Repeating firearm

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A repeating firearm or repeater is any firearm (either a handgun or long gun) that is designed for multiple, repeated firings before the gun has to be reloaded with new ammunition. Unlike single-shot firearms, which can only hold and fire a single round of ammunition, a repeating firearm can store multiple cartridges inside a magazine (as in pistols, rifles, or shotguns), a cylinder (as in revolvers), or a belt (as in machine guns), and uses a moving action to manipulate each cartridge into and out of the battery position (within the chamber and in alignment with the bore). This allows the weapon to be discharged repeatedly in relatively quick succession, before manually reloading the ammunition is needed. Typically the term "repeaters" refers to the more ubiquitous single-barreled variants. Multiple-barrel firearms such as derringers, pepperbox guns, double-barreled shotguns/rifles, combination guns, and volley guns can also hold and fire more than one cartridge (one in each chamber of...

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