What's the Difference

[IOwnTheWorld1994]

A semi-automatic pistol is one shot per pull of trigger. What's an automatic pistol? A pistol with full auto capabilities? Wouldn't that be considered a machine pistol? Not trying to make any assumptions, just trying to figure it out.

 

[dsk]

Semi-automatic is one shot per trigger pull. Fully-automatic is nonstop firing until you release the trigger, i.e. a machine gun.

Calling a pistol an "automatic pistol" would normally mean machine gun, but you can thank the anti-gunners for doing everything in their power to confuse the issue by calling semi-autos that. That's why a lot of ignorant folks believe that a Glock 9mm is a machine gun. And no I'm not talking about the G18. It also didn't help that the old Army manuals referred to the 1911 as an automatic pistol, even though it really isn't.

 

[IOwnTheWorld1994]

Semi-automatic is one shot per trigger pull. Fully-automatic is nonstop firing until you release the trigger, i.e. a machine gun.

Calling a pistol an "automatic pistol" would normally mean machine gun, but you can thank the anti-gunners for doing everything in their power to confuse the issue by calling semi-autos that. That's why a lot of ignorant folks believe that a Glock 9mm is a machine gun. And no I'm not talking about the G18. It also didn't help that the old Army manuals referred to the 1911 as an automatic pistol, even though it really isn't.

Well the caliber was .45ACP or Automatic Colt Pistol.

 

[guncheese]

our beloved model of 1911 automatic pistol


the Browning 9mm FN GP35 Automatic Pistol


many examples of "automatic" pistols

even a Savage (it must be very evil!!!)

 

[ddc]

When non-shooting friends have asked me this question I've tried to point out the difference between an "auto-loading" firearm and an "auto-shooting" firearm if you get my drift...

 

[barnbwt]

"Then shoot out of the window to call police"

Wow, that's some, uh, er, advice, right there

TCB

 

[Charlie Horse]

Barnbwt, one of my favorite quotes comes to mind here."The past is a different country. They do things differenty here."

 

[Field Tester]

We have to remember that auto loading firearm and semi auto firearm are the same terms. An auto firearm and a Fully Automatic firearm are two different things.

 

[rcmodel]

Semi-automatic pistol is the current terminology in use now if you use the correct name.

100 years ago an 'automatic' pistol meant a new kind of firearm invention you didn't have to load or cock manually each shot.

There where no full-auto pistols then.
Because they were barely able to design a semi-auto that worked right.

Today?
Well today, everyone got tired of saying, or typing semi-auto pistol, when everyone with any gun knowledge had long understood for 100 years that an 'auto' pistol was not a machine-pistol, or full-auto pistol.

rc

 

[jmr40]

While not technically correct the terms are often used interchangeably today. I normally try to stay out of such things when I see them happening, but had to intervene at a Walmart 5-6 years ago.

A mom came in wanting to buy her son 22 "automatic" rifle for Christmas and had been advised the Ruger 10-22 was a good choice. The 20 something clerk confused the heck out of "soccer mom" by trying to explain that Walmart did not carry automatic rifles and that she had to have permission from the government to own one. I was shopping nearby, overheard the conversation stepped in and explained things to both. Mom bought the 10-22 and eveybody went home happy.

 

[dsk]

"Then shoot out of the window to call police"

Wow, that's some, uh, er, advice, right there

TCB

Now we know where "Shotgun Joe" Biden got his information from.

 

[Big Shrek]

Back in the old days the cities had Foot Patrol, literally "Walking the Beat"...
and a gun-shot would generally bring the closest cop running...dependant on personal speed
Personal Speed can mean quite a few things...Ever read "Guards, Guards" by Terry Pratchett??
Some cops charge into the fray...some meander slowly until they are sure its safe to draw a chalk outline...


