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n which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles by the explosion of gunpowder, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge behind, which is ignited by various means. Muskets, rifles, carbines, and fow…

That branch of military science which comprehends the theory of projectiles, and the manner of constructing and using ordnance.

orizontal range (Gunnery), the distance in a horizontal plane to which a gun will throw a projectile. -- Horizontal water wheel, a water wheel in which the axis is vertical, the buckets or floats revolving in a horizontal plane, as in most turbines.

A gun so short that the projectile, which was hollow, could be put in its place by hand; a kind of mortar. [Obs.]

being two inches and a quarter, or the sixteenth of a yard. Nail ball (Ordnance), a round projectile with an iron bolt protruding to prevent it from turning in the gun. -- Nail plate, iron in plates from which cut nails are made. -- On the nail, in hand; on the spot; immediately; without delay or time of credit; as,…

With artillery, the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal.

The horizontal distance to which a shot or other projectile is carried.

as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles.

he expansion of the gases liberated by combustion of the composition. Rockets are used as projectiles for various purposes, for signals, and also for pyrotechnic display.

or the Porch." De Quincey. (b) (Zoöl.) The cigar fish. -- Round shot, a solid spherical projectile for ordnance. -- Round Table, the table about which sat King Arthur and his knights. See Knights of the Round Table, under Knight. -- Round tower, one of certain lofty circular stone towers, tapering from the base upw…

A thick, circular disk of wood, to which the cartridge bag and projectile are attached, in fixed ammunition for cannon; also, a piece of soft metal attached to a projectile to take the groove of the rifling.

A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuse or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb.

missile weapon, particularly a ball or bullet; specifically, whatever is discharged as a projectile from firearms or cannon by the force of an explosive.

A shrapnel shell; shrapnel shells, collectively. Shrapnel shell (Gunnery), a projectile for a cannon, consisting of a shell filled with bullets and a small bursting charge to scatter them at any given point while in flight. See the Note under Case shot.

The shifting of the studs on a projectile from the deep to the shallow sides of the grooves in its discharge from a shunt gun. Shunt dynamo (Elec.), a dynamo in which the field circuit is connected with the main circuit so as to form a shunt to the letter, thus employing a portion of the current from the armature to ma…

A device for silencing the report of a firearm shooting its projectiles singly, as a tubular attachment for the muzzle having circular plates that permit the passage of the projectile but impart a rotary motion to, and thus retard, the exploding gases.

the eyepiece, objective, and other removable optical parts. -- Stand of ammunition, the projectile, cartridge, and sabot connected together. -- Stand of arms. (Mil.) See under Arms. -- Stand of colors (Mil.), a single color, or flag. Wilhelm (Mil. Dict.) -- To be at a stand, to be stationary or motionless; to be at…

In land measure, a pole, rod, or perch. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Swift. Stang ball, a projectile consisting of two half balls united by a bar; a bar shot. See Illust. of Bar shot, under Bar. -- To ride the stang, to be carried on a pole on men's shoulders. This method of punishing wife beaters, etc., was once in vogue in…

The issuing of a projectile from a rifled gun without acquiring the spiral motion. Farrow.

Smaller than the caliber of a firearm. [Written also subcalibre.] Subcaliber projectile, a projectile having a smaller diameter than the caliber of the arm from which it is fired, and to which it is fitted by means of a sabot. Knight.