The captive bolt pistol, often also called a cattle gun, is a tool used to stun animals before slaughter.
It is composed of a metal cylinder, which has an opening with a wide base at one end, equipped with a hole in which a metal piston operated by a cartridge or compressed air slides freely.
The pistol must be placed on a precise point of the animal's skull (the point is different for each species) and the power of the cartridge or compressed air must be well calibrated so that the piston exerts a blow that allows rapid and effective stunning.