Types of Rifles, Explained

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What makes a rifle a rifle

A rifle is a long gun fired from the shoulder whose barrel is rifled: spiral grooves cut or pressed into the bore grip the bullet and spin it, so it flies point-first and stays stable. That spin is the whole idea. It is why a rifle can keep its shots in a small circle at distances where a smoothbore gun has long since lost the plot.

Two neighboring terms get mixed in constantly. A carbine is simply a shorter, handier rifle; the word began as the cavalry version of an infantry rifle and is now a loose label for anything compact. A shotgun is a different tool: a smoothbore built to throw shot or slugs, even though some shotguns wear rifled slug barrels. Everything on this page is a rifle.

Three ways to sort rifles

Most lists of rifle types blend three separate questions together, which is why no two lists agree. Pull the questions apart and the whole landscape gets simple:

1. By action: how the rifle gets rid of the empty case and loads the next round (bolt, lever, pump, semi-automatic or single-shot).
2. By ignition: what kind of ammunition it fires (rimfire, centerfire, or a muzzleloader's charge loaded from the front).
3. By purpose: what it is built to do (hunt deer, hit varmints at distance, win target matches, train new shooters, ride in a pack).

A Ruger 10/22 is a semi-automatic, rimfire, training-and-small-game rifle. A Bergara B-14 Timber is a bolt-action, centerfire hunting rifle. Name all three traits and you know exactly what a rifle is for, and whether it fits what you want to do.

Types of rifles by action

How each mechanism locks, feeds and fails is covered in depth in our rifle action types guide. If you arrived here studying for a hunter education test, the two basic styles of firearm actions explainer covers the way courses frame that question, and why the answers sometimes differ.

Types of rifles by ignition

Rimfire

The priming compound is spun into the hollow rim of the case, and the firing pin crushes the rim to fire it. Rimfire cartridges such as .22 Long Rifle, .22 WMR and .17 HMR are small, cheap, quiet and nearly recoil-free, which makes them the default for training, small game and plinking. The trade-offs are short range, low power and cases you cannot reload. Our full explainer: what is a rimfire rifle.

Centerfire

A separate primer sits in the center of the case head. Because the case does not have to be crushable, it can be thick and strong, which allows far higher pressures and far more power. Nearly every hunting, target and modern sporting rifle cartridge is centerfire, from .223 Remington to the big magnums, and the brass can be reloaded.

Muzzleloader

Powder and projectile are loaded from the muzzle and seated with a ramrod. Modern in-line muzzleloaders are a long way from a flintlock, but they still load one shot at a time from the front. Many states run dedicated muzzleloader deer seasons, which is why a lot of modern muzzleloaders are owned by hunters who also own a centerfire rifle.

Types of rifles by purpose

This is what most people really mean when they search for types of rifles. Each of these is a real category with its own design logic.

Bolt-action hunting rifle

The default deer, elk and pronghorn rifle across most of North America: a centerfire bolt gun in something like 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Winchester, .270 Winchester or .30-06, light enough to carry all day, with a scope in the 3-9x to 4-16x range. The action is simple, strong and accurate, and it is legal nearly everywhere rifles are allowed for big game. See what a bolt-action rifle is and how it works, or go straight to the bolt-action hunting rifle buyer's guide.

Lever-action rifle

Fast to cycle without leaving the shoulder, slim to carry, and at home in thick woods. Classic tube-magazine levers in .30-30, .357 Magnum and .45-70 favor flat-nosed bullets for safety in the tube; newer box-magazine levers accept pointed bullets and modern cartridges. Browse the lever-action rifle category.

Modern sporting rifle

The industry's name for semi-automatic rifles built on the AR-15 pattern and similar modular platforms. Light, low-recoiling in 5.56 NATO, endlessly configurable, and used for target shooting, competition and, where legal, hunting. The term, its history and what it covers are in what is a modern sporting rifle.

Rimfire .22 rifle

The rifle nearly everyone should own first and never sell. A .22 teaches trigger control and follow-through for pennies a shot, handles squirrels and rabbits, and makes a patient coach for centerfire shooters. Our rimfire rifle guide covers the field, and rimfire for training shows how to use one to get better with your deer rifle or AR.

Varmint rifle

Built to hit small targets far away: fast, flat-shooting small-bore cartridges, stiffer barrels that stay accurate as they heat, clean triggers and high-magnification scopes. The full recipe is in what is a varmint rifle.

Precision and target rifle

Heavier than a hunting rifle on purpose: stiff barrels, adjustable chassis or stocks, and optics with precise turrets. They reward the shooter from a bipod or bag, not the hunter climbing a ridge. Where the line falls between the two is covered in hunting rifle vs precision rifle.

Single-shot rifle

One round, loaded by hand, every time. Single-shots are simple, safe for beginners because the rifle cannot be accidentally left with a round in a magazine, and often very short for their barrel length because there is no action to cycle.

Straight-wall cartridge rifle

Several states that once restricted deer hunting to shotguns now allow rifles chambered for straight-walled cartridges such as .350 Legend, .450 Bushmaster and .45-70. That rule created a whole category of rifles built around it; see the straight-wall rifle category.

Carbines, pistol-caliber carbines, bullpups and takedowns

These describe packaging more than purpose. A pistol-caliber carbine shoots handgun ammunition from a rifle-length platform; a bullpup puts the action behind the grip to shrink overall length; a takedown rifle separates into two pieces for a pack or a truck box. Each overlaps with the categories above.

Examples of each type

Military labels you will run into

Some rifle types come from military vocabulary, and they are often used loosely. A battle rifle is a military rifle in a full-power cartridge such as 7.62 NATO. An assault rifle, in the military sense, is a select-fire rifle (capable of automatic or burst fire) in an intermediate cartridge. A designated marksman or sniper rifle is a precision rifle issued for long-range work. Civilian versions of these designs sold in the United States are semi-automatic or bolt-action. Separately, some states define terms like "assault weapon" in their own statutes, and those legal definitions differ from the military ones and from each other, so check current law where you live.

How to pick the right type for you

1. Start with the job. Deer in the woods, coyotes across a field, steel at a local range, or learning the basics.
2. Check the rules. Hunting regulations can restrict action types, cartridges and magazine capacity; local ranges may limit calibers.
3. Pick the cartridge. Our rifle caliber guide walks through it.
4. Then pick the action that suits your pace, your hands and your budget.
5. Make sure it fits. Length of pull and comb height matter more than most spec sheets; see rifle fit and ergonomics.

New to all of this? Our first sporting rifle guide and the best sporting rifles by purpose list are the fastest way to a short list.