Projectile weapon
Projectile weapons were mostly relatively primitive armaments that accelerated and directed bullets or other solid objects toward a target to achieve damaging effects by direct application of kinetic energy. Hand-held projectile weapons that utilized chemical combustion for projectile propulsion were also known as firearms. Such weapons have been used by most species prior to the development of directed energy weapon technologies. Despite their "primitiveness", projectile weapons were still considered potent, effective, and reliable weapons by many civilizations in the 23rd and 24th centuries. While most societies largely abandoned the use of such weapons, they remained largely potent weapons namely because they didn't require electricity, plasma, or technologically-derived energy sources in order to run. They were invulnerable to electronic countermeasures, dampening fields, and radiological environments, basically any environment in which phasers, disruptors, or other energy weapons would be rendered useless.

History
Examples of projectile weapons include their most primitive forms, the sling and the bow and arrow. () Steel crossbows were used on Earth in the 14th century. () The Akaali still used them in the 22nd, () and the Ligonians and the Klingons still made use of them in the 24th century. ()

More advanced projectile weapons, flintlocks for instance, propel their projectiles by means of an explosive chemical reaction, such as that provided in igniting gunpowder. () Cannons were larger projectile weapons that fired cannonballs. () To defeat the Gorn, Captain James T. Kirk once even constructed a primitive makeshift cannon by making gunpowder out of potassium nitrate, sulphur and coal, with a bamboo stick as the cannon and a diamond as the projectile. () Muskets and dueling pistols were other antiquated firearms used on Earth. (; )

The Buntline Special, Colt .45 "peacemaker" and the Winchester rifle were 19th century Earth weapons. (; ) The .38 police special was a 20th century pistol made specially for police and law enforcement officers. ()

Some of the German soldiers who had invaded the United States of America in an alternate 1944 used Mauser Karabiner 98ks. P-51 Mustang aircraft attacked a Starfleet  with their .50 caliber machine guns. () The Japanese Zero was another form of WWII airplane which was equipped with a machine gun. It likewise made a series of strafing runs at a landing party on the Shore Leave Planet in 2267. ()

Shotguns were a type of projectile weapon used on Earth well into the 21st century. During the Bell Riots of 2024, the residents who held the government personnel hostage used acquired police shotguns to ensure their cooperation. ()

In 2063, Lily Sloane attempted to kill Lieutenant Commander Data with a Calico M960 submachine gun in Montana. Also in that same year, Captain Jean-Luc Picard enjoyed mowing down two Borg drones with a holographic recreation of a Thompson submachine gun from the 1920s, the time period his holo-novel was set in. ()

In the mirror universe,  used a shotgun in 2063 to kill the first Vulcan who set foot on Earth. Commander  kept this weapon in his quarters aboard the .  ()

The MK-33 and MK-34 were also weapons of the 2060s. The crew of the  was equipped with them when they departed Earth to found the Terra Nova colony in 2069. () Wrist-mounted machine guns were used by soldiers on Earth in the 2070s. ()

In the mid-22nd century, guns (particularly revolvers) were highly prevalent on a Skagaran colony planet in the Delphic Expanse. ()

In 2168, a book on gangs in Chicago during the 1920s was left on Sigma Iotia II, it became a blueprint for the natives' culture. Virtually everyone carried a gun, known in slang as "heaters", including guns resembling "Tommy guns" of Earth's history. One brand of firearms was called Bang Bang. ()

In 2259 of the alternate reality, Starfleet security personnel at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco on Earth had access to automatic grenade launcher-type artillery weapons that fired small torpedo-shaped rocket-propelled grenades with aerodynamic attachments. ()
 
In 2268, the Ekosian Nazis and the natives from 892-IV were armed with various firearms similar to Earth weapons of the mid-20th century. () 

-type grenade launchers were standard-issue weaponry used by Starfleet in the late 2260s. () Torpedo launchers were used on starships and other spacecraft and installations as projectile weapons, accelerating a torpedo for launch. While some types of torpedoes couldn't be fired without a launcher, most types of torpedoes had internal engines to sustain their flight. (; et al.)

In 2287, the inhabitants of Nimbus III, barred from using conventional weaponry, devised improvised projectile weapons which fired rocks or other debris through the apparent use of compressed air. The Galactic Army of Light also used a single minigun. ()

On the  in 2374, the crew fought in a holodeck recreation of World War II using various American projectile weapons of the period (M1 Garands and Colt M1911A1s) and captured German weapons (Gewehr 98/40s and MP40s). Captain Kathryn Janeway threatened to kill Seven of Nine with a holographic Colt M1911A1 when she believed Seven was a Nazi spy. She also killed the lead Hirogen with a holographic Mauser Kar 98k after he had killed the original leader Karr, and hunted Janeway with it. ()

The Vori and the Kradin both make use of projectile weapons. (Nemesis (episode))

Sometime prior to 2375, Starfleet experimented with projectile weapons for possible use in areas where energy weapons were subject to the effects of dampening fields. One such weapon was the TR-116 rifle, which fired tritanium bullets and could be modified with a miniature transporter and exographic targeting sensor to allow use from longer distances and through walls. ()

In 2379, the pre-warp Kolaran civilization made use of several types of machine guns and other firearms. ()

Hand-held projectile weapons
 .38 police special
 .45 automatic
 Automatic weapon
 Bang Bang (A "heater")
 Beretta 92
 Bow and arrow
 Buntline Special
 Calico M950
 Calico M960
 Colt .45
 Colt AR-15
 Colt Army Model 1860
 Colt Detective Special
 Colt Official Police
 Colt Police Positive
 Crossbow
 DefTech 37 mm launcher
 Derringer
 Double-barreled shotgun
 Dueling pistol
 Enfield L85A1
 Flintlock
 Franchi SPAS-12
 Gewehr 98/40
 Grenade launcher
 Heckler & Koch MP5
 Henry 1860
 High Standard HDM
 Karabiner 98k
 M1 Carbine
 M1 Garand
 M16A1 assault rifle
 M203 grenade launcher
 Mauser C96
 MG42
 MK-33
 MK-34
 Mossberg 500
 MP40
 Musket
 Nambu pistol
 Pistol
 Remington Model 870
 Revolver
 Shoe gun
 Shotgun
 Sniper rifle
 Smith & Wesson Model 15
 Springfield model 1873
 M1921/28 and M1 Thompson submachine gun
 TR-116 rifle
 Walther P38
 Walther PP
 Winchester
 Winchester Model 1200
 Winchester Model 1892

See also 
 
 Rifled barrel

External links 
 
 
 Firearms in Star Trek at IMFDb.org

de:Projektilwaffe
Hand-held weapons
Projectile weapons