Personal defence weapon

Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of firearms intended for self-defence and security rather than warfare and infantry. Most PDWs fire a small-caliber (less than 6 millimetres or 0.24 inches), centerfire bottleneck cartridge resembling a scaled-down intermediate rifle cartridge, essentially making them an "in-between" hybrid between a submachine gun and a carbine.
The use of these rifle-like cartridges gives the PDWs much better ballistic performance (effective range, accuracy and armour-penetrating capability) than conventional submachine guns, which fire larger-caliber but slower and less aerodynamic handgun cartridges. The low recoil of these "sub-intermediate" cartridges also makes muzzle rise on PDWs (which typically have short gun barrels) much easier to handle than short-barrelled rifles, especially when shooting full-auto or in burst fires.
Category:Weapon Types