The word rifle indicates a portable firearm. A rifle is very similar to an handgun in its mechanics and structure, with the essential difference of a better accuracy and firepower. The stock, instead of being perpendicular to the barrel so to be held in an hand, it's an extension of the barrel itself in direction of the rear. Beside the handgun, a rifle is designed to be fired from the shoulder. The origins of this weapon dates back to the XVth century when the recharge was still made anteriorly, pushing inside the barrel the black powder and the bullets. In civilian use the rifle was (and still it is) the most used weapon for hunting every kind of animal. In military use instead, the rifle became from the XVIIIth century the primary infantry's weapon. With well disciplined troops it was possible to develope a higher rate of fire in regard to the one produced some decades before. The infantry shot tidily arranged on three raws; the first one on their knees, the second one standing and the third one recharging. Usually it was only the first raw to shoot, but it was also possible to order the fire on two raws with the second raw shooting over their companions' heads, this way obtaining more powerfull bursts. Ancient rifles having generally a smooth barrel, without a sight, forced the infantrymen to act as broadsiding ships: the essential thing was to break the enemy alignment's solidness and than dispel it with a side-arm assault. Length: 114 centimeters.