Effective November 18, 2009, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency changed their guidelines for distance learning. Students are now required to spend a minimum amount of time on each course page before proceeding to the certification exam.

Click here to go to the latest version of the Today's Hunter in Tennessee online course—the official hunter education course of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

The following course material is for reference only. Please go to the new course to complete your Tennessee certification.

Common Actions on Firearms

Common Actions on Rifles

Single-shot rifles are usually break or bolt actions. Repeating rifles include the bolt-action, lever-action, pump-action, and semi-automatic types. Operating the lever, bolt, or forestock ejects the empty cartridge case, chambers a new round of ammunition, and cocks the gun.

Common Actions on Shotguns

Shotguns use many of the same actions as rifles—the pump action, semi-automatic action, and bolt action. They also use a break action as either a single barrel or double barrels. The double barrels can be arranged horizontally (side-by-side) or vertically (over-under).