2.4 Why Are Some Long Guns Called Rifles?
The drawing below shows the bore of a rifle or handgun barrel
and a shotgun barrel. The spiral grooves inside the rifle
barrel are called rifling. Rifles get their name from the
rifling inside the barrels. The rifling inside a rifle barrel
makes bullets spin. Spinning helps bullets fly accurately,
point first, toward the target.
All modern rifles have rifling in the barrel. Modern handguns
also have rifling in the barrel.
Most shotgun barrels do not have rifling in the barrels.

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