definition of "cartridge" (and pistol, while we're at it)
Mal H wrote:
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However, to answer your question, no, strictly speaking a cartridge is not necessarily a whole round. A round is generally construed to mean a single unit of ammunition - case, powder, primer and projectile. Whereas a cartridge is the metal (or paper/cardboard) cylinder which holds a powder charge and is often topped off with a projectile, but not always. I do agree that in common usage 'cartridge' and 'round' are synonymous.
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I'm not clear, Mal H. Are you saying 'cartridge = case', or are you saying 'Cartridge = case + powder'? And what about the primer?
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that 'case" is the term for the metal/paper/cardboard cylinder, and that 'cartridge' means 'case + powder + primer + projectile(s), assembled".
OK, I just looked "cartridge" up in my American Heritage dictionary.
1.a A tubular metal or cardboard and metal case containing the propellant powder and primer of small arms ammunition or shotgun shells.
1.b. such a case loaded with shotgun pellets.
1.c. such a case fitted with a projectile, such as a bullet, for use in rifled small arms, machine guns and the like. Also called a "round".
My Nosler Reloading Manual defines cartridge as "A complete round of ammunition with all components intact". It defines 'components' as "the items necessary to load a cartridge (brass, primer, powder, bullet)." Brass is defined as "...empty cartridge cases".
I would think that American Heritage's definition 1.a would more properly be called a blank cartridge, and the default definition should include the projectile(s). And obviously, shotgun shells are a form of small arms ammunition, as American Heritage defines small arms as "firearms carried in the hand".
I know I may be seen as a pedantic "word Nazi" here, but I think confusion over terms and overuse of slang keep a lot of people from learning more about guns, and I think that's a shame.
Then again, maybe "cartridge" did mean "case" back in the 1860s. I dunno. I know I get irritated with people who try to correct me if I refer to a revolver as a pistol. Historically, and in my book, 'pistol' = 'handgun'. What sense does it make to call both a single-shot flintlock dueling piece and a Glock pistols, but insist that a Peacemaker and a Detective Special are not pistols?
Earp, Hardin, Hickock, Holliday and the rest of those Old West guys who got famous for killing people with revolvers were called 'pistoleros', not 'handgunners'.
My suspicion is that when the Colt 1911 and various revolvers were both common in the US military, the 1911 was referred to as the pistol and the revolvers as revolvers. Perhaps this occurred in the militaries of other nations too. I'm guessing that a generation or 2 of screaming and historically ignorant drill sergeants made the term 'handgun' necessary to avoid being constantly and incorrectly "corrected" by ex-military types.
Wow. Off-topic rant, anyone?