Less people = less problems, as everyone knows everyone...and the bad guys are more noticeable...
which meant easier to spot and deal with 'em...its why small communities have less unknown crime...
Ah, for the good old days with less strangers

As far as Full-Auto pistols...the Glock 18 is a great example...hold down the trigger until you are bored
The $200 Federal Tax Stamp required for each "machine gun" serves to note several things...
- Vetted fully by the FBI with a Very Complete Local, State & Federal background Check.
- Fingerprints on file with law enforcement & at least one Firearms Safe in the home.
- No Mental Impairments
- No Domestic Violence or Felony convictions
- No Alcohol or Drug convictions
In short, sparkly clean to own

Sneaky sideline method to get post-1986 Full-auto firearms...
Become a LEO, get certified and on a "Reserve" officer status. (FHP, Local/etc)
Become a Part-time Jailer, (Corrections Officer) which is another form of LEO...
Of course, those require that you are checked out from Stem to Stern...plus some...
but, you get to play with seriously fun stuff IF your Commander is of "like mind"
Downside, if your certification expires for any reason and you don't renew, back go the toys...

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

"Automatic", like so many other words, is defined as much by context as by any single definition.

What the word means is derived from how it's used.

An "automatic pistol" is, contextually speaking, a semi-automatic firearm. There are few pistols which are actually "fully automatic".

In this case, "semi-automatic" and "automatic" mean the same thing: one shot per trigger pull.

When talking about semi-automatice rifles, people usually say "semi-automatic". "Auto", "Automatic", "full-auto", or "fully automatic" are terms usually used to describe a fully automatic rifle. These, or sometimes "machine gun".


I strongly suspect the history of the term goes all the way back to the early developments of semi-automatic firearms, where "automatic" meant "autoloading" in the sense of you pulled the trigger once and this initiated an automatic cycle wherein the gun fired, ejected the empty casing, loaded the next round, and cocked the weapon in preparation for firing again, all 'automatically" without any additional operation action.

 

[dsk]

That makes sense. After all, the military may have had the Colt Automatic Pistol but they also had the Browning Automatic Rifle. Two completely different animals!

 

[Jim K]

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the idea of self-acting machinery was very new and the term "automatic" was a major selling point for everything from guns to washing machines, sort of like the terms "digital" and "computerized" today.

In guns, not only was the term "automatic" applied to self-loading pistols, rifles and shotguns (the "Auto 5" for example), but also to breaktop revolvers ("automatic revolvers") that ejected cartridges automatically when the gun was opened.

And yes, there were "automatic revolvers" (the Union and the British Webley-Fosbery) that used recoil to turn the cylinder and cock the hammer.

The term "automatic pistol" was used for many years without any confusion until modern gurus determined that the world needed changing and gave us terms like "semi-automatic pistol" and "handgun."

Jim

 

[Drue]

Notice that the title of this forum is "Handguns: Autoloaders." To most people "auto" or "automatic" when used in the context of handguns means "auto loading" as opposed to "revolver." Guns like the Glock 18 are usually called "machine pistols."


Drue

 

[Hardtarget]

Isn't that what the "ACP" is on the Colt .45?

ACP= automatic Colt pistol

That is what I always thought....but , I've been wrong so many times its sort of expected.

Mark

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Firearms terminology is inconsistent and can be confusing.

 

[ATLDave]

RetiredUSNChief nailed it. Context is everything.

 

[mgmorden]

Firearms terminology is inconsistent and can be confusing.

I think that's the basic jist of it.

"Automatic" is a bit ambiguous. There are semi-automatic firearms, and there are fully-automatic firearms. "Automatic" could be used to refer to either, though one usually presumes that when an unqualified ambiguous term is used that the most common usage of the term was was what intended.

With that being the case, when I hear automatic I generally assume semi-automatic - particularly in the case of pistols and shotguns. The Glock 18, Beretta 93, etc I'd more specifically qualify as fully-automatic.

 

[Jim Watson]

We used to load our automatics with clips, too; and no Internet to make it convenient for self appointed experts to tell us we were wrong.
The Internet devolution of the English language has produced what seem to me to be worse misnomers.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Do I hear Joe Biden?

"Then shoot out of the window to call police"

Wow, that's some, uh, er, advice, right there

Written by Joe Biden's grandfather.

Aarond

.

 

[mgmorden]

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's a typo and they meant "shout" out of the window. Remember when that ad originally ran many people didn't yet have telephones (and certainly not in the bedroom where they're suggesting you hole up) .

 

[ATLDave]

Shooting out the window doesn't strike me as being any more ridiculous than the advice to empty the mag through the closed door! While I roll my eyes at some current manufacturer's ads, at least they're not openly advocating shooting someone you cannot see!