Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves ("rifling") cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile (for small arms usage, called a bullet), imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the orientation of the weapon. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile and prevents tumbling, in the same way that a properly thrown American football or rugby ball behaves. This allows the use of aerodynamically-efficient pointed bullets (as opposed to the spherical balls used in muskets) and thus improves range and accuracy. The word "rifle" originally referred to the grooving, and a rifle was called a "rifled gun." Rifles are used in warfare, hunting and shooting sports.

Rifles are commonly found weapons seens in the Planet of the Apes multimedia franchise. In the 40th century, the militant wing of ape culture, governed by gorillas, routinely carried rifles for general security purposes and while engaging upon human hunts. In Planet of the Apes, the characters of Dodge and George Taylor are both shot with a rifle. Dodge was killed, but Taylor survived, albeit with a severe throat injury. Later in the film, Taylor uses a rifle to fend off the ape soldiers following Doctor Zaius. In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the gorilla army of General Ursus use carbine rifles during their raid on the mutant occupants of the Forbidden Zone. The mute human female Nova is shot to death by a gorilla sentry attempting to kill Taylor and Nova's new companion, John Brent. Later, Brent uses a rifle to fell General Ursus, only to be gunned down himself in a hail of bullets moments afterward.