Once & for all, let's get this straight!

[chicharrones]

So, what's my bolt action, single-shot, 7mm IHMSA, XP-100? A "hand-held rifle" perhaps?

Yes. I use the term Hand-Rifle myself.

 

[Hertzer]

I've known a few hard core revolver people that pistol was general use fore all, revolver is for revolvers and bottom feeder for anything that self-loads after each shot. (for as long as it has ammunition)

 

[jmr40]

Prior to revolvers any handgun with a single chamber was a pistol. Any handgun with 2 chambers was a derringer. When Sam Colt developed his invention he called it a revolving pistol. It seems pretty clear to me that he wanted to differentiate his invention from the single shot muzzle loading pistols that came before it. He didn't coin the phrase "revolver" but I've got to believe he'd prefer that to having his invention called a pistol which was clearly inferior to his new design. And revolving pistol was a mouthful so there is no doubt it would be shortened to one or the other.

I've seen books defining any handgun with a single chamber as a pistol. That would include semi-autos, break action single shot hunting pistols, or any other handgun with a single chamber. The same books defined revolvers as a complete separate class of handgun. At one time that was the definition that was considered accurate.

But language changes and lots of words are used incorrectly. Over time that use is the one that is accepted. When I'm speaking or writing about handguns I prefer listeners or readers to understand what type of handgun I'm referring to, so I use revolver to mean a revolver and pistol to refer to a handgun with a single chamber. I use the term semi, or semi-auto when referring to a semi-automatic handgun.

I do the same when talking about long guns as well. I'll refer to my bolt guns, lever guns, or semis when talking about rifles. Or pump gun, semi, O/U or SXS when referring to shotguns. When people are listening or reading I think it important to the discussion for them to have an accurate image in their mind of what I'm trying to convey.

Calling any handgun a pistol is considered accurate. But calling any black semi-auto rifle, handgun or shotgun an assault weapon is considered accurate in some circles as well. Anyone else can do as they wish, but I think language is important.

 

[RETG]

Heck, I don't call it a pistol, revolver, or auto-loader. I refer to mine as "handguns" or just plain weapons. If someone asks a specific question, I will say semi-auto or in case of my bear gun, a revolver.

 

[Mn Fats]

Heck, I don't call it a pistol, revolver, or auto-loader. I refer to mine as "handguns" or just plain weapons. If someone asks a specific question, I will say semi-auto or in case of my bear gun, a revolver.

I don't ever say "weapon" but I too refer to pistols/revolvers as handguns. I guess I always have. It just covers the bases. I mean we're literally in "Handguns: General Discussion"

 

[.308 Norma]

When Sam Colt developed his invention he called it a revolving pistol. It seems pretty clear to me that he wanted to differentiate his invention from the single shot muzzle loading pistols that came before it.

Weren't there some revolving rifles around back then? Is it possible that Sam Colt wanted to differentiate his invention from a revolving rifle? Just asking, not arguing.

Anyone else can do as they wish, but I think language is important.

Me too.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

 

[JN01]

I'm having a hard time finding a revolver belt, seems the only thing they sell these days are pistol belts.

 

[PWC]

Sounds like there's trouble in River City......

 

[Pudge]

I guess all handguns are pistols, but revolvers are way cooler, so they get their own word.

 

[.308 Norma]

I'm having a hard time finding a revolver belt, seems the only thing they sell these days are pistol belts.

 

[Waveski]

Happiness is a warm pistol ... err , revolver --- no no - GUN.

(Actually , I think language is important too.)

Then there is the term "pistol whipped". Never heard revolver whipped , or semi whipped. (As in , beat up by a Peterbuilt?)

 

[cfullgraf]

I guess all handguns are pistols...

I guess I kind of agree with this statement but...

I consider "handguns" to identify all short barreled firearms shot from the hand without additional support regardless of action.

"Pistols" identify semi-automatic handguns.

And "Revolvers" is self explanatory.

But, I'll agree that my "definitions" are not necessarily main stream. They work for me and most folks understand them.

 

[milemaker13]

I haven't seen this answer yet in this thread, so I'll jump in too...

I've heard people argue (and some state lawmakers agree, whatever that counts for) that a pistol has a fixed chamber. Single shot or semi-auto doesn't matter, but if it has a fixed chamber it is a pistol. A revolver obviously does not have a fixed chamber. Colt's advertisement referenced above seems to not care about that though.

Just as long as a detachable box magazine is not a clip... Although some detachable box magazines can be fed from clips.... whatever that's worth.

