A
pistol is a type of
handgun. Some handgun experts and dictionaries make a technical distinction that views pistols as a subset of handguns; others use the terms interchangeably. Sometimes in usage, the term "pistol" refers to a handgun having one chamber integral with the barrel, making pistols distinct from the other main type of handgun, the
revolver, which has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers. But UK/Commonwealth usage does not always make this distinction, particularly when the terms are used by the military. For example, the official designation of the
Webley Mk VI revolver was "Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No. 1 Mk VI". In contrast to
Merriam-Webster the
Oxford English Dictionary (a
descriptive dictionary) describes 'pistol' as a small firearm to be used in one hand and the usage of "revolver" as being a type of handgun and gives its original form as "revolving pistol"