Gun-type fission weapons are fission-based nuclear weapons whose design assembles

their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the "gun" method: shooting one
piece of sub-critical material into another. Although this is sometimes pictured as two
sub-critical hemispheres driven together to make a supercritical sphere, typically a hollow
projectile is shot onto a spike which fills the hole in its center. Its name is a reference to the
fact that it is shooting the material through an artillery barrel as if it were a projectile. Other
potential arrangements may include firing two pieces into each other simultaneously,
though whether this approach has been used in actual weapons designs is unknown.
Since it is a relatively slow method of assembly, plutonium cannot be used unless it is
purely the 239 isotope. Production of impurity-free plutonium is very difficult and is
impractical. The required amount of uranium is relatively large, and thus the
overall efficiency is relatively low.