Editing Firearm (section)

===Repeating firearms===
{{main|Repeating firearm}}
{{further|Single-shot}}
[[File:FAMAS dsc06877.jpg|thumb|The French [[FAMAS]], example of a [[bullpup]] rifle]]
[[File:M4w-att.jpg|thumb|The [[M4 carbine]], a modern [[service rifle]] capable of being fired automatically. It is in service by the U.S. military and has a wide ability for customization.]]
Many firearms are "single shot": i.e., each time a cartridge is fired, the operator must manually re-cock the firearm and load another cartridge. The classic single-barreled shotgun offers a good example. A firearm that can load multiple cartridges as the firearm is re-cocked is considered a "repeating firearm" or simply a "repeater". A lever-action rifle, a pump-action shotgun, and most bolt-action rifles are good examples of repeating firearms. A firearm that automatically re-cocks and reloads the next round with each trigger-pull is considered a semi-automatic or autoloading firearm.

The first "rapid firing" firearms were usually similar to the 19th-century [[Gatling gun]], which would fire cartridges from a magazine as fast as and as long as the operator turned a crank. Eventually, the "rapid" firing mechanism was perfected and miniaturized to the extent that either the recoil of the firearm or the gas pressure from firing could be used to operate it, thus the operator needed only to pull a trigger—this made the firing mechanisms truly "automatic". An [[Automatic firearm|automatic]] (or "fully automatic") firearm automatically re-cocks, reloads, and fires as long as the trigger is depressed. An automatic firearm is capable of firing multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger. The [[Gatling gun]] may have been the first automatic weapon, though the modern trigger-actuated machine gun was not widely introduced until the [[World War I|First World War]] (1914–1918) with the German [[MG 08|"Spandau"]] (adopted in 1908) and the British [[Lewis gun]] (in service from 1914). Automatic rifles such as the [[M1918 Browning automatic rifle|Browning automatic rifle]] were in common use by the military during the early part of the 20th century, and automatic rifles that fired handgun rounds, known as submachine guns, also appeared at this time. Many modern military firearms have a [[selective fire]] option, which is a mechanical switch that allows the firearm to be fired either in the semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. In the current M16A2 and M16A4 variants of the U.S.-made [[M16 rifle|M16]], continuous fully-automatic fire is not possible, having been replaced by an automatic burst of three cartridges (this conserves ammunition and increases controllability).