What firearms "terminology" makes you grit your teeth?

Waveski said:

"I don't mind wheelgun to describe a revolver, but I hate it when I catch myself referring to one as a pistol."

The term pistol predates the invention of the semiautomatic hand gun , the origin going back several hundred years.

Pistol = hand held firearm = revolver , no?

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Not entirely. A pistol could be a single shot. A pistol is a firearm that can be easily carried on your person and can be used with one hand. (With some of the hand cannons these days, a body could argue that point.) Pistol = handgun. May be of any operational type. The term "pistol" definitely predated a semi-auto operating firearm.
"A pistol is a type of handgun. The pistol originates in the 16th century, when early handguns were produced in Europe. The English word was introduced in ca. 1570 from the Middle French pistolet (ca. 1550)". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol

High Caliber Assault Weapon...

I've heard this used by ignorant reporters describing an AR more than once.

Whiterook808 said:

Certainly the Mannlicher style clips as used in the Carcano, Berthier, and even the M1 rifle do not have springs. I think we are off in the weeds here!

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Those are not "Stripper clips" A clip that is inserted into the rifle, and that the rifle cannot function without, are not "Stripper clips." The latter are discarded after guiding the ammunition into the gun.

My, My....look at me....nit picking semantics !!! And P5 Guy is right Mosin clips and Enfield clips do not have a separate spring under the ammo.

Wow - A lot of replies. I don't have time to read them all at the moment, but I will put in the entry of "Assault" rifle.

Yes I am aware of the full auto rifle the Germans used that terminology on. It does not apply to the present usage, and guns do not "assault" anything or anybody. It is simply a monogram being used to try to demonize a group of firearms today, in an attempt to ban them.

It is unfortunate that many folks in the industry have chose to use this term. Words mean something and there is no place in my mind for the use of assault to describe a firearm. It simply gives food to the anti gun crowd to use as a help for their agenda.

tark said:

Those are not "Stripper clips" A clip that is inserted into the rifle, and that the rifle cannot function without, are not "Stripper clips." The latter are discarded after guiding the ammunition into the gun.

My, My....look at me....nit picking semantics !!! And P5 Guy is right Mosin clips and Enfield clips do not have a separate spring under the ammo.

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You are correct, they are charging clips or packets. But then I thought the term we were discussing was just 'clip', my mistake.

Poper said:

A pistol is a firearm that can be easily carried on your person and can be used with one hand.

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I agree with this definition.
I meant to state that a revolver is a type of pistol , not that a revolver fulfills the sole definition of pistol.

Now , pistolero is a good word. Revolverlero ... doesn't work.

My goodness, this has gone on for fourteen pages,, isn’t it time to shut it dowm.??

For me It's not a term I hate , it's the small few that refuse to except a new term the industry has excepted . Namely " case headspace " That term or some variant is used by multiple manufactures but there is still that small minority that think when it comes to guns words can't evolve like they do in all other situations . I get it when something you are describing already has a word to describe it like magazine so when you hear clip you just roll your eyes . How ever there was no word/s describing the distance from your fired case head to the datum point on the shoulder . Over the years the industry has adopted the term case headspace even though head space is only measured in the chamber of the rifle but adding CASE to the term changes it's meaning . I assume the new term case headspace was excepted because you can get a pretty darn close measurement of your actual headspace by measuring the distance from the head of a fired case to the datum point on the shoulder . So the fact you are using a case to measure your headspace IMO makes it reasonable to call that your case headspace since there was nothing to describe it before . Are there better ways to measure your head space , sure but in many ways measuring you fired case is more then adequate .

Whiterook808 said:

Certainly the Mannlicher style clips as used in the Carcano, Berthier, and even the M1 rifle do not have springs. I think we are off in the weeds here!

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I'm not as familiar with the Mannlicher, Carcano & Berthier clips, but the Garand clip itself is a spring. It's made of spring tempered steel and is the reason for the distinctive "ping" when the empty clip is ejected.

I don't get upset at what anonymous folks or ignorant fools post on the internet. However, language is important and so is its precision. It's what separates us from the carpet-pissers. I don't like to go around correcting folks but when you know the difference, incorrect or some slang terminology can be a mental speed bump as you read a comment. Some of those are:

Boolit
Clip vs magazine
All the cutesy nicknames like shotty, Remmy, Winnie, Annie (Anschutz), Mossy, etc.. It gags me to even type them.
Wheelgun, wheelie or revo
Caliber vs cartridge or chambering
.45 "Long" Colt
Muzzle break vs brake
Deagle - self explanatory
Mall ninja - it's descriptive but it gets used as too broad a brush all too often. Somehow, if you have a light attached to a firearm, you're not a guy who needs a light attached to a firearm, you're a "mall ninja". Pulleeze.


The ones I've seen mentioned that people have issues with that I find odd are:
Running - Why???
Tactical - is a pretty useful descriptive term for describing guns or accessories of a certain type. Sure, it gets over-used but it shouldn't trigger such strong reactions.
Platform - absolutely a useful term. Not sure why it triggers such reactions.

