the compact size of a single shot rifle, and the falling block action cuts about four inches off the length of the rifle for a given barrel length. From 1972 to 1987, Ruger also made a less expensive version of the #1, the #3. The #3, which sold for about half the price of a #1, used a simplified, non-locking lever for the falling block action, and came with an uncheckered stock.

Browning

In 1985 Browning re-introduced the famous Winchester Model 1885 single shot rifles in popular calibers, but under the Browning name. Although the Winchester Single Shot gained fame under the Winchester brand name, it was John Moses Browning that designed the rifle, selling the rights to Winchester in the early 1880s. The Browning Single Shot Rifle was in production from 1985 to 2001.

Cooper

The majority of rifles made by Cooper
Cooper Firearms of Montana
Cooper Firearms of Montana was founded in 1990 by Dan Cooper and two other former Kimber of Oregon employees.-History:Cooper was created to build affordable custom-quality accurate rifles. As they put it "Rifles should shoot as well as they look and vice versa". All Cooper rifles carry an accuracy...

 are single-shot bolt-action rifles. Many of their rifles are specially crafted to suit long-range varmint hunting, where the accuracy of the single-shot action is helpful.

Remington

Remington has once again made their No. 1 Rolling Block rifles available through their custom shop.

New England Firearms (H&R)

One of the most common single-action rifles would be the New England Firearms inexpensive break-open rifles, which are built on their 12 gauge
Gauge (bore diameter)
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel. Gauge is determined from the weight of a solid sphere of lead that will fit the bore of the firearm, and is expressed as the multiplicative inverse of the sphere's weight as a fraction of a pound . Thus...

 break-open shotgun actions. The rifles however are made on a heat treated steel action, and the shotgun actions are not heat treated. Any rifle frame may accept rifle or shotgun barrels, the shotgun frames however are only safe for shotgun barrels. These were originally built by Harrington & Richardson starting in 1871. H&R was later acquired by NEF, and both are now part of the Marlin Firearms
Marlin Firearms
Marlin Firearms Co., formerly of North Haven, Connecticut, is a manufacturer of high power, center fire, lever action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles. In the past, the company made shotguns, derringers and revolvers...

 family. Rifles are sold both under the NEF and the H&R names. These rifles are quite accurate, and often less than half the price of a bolt action rifle in the same caliber.

Winchester

In 2005, Winchester re-marketed their legendary Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle
Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle
The Winchester Model 1885 is a single shot rifle with a falling block action. It was principally designed by John Browning. Two models were produced, the Low Wall and the High Wall....

, under their Limited Series category. The modern calibers of .17 was offered in a Low Wall design, and the .243 and .30-06 were of the High Wall type. The most faithful of the reproductions are the Traditional Hunter Limited Series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

model 1885 Single Shots, as they have the original style steel crescent butt plates, and folding steel tang rear sights, with full length octagon barrels. The Traditional Hunters are chambered in the 19th century calibers of .45-90 BPCR, .45-70, .405, and .38-55. Test firing of some of these Winchesters showed that they are high quality in construction, using the latest technology and modern steel, they are stronger and safer than their 19th century predecessors; and accuracy from their factory (non-custom) barrels were exceptionally good; especially at 200 yards. However, their price will be reflected in that quality. The popularity of Cowboy action shooting
Cowboy action shooting
Cowboy Action Shooting , also known as Western Action Shooting or Single Action Shooting, is a competitive shooting sport that originated in California, USA, in the early 1980s...

 has also had an impact on the availability of single-shot rifles, with many replicas of the old black powder rifles, particularly the Sharps
Sharps
Sharps may refer to:* Medical instruments etc which are disposed of as Sharps waste* Sharps, Virginia, unincorporated community in USA* Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company firearms company* Sharps Buffalo Rifle* Sharps Carbine...

, now being available.

Sharps

Sharps rifle
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...

s were a staple of the buffalo hunters in the late 19th century. Recently they have had a resurgence in popularity for hunting large game as well as historical firearms events and black powder cartridge (BPCR) competitions. Much of the current popularity is due to the film Quigley Down Under
Quigley Down Under
Quigley Down Under is a 1990 western film set in Australia's outback. Starring Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman and Laura San Giacomo, it was directed by Simon Wincer.-Plot:...

 that featured a Sharps Model 1874 rifle.

See also

  • Multiple Barrel Firearm
    Multiple Barrel Firearm
    A Multiple barrel firearm is a firearm of any type with more than one barrel, usually to increase the rate of fire/hitting probability and to reduce barrel erosion/overheating.-Definition:...

  • H & R Firearms
    H & R Firearms
    H & R 1871, LLC is a manufacturer of firearms under the Harrington & Richardson and New England Firearms trademarks...

  • Rolling block
    Rolling block
    A rolling block is a form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is shaped like a section of a circle....

  • Ruger No. 1
    Ruger No. 1
    The Ruger No. 1 is a single shot rifle, with Farquharson-style internal hammer falling block action, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It was introduced in 1967. An underlever lowers the block allowing loading and cocks the rifle. A falling block action is an inherently strong design, and the Ruger...

  • Sharps Rifle
    Sharps Rifle
    Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...

  • Thompson Center Arms
    Thompson Center Arms
    Thompson/Center Arms Company is an American firearms company based in Rochester, New Hampshire. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable barrel single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson Center manufactures muzzleloading rifles and is credited with creating the resurgence of their...

  • Martini Henry
  • Martini Cadet
    Martini Cadet
    The Martini Cadet is a centrefire single shot rifle produced in the United Kingdom by BSA and W.W. Greener for the use of Australian military Cadets. Based on a miniature version of the Martini-Henry it was internally different...


External links

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