We always hear people use the terms “firearm” and “gun” in an interchangeable way. But are the two terms actually interchangeable? We wrote this article to tackle that very idea—to explain the similarities and differences between firearms and guns. So without taking any longer, let’s get into it.
So what is the difference between a firearm and a gun? The difference between a gun and a firearm is that a gun is a larger category that ecompasses firearms. With very few exceptions, all firearms are guns, but not all guns are firearms. Guns can be firearms, air guns, nail guns, flare guns, etc. Firearms are personal weapons that use expanding gases to push a projectile out of a barrel with intent to destroy an intended target.
While this definition is great, there is more to it than that. In the next sections, we explain in more depth what the difference between a firearm and a gun is. We have tested and recommend several fantastic firearms. For our recommendations on the best firearms and gear, check out our resources page here.
Detailed explanation of the difference between a firearm and a gun
Though there is a technical difference between the terms “firearm” and “gun”, they are used interchangeably by most people. You may think, then, that doing so would be incorrect; however, since gun is a larger category that encompasses firearm, either term is correct. But it is important to understand how they are different and what their definitions are.
Definition of a firearm
The easiest way to define a firearm is to use the definition that the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) has designated. After all, they are the Bureau of firearms—so they should know. After that, we’ll take a crack at it. The ATF defines a firearm as the following
- Any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive
- The frame or receiver or any such weapon
- Any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or
- Any destructive device
The ATF further defines what it means by “any destructive device”, but we’ll stop here.
Basically, the ATF says that a firearm is anything that fires a projectile by way of explosive. But the definition doesn’t stop there. It also includes anything closely related to that, like things that are integral parts of guns and things that mount onto guns—like silencers, receivers and other devices.
That definition is fine, but we want to add a little more to it. We would add that a firearm is first and foremost a gun. It is one subcategory of the larger, more comprehensive category of guns. Additionally, a firearm is also typically a gun that is easily portable and designed to be shot by a single person. Other types of guns require more than one person—even a team of people to operate. Projectiles are loaded into a chamber and shot through a barrel by high-pressure, expanding gases. and are meant to be shot over “long” distances. They are often used in war, shooting sports (like competition shooting), hunting, self defense and recreational shooting.
In shorter form, firearms generally are
- Guns
- Easily portable
- Shot by a single person
- Designed to fire projectiles “long” distances (usually bullets)
- Made to use exothermic reaction (expanding gases to shoot the projectile)
- Made to inflict damage on a chosen target
Definition of a gun
A device used to expel some sort of projectile in various ways—but usually at a high rate of speed. They usually have a trigger to fire the projectile and a barrel to (though this can look very different depending on the type) direct it. Guns can have widely different purposes and designs. Some of the most common forms of shooting projectiles is exothermic reaction (like in firearms) and mechanical compression (like in air guns).
Less obvious types of guns exist too. For example construction crews use nail guns to build houses and other structures. The nail guns they use still classify as guns because they use compressed air to fire a nail into wood when a trigger is pulled. Similarly, flare guns are typically used only for emergency situations, when someone is in need of rescue. They still qualify as guns, though, because they meet all the criteria.
The meaning of gun is much wider than most people think and encompasses many things. It should be noted, however, that most people mentally separate them into two categories, whether they know it or not. The first category being firearms and other guns that are made to protect and fight. They usually hold bullets and shoot projectiles at high rates of speed with the purpose of inflicting damage on a target. The second type of gun are those meant to accomplish a task that has nothing to do with inflicting damage or fighting. They are often used in a trade or job to fix or build something. Obviously this isn’t an exact science, but it can generally be applied to guns.
Historically, the term gun was reserved for artillery used in war. Which means that it is technically a very big, large caliber weapon operated by more than one person. It shoots projectiles over great distances—much farther than a firearm is capable of firing. In modern use, though, it is used as a general term used as we’ve defined above.
Difference between them
The main difference between guns and firearms is that a gun can be any number of devices that expels a projectile at a high rate of speed (which is a completely relative term)–usually through some sort of barrel. A firearm, however, is a gun that uses an exothermic reaction to fire a bullet through a barrel, and toward a target. In other words, a firearm must use an explosion to carry out the desired effect, while a gun could use an explosion to carry out a desired effect—but doesn’t have to.
With the exception of firearms and some other similar types of guns (artillery, pellet guns, airsoft, etc), most guns often look very different from firearms. Using our example from earlier, a nail gun has some similar characteristics to a firearm but some obvious differences as well. They both carry “magazines” of some type, have grip for your hand, use a trigger and have a barrel of sorts; however, because their purposes are so different, not many more similarities exist. Instead, they have some striking differences.
One of the major differences, for example, is that nail guns usually have a hose attached that connects to an air tank, which provides the pressure needed to imbed the nail into its destination—which is usually directly on the other side of the “barrel”. This is quite different from firearms because their power comes from an explosion that occurs inside the chamber. Other differences are size and ability of “barrels”, safeties, size of gun, and durability.
Major types of firearms
As we’ve already stated, firearms are specific types of guns that use exothermic reactions to fire their projectiles. Some of the most common firearms used today are:
Handgun
A handgun is a small firearm that usually designed to be shot with arms outstretched—with one or two hands. Which means it usually doesn’t rest against the body. Handguns come in many forms, the most popular of which are pistols and revolvers. They are meant to be used in many applications including war, self defense, concealed carry, shooting sports and recreation. They are some of the most common guns around today.
