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Small arms is a general term used by the armed forces
Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors....
 to refer to infantry
Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
 weapon
Weapon

A weapon is a tool used to apply or threaten to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack or defense in combat, subduing enemy personnel, or to destroy enemy weapons, equipment and defensive structures....
s, such as the firearm
Firearm

A firearm is a tool that projects either single or multiple projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion. The firing is achieved by the gases produced through rapid, confined combustion of a propellant....
s that an individual soldier can carry. It is usually limited to revolver
Revolver

A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a Cylinder containing multiple Chamber and at least one Gun barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer , the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name....
s, pistols, submachine gun
Submachine gun

A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic firearm of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size....
s, shotgun
Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called lead shot, or a solid projectile called a shotgun slug....
s, carbine
Carbine

A carbine is a firearm similar to a rifle or musket, but generally shorter and of lesser power. Many carbines, especially modern designs, were developed from rifles, being essentially shortened versions of full rifles firing the same ammunition, although often at a lower velocity....
s, assault rifle
Assault rifle

An assault rifle is a rifle designed for combat, with selective fire . Assault rifles are the standard small arms in most modern Army, having largely superseded or supplemented battle rifles such as the World War II-era M1 Garand rifle and SVT-40....
s, rifle
Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls....
s, sniper rifle
Sniper rifle

In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a rifle used to ensure accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than small arms....
s, squad automatic weapon
Squad automatic weapon

A squad automatic weapon is a light machine gun or general purpose machine gun, used by a military. They are designed to give infantry squads or Section s a compact and mobile method source of suppressive fire....
s, light machine gun
Light machine gun

A light machine gun or LMG is a machine gun that is generally lighter than other machine guns of the same period, and is usually designed to be carried by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant....
s, general purpose machine gun
General purpose machine gun

A general purpose machine gun in concept is a multi-purpose weapon, a machine gun intended to fill the role of either a light machine gun or medium machine gun, while at the same time being man-portable....
s, medium machine gun
Medium machine gun

A medium machine gun or MMG, in modern terms, usually refers to a Belt automatic firearm firing a full-power rifle Cartridge and typically weighs from 15 to 40 pounds ....
s, and sometimes hand grenade
Hand grenade

A hand grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that explodes a short time after release. The word "grenade" is derived from the French word for pomegranate, as shrapnel reminded soldiers of the seeds....
s.

Small arms do not include infantry support weapons.






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Misccaparms
Small arms is a general term used by the armed forces
Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors....
 to refer to infantry
Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
 weapon
Weapon

A weapon is a tool used to apply or threaten to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack or defense in combat, subduing enemy personnel, or to destroy enemy weapons, equipment and defensive structures....
s, such as the firearm
Firearm

A firearm is a tool that projects either single or multiple projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion. The firing is achieved by the gases produced through rapid, confined combustion of a propellant....
s that an individual soldier can carry. It is usually limited to revolver
Revolver

A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a Cylinder containing multiple Chamber and at least one Gun barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer , the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name....
s, pistols, submachine gun
Submachine gun

A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic firearm of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size....
s, shotgun
Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called lead shot, or a solid projectile called a shotgun slug....
s, carbine
Carbine

A carbine is a firearm similar to a rifle or musket, but generally shorter and of lesser power. Many carbines, especially modern designs, were developed from rifles, being essentially shortened versions of full rifles firing the same ammunition, although often at a lower velocity....
s, assault rifle
Assault rifle

An assault rifle is a rifle designed for combat, with selective fire . Assault rifles are the standard small arms in most modern Army, having largely superseded or supplemented battle rifles such as the World War II-era M1 Garand rifle and SVT-40....
s, rifle
Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls....
s, sniper rifle
Sniper rifle

In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a rifle used to ensure accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than small arms....
s, squad automatic weapon
Squad automatic weapon

A squad automatic weapon is a light machine gun or general purpose machine gun, used by a military. They are designed to give infantry squads or Section s a compact and mobile method source of suppressive fire....
s, light machine gun
Light machine gun

A light machine gun or LMG is a machine gun that is generally lighter than other machine guns of the same period, and is usually designed to be carried by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant....
s, general purpose machine gun
General purpose machine gun

A general purpose machine gun in concept is a multi-purpose weapon, a machine gun intended to fill the role of either a light machine gun or medium machine gun, while at the same time being man-portable....
s, medium machine gun
Medium machine gun

A medium machine gun or MMG, in modern terms, usually refers to a Belt automatic firearm firing a full-power rifle Cartridge and typically weighs from 15 to 40 pounds ....
s, and sometimes hand grenade
Hand grenade

A hand grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that explodes a short time after release. The word "grenade" is derived from the French word for pomegranate, as shrapnel reminded soldiers of the seeds....
s.

Small arms do not include infantry support weapons. In the US military, small arms refers to hand guns or firearms less than 20 mm in caliber, and therefore include heavy machine gun
Heavy machine gun

The heavy machine gun is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I....
s. The NATO definition extends to "all crew-portable direct fire weapons of a calibre less than 50mm and will include a secondary capability to defeat light armour and helicopters." Though there is really no civilian definition within the US, since any firearm utilizing a projectile greater than 1/2 inch (.50 caliber or 12.7 mm) in diameter is considered a "destructive device" , anything .50 caliber or less would be considered "small arms".

The term which encompasses both, SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons), is used by some organizations which work to limit their proliferation. For example much of the action of the UN to tackle the issue is raised in the UN SALW conference.

See also

  • Revolver
    Revolver

    A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a Cylinder containing multiple Chamber and at least one Gun barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer , the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name....
  • Pistol
  • Submachine gun
    Submachine gun

    A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic firearm of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size....
  • Shotgun
    Shotgun

    A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called lead shot, or a solid projectile called a shotgun slug....
  • Carbine
    Carbine

    A carbine is a firearm similar to a rifle or musket, but generally shorter and of lesser power. Many carbines, especially modern designs, were developed from rifles, being essentially shortened versions of full rifles firing the same ammunition, although often at a lower velocity....
  • Assault rifle
    Assault rifle

    An assault rifle is a rifle designed for combat, with selective fire . Assault rifles are the standard small arms in most modern Army, having largely superseded or supplemented battle rifles such as the World War II-era M1 Garand rifle and SVT-40....
  • Rifle
    Rifle

    A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls....
  • Sniper rifle
    Sniper rifle

    In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a rifle used to ensure accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than small arms....
  • Squad automatic weapon
    Squad automatic weapon

    A squad automatic weapon is a light machine gun or general purpose machine gun, used by a military. They are designed to give infantry squads or Section s a compact and mobile method source of suppressive fire....
  • Light machine gun
    Light machine gun

    A light machine gun or LMG is a machine gun that is generally lighter than other machine guns of the same period, and is usually designed to be carried by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant....
  • List of firearms
    List of firearms

    This is an extensive list of small arms ? including pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and anti-tank rifles ? that includes variants....
  • Antique guns
    Antique guns

    An antique firearm is, loosely speaking, a firearm designed and manufactured prior to the beginning of the 20th century. The Boer War is often used as a cut-off event, although the exact definition of what constitutes an "antique firearm" varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction....
  • Firearms
  • Small arms proliferation
    Small arms proliferation

    Small arms proliferation is a term used by organizations and individuals advocating the control of small arms and their trade; the term has no precise definition....


Citations and notes


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