References to cartridges as "bullets"

[infuriatednoodle]

This maybe just me, but does it annoy anyone else when people refer to the whole cartridge or a spent casing as a BULLET? :banghead:

Or even calling a magazine a clip.

EDIT: I do not rage over when people use the wrong word, it doesn't bother me like some of you think, I am just simply asking if it is just slightly annoying

 

[ColtPythonElite]

No.............

 

[hermannr]

yes...

 

[bhk]

It actually hurts!

 

[Dulvarian]

I prefer projectile to refer to the bullet. Far less ambiguous for those not well versed. Of course, one shooter friend of mine started referring to spent casings as 'ejectiles' after the last unpleasant range trip we shared. He thinks it is hilarious.

 

[Guardrail]

No. I doubt the world will end if someone calls a cartridge a bullet. Now when they call a weapon a gun...

 

[mljdeckard]

The same people who it rubs me the wrong way when they call magazines clips. (Mostly anti-gunners. I really don't care what shooters call them.)

 

[armoredman]

Consider it a training opportunity...

 

[Gato Montés]

The way I see it is the bullet in the cartridge is the main feature, if you will. Sure, you need the case and the primer and powder, but when it's all said and done the projectile is what's important, especially if the intention is to shoot something.

So is it incorrect to call a cartridge a bullet, yes. But still not as bad as calling a magazine a clip, in my book anyway.

 

[clancy12]

Yes. And when people call revolvers pistols and when when people misspell words in their posts, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

 

[newfalguy101]

yes, but, not enough to make a fuss over it...

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Not as much as when a movie shows a "bullet" flying towards it's target and it's the whole cartridge, case and all.

 

[Dulvarian]

The title sequence for "Chuck" comes to mind on that one. Some James Bond intros may have as well.

 

[longdayjake]

Mark Twain once described the shimmering of light on the Mississippi River as a river-boat captain would see it. A river-boat captain would watch the ripples to attempt to spot hazards or sand bars in the river. After a while all the river-boat captain would see on a river were potentially dangerous hazards in the ripples. Everyone else could look at the shimmering of the ripples and see something beautiful and inspiring. The captain could no longer see beauty on the water.

The point is, there are other ways of looking at guns and ammo than through your trained and educated eyes. All of them have worth of some kind. There is nothing wrong with educating people but don't get annoyed because someone sees it different.

 

[longdayjake]

And when people call revolvers pistols

Wait, a revolver isn't a pistol? Hmm... I think you may be splitting hairs. So what if the chamber isn't integrated in the barrel.

 

[jdh]

What you don't load your glock clips full of bullets?

 

[PedalBiker]

We have two versions of the game of "Clue". The older one is correct, but the newer one has the "revolver" card with a photo of a 1911 style auto, and the metal playing piece is also an automatic.

The old game has a revolver on both the card and the playing piece.

I prefer ignorance to antipathy.

 

[Deus Machina]

Wait, a revolver isn't a pistol? Hmm... I think you may be splitting hairs. So what if the chamber isn't integrated in the barrel.

Nope, a pistol feeds from a magazine.

"Handgun" describes them both.

Ribbing aside, it bothers me a little, in the same way that clips vs. magazines, 'gat', and the like do.

Nothing to get bent out of shape about, though.

 

[JEB]

Of course, one shooter friend of mine started referring to spent casings as 'ejectiles'

that is great! im gonna have to use that one sometime!

and yes the "bullet" thing does bug me. one friend of mine who reloads always refers to the projectiles themselves as "bullet tips." i really have to grit my teeth on that one...

 

[Manco]

It only bothers me when there should be a distinction between the two in the context of the discussion. I don't mind when, for example, somebody says that they're "out of bullets" because it's true--they happen to be out of cartridges as well, but they're still out of bullets.

Wait, a revolver isn't a pistol? Hmm... I think you may be splitting hairs. So what if the chamber isn't integrated in the barrel.

Historically, revolvers were considered pistols, and I haven't seen any "official" reason for this to have changed. I guess people got so accustomed to the word "revolver" and needed a nice, short, catchy-sounding term for every other type of handgun, so they came to believe that must be what "pistol" means. That's the process of language evolution, I guess, but the fact is that to some people revolvers are still pistols, although I try to avoid confusion when using the word. Note that THR sort of acknowledges the historical (and current, as far as I'm concerned) definition of "pistol" by using the term "autoloaders" in the forum of that name instead of simply "pistols." It seems that dictionaries tend to use the more modern definition, though. In addition, some people define "pistol" specifically as semi-automatic handguns (even though the word is much older than this type of firearm), as opposed to revolvers, muzzleloaders, single-shot and multi-barrel derringers (one or two r's ), etc.

 

[longdayjake]

Nope, a pistol feeds from a magazine.

Are you sure? What about single shot muzzle loaded handguns?

 

[Old krow]

It bothers me about as much as someone calling a Jalapeno a vegetable.

 

[AZ_Rebel]

Nope, a pistol feeds from a magazine.

Since Sam Colt himself referred to his products as "Revolving Pistols" I would be interested to know where you got this interpretation.

 

[Manco]

Since Sam Colt himself referred to his products as "Revolving Pistols" I would be interested to know where you got this interpretation.

A revolver's cylinder is in fact a type of magazine.

Too bad it actually rotates rather than revolves.... I guess he meant that the "charge holes" revolved. That was before the "chambers" were filled with bullets...I mean cartridges.

 

[cbrgator]

The "bullet" thing is not that bad for me. Although, if I don't know someone and I hear them say bullet when the clear reference was to the entire cartridge, I automatically assume they don't know what they are talking about.

On the other hand, when I hear someone say clip instead of magazine, it's like nails on a chalkboard. Don't know why I care so much, but I really cannot stand it. I always correct people and they are shocked there is a difference. I beg them not to say it anymore and I inform them that anybody who knows anything about guns will assume they are an idiot if they say it.