Guide for 24 Key Parts of a Pistol: Names Functions & Diagram

The pistol is the handgun that we use to shoot the aim. It uses a magazine to store the bullets, which we can insert in a pistol. Its use is typical in the police and military service for firing and attack. Every part of a pistol is correctly manufactured to get better accuracy in shooting. With this accuracy, the shooter can increase the accuracy of his aim. As we are not using it, it is difficult to tell about the parts of a pistol’s names. But at least we can have general information about it. This article helps you to understand pistol anatomy, its components, names & functions.

Parts of a Pistol Diagram

Parts of a Pistol Names

Frame
Grip
Trigger
Trigger Guard
Magazine Release
Barrel
Bore
Rifling
Muzzle
Sights
Chamber
Safety Lever

Hammer
Recoil Spring
Guide Rod
Firing Pin
Firing Pin Spring
Extractor
Sear
Spring Cup
De-cocker
A Slide
Slide Lock
Slide Cover Plate

Pistol Parts

This video tells us all the parts of a pistol, their names & functions.

Frame

The frame is the basic pistol metallic construction made of steel, aluminum alloys, or polymer. It holds all the other parts of the pistol.

Grip

The grip is behind the trigger and comes with a rubber coating and knurling for stability during shooting. The shooter put his hand on the grip to trigger the pistol.

Trigger

The trigger is the metallic concave shape metallic part that actuates the projectile actuating mechanism. We can operate the trigger by hand.

Trigger Guard

It is a protective edge that prevents unwanted contact with a trigger to bypass accidental discharge of the cartridge. Trigger guards are present in every gun.

Magazine Release

In a semi-automatic pistol, the magazine release is the button on the frame to remove the magazine from the pistol. To fill the bullet in the magazine, the shooter has to press the magazine release button to remove the magazine.

Barrel

A barrel is a straight metal cylinder of high-strength materials that allows the bullet to pass through it. Its length and diameter/caliber (internal and external) depend on the type of pistol and manufacturer.

The longer the barrel length, the higher the muzzle velocity of the bullet. Barrel material should withstand the high pressure and temperature generated due to the gunpowder explosion.

Bore

The bore is the interior diameter of the barrel and comes with a high surface finish to smooth the pass of the bullet.

Rifling

It allows the barrel to rotate and slide for gyroscopic stability and accuracy.

Muzzle

The muzzle is the end of the barrel from which the bullet exits. Maintaining its accuracy is more important as its accuracy decides the final path of the bullet.

If the muzzle accuracy is inaccurate, propellant gases may spread unevenly, and the bullet may deflect from the pathway. The end of the muzzle has a thread to attach any accessories.

Sights

Sights are the alignment markers for the accurate aiming of the weapons. There are two sights present in the rifle. The rear sight is near the shooter’s eye, whereas the front is near the muzzle. The shooter can see the aim from the rear and front sights and align to shoot.

Chamber

It is a cavity before the barrel to insert the cartridge before the ignition.

Safety Lever

The safety lever prevents the hammer from falling on the recoil spring guide rod to fire the cartridge. Without making the pistol safety lever ON, we can not fire from the pistol. It protects against the unintentional discharge of the bullet.

Hammer

The hammer is part of a pistol strike on the projectile to ignite the explosive and fire the bullet. Shooters have to manually incline the hammer before firing. It is a metal piece that forcefully rotates about a pivot point.

Recoil Spring

The recoil spring compresses when we move the slide backward to store the energy. The stiffness property of the spring helps to absorb the energy during compression.

Guide Rod

Guide rod present inside the recoil spring. It prevents the binding up of the spring during recoil.

Firing Pin

The firing pin actuates from the mechanical force of the hammer. It strikes the explosion part of the cartridge, and the explosion develops thrust to move the bullet very fast to hit the aim.

Firing Pin Spring

This spring allows the firing pin to come to its initial position. It also prevents the accidental discharge of the firing pin on the cartridge.

Extractor

The extractor removes the spend cases of the cartridge from the chamber when the shooter fires the bullet.

Sear

The sear is part of the trigger mechanism to hold the bolt, striker, or hammer back until the shooter sufficiently squeezes the trigger.

Spring Cup

Spring cups protect the contact of water with the cartridge when the pistol becomes wet.

De-cocker

A manual decking lever drops the hammer on a live cartridge without the risk of firing the bullet.

A Slide

The slide is the upper part of the pistol, which we can move backward to load the gun. It absorbs the high force that develops after firing the bullet. It holds a barrel, firing pin, extractor, cylinder, and sights.

Slide Lock

It locks the slide in the backward direction. Hence, we can’t load the cartridge into the pistol chamber.

Slide Cover Plate

It is a protective plate on the back side of the slide.

Take Down Lever

This lever allows us to field-stripping the pistol. Field stripping means we can disassemble the pistol to clean its parts and repair them if damaged.

Parts of a Gun Magazine

The magazine is a removable cartridge holding and feeding device that we can insert into the pistol whenever we shoot something. It has a feeding mechanism to feed the cartridge from the magazine to the shooting area of the barrel. We have to fill the bullets manually in the magazine.

Tube or Casing

The casing is the magazine’s body made of steel or hard plastic. It holds all the cartridges of the pistol in place.

Spring

Spring applies the pressure on the cartridge to get into the chamber while firing. When we fill the magazine with the cartridge, the spring squeezes and applies force on the cartridge; due to that force, the cartridge comes into the chamber during firing.

Spring pressure is within the range to load the rounds properly. The spring material is steel or steel alloys.

Follower

The follower is the member on the top of the spring, following the cartridge towards the chamber. All bullets are mounted on the follower, and the spring connects with the follower.

The follower is cylindrical and provides accurate alignment to the cartridges to avoid jamming.

Feed Lips

Feed lips are only available in the box magazine. It mounts on the top of the magazine and ensures the proper movement of the rounds toward the chamber.