Gun terms that are often confused...

[Elkins45]

Words meaning changes as language is a work in progress. This happens over time.

Example the word "queer" used to be heavily used with no sexual meaning at all.
And remember the Christmas Carol about "now we don our gay apparel".

For those old enough, I remember the teachers telling all that the use of the word "ain't" was terrible and that there was no such word. Today it widely acceptable and is even in the dictionary.

I will always recall reading the Sherlock Holmes stories for the first time. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Watson's narration included the sentence: "Holmes!", I ejaculated.

So what is the difference between a cartridge and a shell? One is for a shotgun?

Pistol v revolver is like dog v collie: all collies are dogs but not all dogs are collies.

 

[savanahsdad]

muzzle blast / report / the loud bang out the end of barrel

 

[PapaG]

Daniel Silva, in his books, refers to the "slider" in reference to the slide on a pistol, or the bolt on a rifle. Also...clip..

 

[zorro45]

I got chastised at camp for referring to my .22 rifle as a "weapon" but growing up in my house, my dad was an Army guy, and all our guns were "weapons" and to the many ducks, geese, squirrels, deer etc. that fell to them, I'll bet those critters thought of them that way as well.

 

[savanahsdad]

I got chastised at camp for referring to my .22 rifle as a "weapon" but growing up in my house, my dad was an Army guy, and all our guns were "weapons" and to the many ducks, geese, squirrels, deer etc. that fell to them, I'll bet those critters thought of them that way as well.

I'm guessing your camp buddies never saw "Full Metal Jacket "

 

[larryh1108]

So, the guy who invented the revolving pistol is wrong. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

The company that produces gun magazines and calls them clips is wrong because some here say so.

And the same people who are offended by misuse of certain words have no problem, what-so-ever, with the way we name ammo? Really? Is a .357 really .357? Can you explain rifle cartridges where it makes sense and has organization? How many different .45s are there? This makes sense, how?

 

[scythefwd]

Thats the rub cf.. any of the definitions are correct. There is no ONE correct definition (the being singular)

That said, trade vs. common use are two different things. In the electrical trade, motor may carry a very specific application, which is electric only. In the rest of the world, the engine is a motor. Tradesmen dont have to like it, but it would be nice if the understood that they are talking to folks who dont use the term in the same manner because they aren't speaking about it from the same perspective. I could rant and rave about CPU being used wrong, or memory being used wrong.. but to be fair, the function of a hard disk drive IS memory (but is different in the IT world).