Generally speaking, they have specifications of the following:
| Gun Party | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Barrel length | 2-5 inches (5.08-12.7 centimeters) |
| Height | 3-7 inches (7.62-17.78 centimeters) |
| Width | .8-1.5 inches (2.03-3.81 centimeters) |
| Weight | 11-50 ounces (312-1417 grams) |
| Capacity | 5-20+ rounds |
Rifle
A rifle is a long firearm that is designed to be shot with the buttstock resting against a shoulder—usually braced with two hands. Some of the most popular rifles are the Ar-15, AK 47, Remington 700, and the Ruger 10-22. They are most used in war, self defense, hunting, shooting sports and recreation. They are the most accurate firearms for long-distance shooting, and come in a large variety of calibers.
Generally speaking, they have the following specifications:
| Gun Part | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Barrel length | 16-45 inches (40.64-114 centimeters) |
| Overall length | 32-60 inches (81.28-152 centimeters) |
| Width | 2+ inches (5.08+ centimeters) |
| Weight | 4-30 pounds (1.81-13.6 kilograms) |
| Capacity | 30+ rounds |
Shotgun
A shotgun is also a long firearm designed to be shot with the buttstock resting against a shoulder—and braced with both hands. The difference with a shotgun, though, is that it is usually meant to be shot at a much shorter distance than rifles. The projectiles are usually filled with BB’s that expand after leaving the barrel. The barrels themselves aren’t usually rifled for this reason. Shotguns are often used in war, self defense, hunting, shooting sports and recreational activities.
Generally speaking, they have the following specifications:
| Gun Part | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Barrel length | 18-30 inches (45.72-76.2 centimeters) |
| Overall Length | 35-55 inches (89-140 centimeters) |
| Width | 2+ inches (5.08+ centimeters) |
| Weight | 4-10 pounds (1.81-4.54 kilograms) |
| Capacity | 1-10+ rounds |
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic rifle designed to shoot quick successions of rounds. It is usually belt or magazine fed. It can be mounted or portable like other firearms—though they are usually fired from a bipod or tripod. As you can see, we used the word “rifle”, which means that it technically fits into the general category of rifle. However, it is another way to categorize guns than in the traditional way we’ve listed already. Machine guns are unique enough in the way they fire, that they are worth separating into a separate category.
Generally speaking, they have the following specifications:
| Gun Part | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Barrel length | 16-30 inches (40.64-76.2 centimeters) |
| Overall length | 40-55 inches (101.6-140 centimeters) |
| Width | 2+ inches (5.08+ centimeters) |
| Weight | 15-30 pounds (6.8-13.6 kilograms) |
| Capacity | Lots of bang |
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is also a fully automatic rifle designed to shoot quick successions of rounds. It, however, differs from machine guns in 2 major ways. The first way is that it shoots a pistol caliber round instead of large, rifle calibers. The second way doesn’t always hold true, but let’s look at it anyway. Generally speaking, it is a smaller gun than a “machine gun”. Submachine guns are usually smaller, more portable guns, that are often magazine fed.
Generally speaking, they have the following specifications:
| Gun Part | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Barrel length | 5-15+ inches (12.7-38 centimeters) |
| Overall length | 13-30+ inches (33-76 centimeters) |
| Width | 2+ inches (5+centimeters) |
| Weight | 4-10 pounds (1.8-4.5 kilograms) |
| Capacity | 30+ |
Major types of guns
There’s no end to the types of guns in the world, but here is a list of some of the most common types of guns.
Firearms
As if we haven’t already beaten this dead horse, we’ll define it again for organization’s sake. A firearm is a gun that uses an exothermic reaction to propel the projectile out of the gun. It is usually portable and used by a single person. It is meant to inflict damage on an intended target. It is usually used in war, self defense, hunting, recreation, sporting and other applications.
Large military weapons
The term gun originally came from these types of guns. Large military weapons are probably what you can imagine. This includes guns like tank guns, cannons (of many types), artillery and others. These are easily distinguished by their large size and caliber. They are usually only used in war and aren’t widely available to the general public.
Air guns
Air guns are just as they sound. Instead of using exothermic reactions, they used compressed gases to fire projectiles at high rates of speed. They come in many variations including pistols and rifles. Historically they have been used in sporting, warfare and hunting. Modern air guns are mostly used for sporting and hunting.
Rescue equipment
Another type of gun to mention are guns used in rescue efforts, specifically flare guns. A flare gun is a large-bore handgun that is used to signal need for rescue or provide additional needed light in low-light scenarios. They can be used in deadly ways, though they are intended to be used to signal others in emergency situations.
Other Guns
There are so many other types of guns that could create a seemingly endless list. A few other types of guns worth mentioning are nail guns, water guns, BB guns, airsoft guns, cap guns, Nerf guns, squirt guns, potato guns, paintball guns, caulking guns and so many more.
Related Questions
Is a pellet gun considered a firearm? A pellet gun is not considered a firearm according to the ATF since it does not use an explosion in order to propel the projectile out of the firearm. According to the ATF, a firearm is 1) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive 2) the frame or receiver or any such weapon 3) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or 4) any destructive device.
What is the difference between a pistol and a rifle? The main difference between a pistol and a rifle is that a pistol is a small firearm meant to be shot with arms outstretched—without bracing it against the body (using one or two hands). Meanwhile, a rifle is a large firearm meant to be shot with two hands, while resting it against a shoulder for support and stability. Pistols are meant for very close quarters shooting, while rifles are meant for long-distance shooting.