That some people think the grip angle of a handgun is irrelevant is baffling to me. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Old Dog said:

We have met the enemy, and he is us. We obsess about these petty disagreements in terminology; no wonder the antis can so easily divide and conquer.

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Seems to me that this is just a discussion about firearms' terminology.

How exactly are they dividing and conquering while we're discussing terminology?

Waveski said:

The term pistol predates the invention of the semiautomatic hand gun , the origin going back several hundred years.

Pistol = hand held firearm = revolver , no?

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Sam Colt marketed them as "revolving pistols".

A nickel is a coin, but a coin isn’t necessarily a nickel.

A revolver is a pistol, but a pistol isn’t necessarily a revolver.

Guess I’ve never understood why people get uptight over those words. *shrug*

All of the chargers and clips that I have either have springs or are made of spring metal.
Most of the outer shells of magazines are made of malleable metals or plastics and contain springs.
In my opinion, the real difference is that clips are considered to be expendable and are not normally reloaded and reused, but magazines are normally retained and reloaded.

The words that irritate me the most are “nine mill”.... Argh!!!!

Some clips have springs, but these are not the spring that drives the follower.

CraigC said:

Seems to me that this is just a discussion about firearms' terminology.

How exactly are they dividing and conquering while we're discussing terminology?

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Disagree. This thread has evolved much the same as the current thread regarding training currently running in the same sub-forum. People are settling into camps. Note that many, if not most, of the terms and phrases listed herein that people take issue with are most common to those who are either new in the world of shooting and gun-owning, or those who simply don't associate in a larger circle of more knowledgeable, experienced gun-owners, shooters or reloaders.

Face it, the entertainment industry (movies, television, popular novels, comics -- er, "graphic novels) and the mainstream media have been allowed to frame much of the verbiage associated with firearms for the past hundred and fifty years or so -- going back to the "penny dreadfuls" and dime novels in the 1700s, 1800s and through the 20th century. Seems many in the gun world simply accept a lot of these terms and phrases and perpetuate them ...

We come in here and poke fun at or get downright cranky with those who we disagree. The 2A absolutists disparage the Fudds and the moderates ("What part of infringe do you not understand?" "The Second Amendment is my carry permit" "The Second Amendment isn't about duck hunting!"); the experienced shooters often patronize and shut down the neophytes by telling them this is the way it is without telling them why; many of these same experienced folks do the same to newbies or those who use a term they don't like or because they don't speak the same language yet; everyone mocks the "tacticool" guys and the wannabe "operators;" the liberals who've discovered the joys of firearms and shooting aren't allowed any time to develop their political views, they're shouted down and shut down with cliches and truisms and rarely return to forum-land, which should be a safe place to express views and obtain information (but isn't, really) ...

I have personally witnessed or had related to me, far too many occasions where people who wanted to get into shooting sports or recreational shooting were totally turned off by the entrenched attitudes of some in the community; having been part of the gun forums on the internet since 2002, I can bear witness to everything I've related above. I quit a gun club run by old white guys after seeing attitudes and hearing comments about young people and minorities. I've see positively abhorrent behavior demonstrated toward women, young people and minorities by staff in gun shops.

We are our own worst enemies, and we continue to turn away more new shooters and gun-owners than we bring in. If you disagree, I suggest you're wearing rose-colored glasses.

General grammar, not specifically gun terminology, but since I saw it most recently in a discussion about guns, I will post it.
The notion that an apostrophe 's' forms the plural is aggravating. Firearms content, "Show us your Springfield's".

The only one that really causes me to lose my mind is "assault weapon." Screw that <removed>, anything can be an "assault weapon" including your fists and feet.

Jim Watson said:

General grammar, not specifically gun terminology, but since I saw it most recently in a discussion about guns, I will post it.
The notion that an apostrophe 's' forms the plural is aggravating. Firearms content, "Show us your Springfield's".

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Not really relevant, but I couldn't agree more.

My father was a USMC hand-to-hand combat instructor. He taught me that anything can be a weapon, including your hands and feet. The frequently promoted concept of Banning Deadly Weapons... .

Israeli carry - if someone hasn't said that. I hate that suggestion and debate.
In fear of my life - magic words to make something a 'good shoot'

Ohhhh! we're sooooo close! Let's see if this can get us to FIFTEEN pages!!


Darn it! Didn't work

"Glockazine"

Jack Ryan said:

Truck gun, brush gun...

Who the heck hunts trucks and brush?

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No Smoking
Gasoline

I always wondered who smoked Gasoline. But in today's society, Nothing really surprises me.

Hate the word "Boutique". Sounds like a panty waist "Hillary Term". Usually used in a caliber war to try and win a debate. When I see a poster that use's that term, I picture them sitting around a table with Whoopee Goldberg discussing firearms on "The View"

"Gun free Zone"! Almost as bad as Boutique.

The term i hate the most is "Semi-automatic assault rifle" which is as real as a "rainbow farting unicorn".