A thought on terminology

[alwynsw]

First: Let's leave AW's out. They've been cussed and discussed to death.

It may help in some of the more heated discussions if we use proper terminology in discussions of firearms and ammunition. Since I'm naturally lazy, I'll just ask for definitions of the following items: (this will also provide an opportunity to educate all of us to some degree)

bullet
shot (all common uses)
casing
primer
powder (charge)
round
cartridge
shell
wad
magazine
clip
pistol
revolver
single action
double action
single shot
semi-automatic
automatic
machine gun
supressor
silencer

Feel free to add any terms you feel necessary.

There will be a test. Mid-terms will (possibly) be given at your polling place this spring with the finals in November at that same location.

[MrSandman]

1. Off the top...

Bullet-thing that goes down range
shot-multiple things that go down range...bird shot, buk shot,
grape shot
casing-brass thingy that stays up range
primer-that which ignites powder
powder charge-amount of propellant to send thingy downrange
round-pre assembled propellant, casing, bullet
cartridge-formal for round
shell-cartridge for a shotgun
wad- spacer between propellant and shot on shell
magazine-thinngy that holds shells prior to being placed in chamber by action

clip-thingy to hold rounds prior to being placed in magazine or cylinder(stripper, moon)
pistol-handgun w/chamber integral with barrel
revolver-hand gun which multiple chambers align with barrel
single action-trigger performs one function-releasing cocked hammer/striker

Double action-trigger both cocks and releases hammer/striker
Single shot-weapon w/o magazine
semi-automatic-self loading rifle which requires distinct trigger pulls for each shot

automatic--selfloader which will fire multiple rounds with single triggger pull

machine gun--automatic weapon with larger than standard rifle caliber
supressor-device to reduce muzzle flash and/or sound of shot
silencer-largely mythical device to quiet firing completely...omly effective with sub-sonic rounds.


Caliber
lands
bore

[alwynsw]

2. Good score!

Maybe - just maybe - this will help in future discussions.

[MrSandman]

3. Better than I do on the Name that assalut weapon

[RoeBear]

4. The only thing that the anti-gun loons want to know is...

...the word 'ban'.

[Superfly]

5. The three you missed:

1) Caliber - The measure of the bore diameter of a firearm. Usually expressed in millimeters or fractions of an inch.

Also, when used to describe artillery, caliber is the ratio of the length of the tube (from the forcing cone to the muzzle) to the bore diameter. For example a 5" 54 caliber gun has a diameter of 5" and a length of 270 inches (22.5 feet)

2) Lands - Refers to the raised ridges inside a rifle barrel. The rifling is created by the spiraling lands and grooves.

3) Bore - The internal diameter of a firearm's tube.

[MrSandman]

6. ALWY said, "Feel free to add any terms you feel necessary."

I added those three. Cal can be measured at different points, ie .30/.308, .38/.357, .244/.243/.250 etc. I forgot about the artillery ratios.

Because of the differences in points of measurement, one bore can accept "two" calibers.

[alwynsw]

7. Thanks to all

You may have noticed that I used atop-of-my-head listing of the most often misused/misinterpreted terms in the forum. I was a little up in the air about AWs, but they've been discussed to death.