Yes! A single, fixed chamber is a pistol. Thank you for helping me define it in my head!

 

[WestKentucky]

And a chopper is a Thompson...

And a whippet is a shotgun (typically an early semiauto like a rem11) that is chopped off front and back into a formidable weapon that nobody wants to fire more than once.

 

[Monac]

In ordinary speech, it is silly to try to say that a revolver is not a pistol. Pistol is now a term that covers any one-hand gun.

However, the British seem to have created this distinction a long time ago, which is why even the NRA once published books with titles like "The Encyclopedia of Pistols and Revolvers". As I understand it, the distinction was this: A one hand weapon is a pistol if the firing chamber is an integral part of the barrel. Therefore, a revolver is not a pistol.

I can see, sort of, when revolvers were a new thing, this distinction may have served some purpose. That time passed long ago, and I have no idea why it persisted into the 20th century.

What makes this funny to me is that the British public is now, generally, quite unfamiliar with firearms, because of strict laws on the private ownership of guns in Britain dating back to 1903. As early as the First World War, it seems to have become common for British people to call any repeating pistol a "revolver" - you can find Lugers referred to that way, in British writing about WWI, for instance, and that habit persists to the present day.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

"Once and for all..."

I used that phrase in a thread title before. That thread solved nothing and the same question was asked a month later.

 

[jamesjames]

One way to know how far back the word "pistol" goes in common usage is to look at handgun advertisements in the 19th century. Another is to lookup the use of idioms in the vernacular containing the word pistol.

"Hotter than a pistol" came from "hotter than a 2 dollar pistol". It seems to refer to actual heat build up in a cheap, misaligned pistol barrel during firing and not that the pistol was stolen. It seems to go back well into the 19th century--long before semi-autos came on the scene.

https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/hot-as-a-two-dollar-pistol/

Meanwhile, the slang term "hot" as in stolen merchandise seems to derive from the jazz age of the 1920s--a much more modern usage.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The one thing that I find funny is that the people who insist that a revolver is not a pistol are the same people who insist that a clip is not a magazine. That one term can change in meaning by common usage but the other can not.

For myself, if it was good enough for Sam Colt, who am I to disagree.

So you are then in the camp that says that 1911s are "automatic pistols."

 

[Chuck R.]

To what prompting do we owe the pleasure of this rant?

It's times like these when I'm reminded that:



It's right up there with the monthly Clip VS Mag rant.

 

[LAH]

Settled for sure.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

 

[John Joseph]

If you want to get OCD, a pistol is a handgun from Pistoia, Italy.
These happened to be single shot with a fixed chamber, because revolvers and semi autos had yet to be invented.
The delineating feature unique to Pistoia type weapons was they could be fired with one hand, not that they had fixed chambers.

 

[buck460XVR]

The obvious answer is all handguns are pistols, not just autoloaders. Not sure who came up with this BOGUS distinction but it's nonsense.

The distinction is not bogus, as most folks, commonly use it as an easy way to differentiate. What is bogus, is random folks on internet forums, thinking they are going to be the single defining factor of how the majority of others relate to various terminology. Most of the time, their threads on that subject are only a narcissistic attempt to impress others, as to how much more intelligent they are, compared to others that don't see things they same way they do. Yep, the OP is really going to change the world's usage of the word pistol. No longer will anyone use that term to describe an semi-auto handgun as opposed to a revolver. Notice I used the term "semi-auto" instead of autoloader, as no firearm I know of, can automatically load the firearm from from the box of ammo, without some form of human intervention. OMG!, another "once and for all!''.

I worked in construction for most of my life. If there's one place where folks use incorrect or ambiguous terminology, it's there. Most of the time, it's very easy to distinguish what folks are talking about. Folks asking to have window sill installed instead of a picture frame, like grandma had in her house with the plants on, one knows they are talking stool, not sill. Folks ask for a type of spindle on their staircase, I knew without asking, they were referring to balusters. Never felt I had to correct them so they would realize "once and for all" how stupid they are by not knowing the "obvious". Same goes for handrail/banister. Whoa, I can already hear the keyboards clicking as folks are wondering what I'm talking about. Still, not for me to belittle them and try to impress others with my superiority. In reality, it's not a big deal as they are only using well used, common terminology that everyone can identify.

Iffin you are getting the idea I have little time for the obvious foolishness of self proclaimed Internet Grammar Nazis, once and for all, it's 'cause I tend to make it obvious.

 

[Jeb Stuart]