Long rifle

The long rifle, also known as longrifle, Kentucky rifle, or Pennsylvania rifle, was one of the first commonly used rifles for hunting and warfare. It is characterized by an unusually long barrel, which is widely believed to be a largely unique development of American rifles that was uncommon in European rifles of the same period.

The longrifle is an early example of a firearm using rifling, spiral grooves in the bore. This gave the projectile, commonly a round lead ball, a spiraling motion, increasing the stability of the trajectory. A more stable trajectory meant dramatically improved accuracy over the more commonly available smooth bore muskets also used in the period. Rifled firearms saw their first major combat use in the American colonies during the Seven Years war, and later the American Revolution in the eighteenth century.

Until the development of the Minié ball in the middle of the 19th century, the main disadvantages of a rifle compared to a musket were a slower reload time due to the use of a tighter fitting lead ball and greater susceptibility to the fouling of the bore after prolonged use - such fouling would eventually prevent loading altogether, rendering the weapon useless until thoroughly cleaned. The adoption of the Minié ball essentially nullified these disadvantages and allowed the rifle to completely replace the musket.

.22 Long Rifle

The .22 Long Rifle rimfire (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) 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 ("twenty-two-/ˈɛl/-/ˈɑːr/") and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have been manufactured in this caliber. The cartridge originated from the Flobert BB cap of 1845 through the .22 Smith & Wesson cartridge of 1857, and was developed by the American firearms manufacturer J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company in 1887 by combining the casing of the .22 Long with the 40-grain (2.6 g) bullet of the .22 Extra Long. For many decades, it has been a very popular cartridge around the world. It is one of the few cartridges that are accepted by a large variety of rifles, as well as pistols. The .22 Long Rifle and related cartridges (.22 Short, .22 Long, and .22 Extra Long) use a heeled bullet, which means that the bullet is the same diameter as the case, and has a narrower "heel" portion that fits in the case.