Rifle

A rifle is a man-portable, long-barrelled firearm designed for accurate shooting, typically to be held with both hands and braced against the shooter’s shoulder for stability during firing, and with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (“rifling”) cut into the bore wall. The term was originally rifled gun, with the verb “rifle” referring to the early modern machining process of creating grooving with cutting tools. The modern noun “rifle” is often used for any long-shaped handheld ranged weapon designed for a well-aimed discharge activated by a trigger (e.g. personnel halting and stimulation response rifle, which is a laser dazzler).