Pistole

Pistole is the German term for a pistol, a hand-held firearm designed to be fired with one hand. In English, a pistol generally refers to a short-barreled, cartridge-fired firearm intended for rapid aiming and reloading. Pistols are compact and feature a grip, trigger, bore, and a magazine or cylinder that feeds ammunition.

The main types are semi-automatic pistols and revolvers. Semi-automatic pistols chamber one cartridge per pull and automatically cycle the slide to eject the spent case and chamber a new round. Revolvers use a rotating cylinder holding multiple cartridges and fire by aligning a chamber with the barrel each trigger pull. Other forms include derringers (very small, often single-shot) and machine pistols (fully automatic variants, highly regulated).

Mechanisms: Pistols function through actions such as blowback, locked-breech, or short recoil operation, depending on cartridge size and design. Modern semi-automatics are usually striker-fired or hammer-fired, and commonly include safety features (manual safeties, grip safeties, trigger safeties, and drop safeties) to prevent discharge if not intended.

History: Early handheld firearms appeared in Europe in the 15th century as matchlock, wheel-lock, and flintlock pistols. The mid-19th century saw revolvers become widely adopted, with Colt and Smith & Wesson popularizing cartridge-based designs. The advent of the semi-automatic pistol began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with notable models such as the Borchardt C.93, Browning designs, and later the Glock family, as well as the 1911 pistol.

Use and regulation: Pistols are used for military, police, sport shooting, and personal defense in many jurisdictions, but legal status and requirements vary widely, including licensing, background checks, and prohibitions on certain models or calibers.