Firearms Glossary

Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • NugginFutz
    Chieftain
    • Aug 2013
    • 2622

    Firearms Glossary

    I thought about posting a link to a PDF or some such thing, but it occurred to me that that it would render that document static, and something like this should be something that we can add to or update, as new terms emerge. So, bwaite's suggestion not withstanding, I am posting this initial attempt at a Firearm Glossary, subject to the scrutiny of the horde. Please - forgive my obvious plagiarisms and modest offerings.

    Part 1

    Accurize: The process of altering a stock firearm to improve its accuracy.
    Action: The physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term refers to the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. The type of mechanism used generally categorizes an action, such as Bolt, Blowback, Falling Block, Lever, etc.
    Ball and Dummy Drill: A training drill designed to expose shooter issues, such as recoil anticipation, palming, etc. Dummy rounds are loaded into the magazine among the live rounds at intervals unknown to the shooter.
    Ballistic Coefficient or BC: A rating system based upon a bullet's mass, diameter, shape, and ability to retain velocity. The higher the rating, the higher the bullet efficiency at long range.
    Bandolier or Bandoleer: A pocketed belt for holding ammunition and cartridges. It was usually slung over the chest. Bandoliers are now rare because most military arms use magazines, which are not well-suited to being stored in such a manner. They are, however, still commonly used with shotguns, as individual 12 gauge shells can easily be stored in traditionally designed bandoliers.
    Barrel: A tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity.
    Base: See Mount
    Bayonet Lug: An attachment point for a bayonet.
    Beanbag: An old sock or small cloth bag filled with a dry material such as sand and placed below a rifle butt's heel so it can be squeezed to lower or elevate the rifle for precise aiming.
    Bearing Surface or Bullet Shank: The portion of a bullet’s outer surface that comes into direct contact with the interior surface of the barrel.
    Belt: An (ammunition) belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into a firearm.
    Belted Magnum or Belt: Any caliber cartridge, generally rifles, using a shell casing with a pronounced "belt" around its base that continues 2-4mm past the extractor groove. This design originated with the British gun maker Holland & Holland for the purpose of headspace certain of their more powerful cartridges.
    Bipod: A support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, but with two legs. Bipods are commonly used on rifles to provide a forward rest and reduce motion. The bipod permits the operator to rest the weapon on the ground, a low wall, or other object, reducing operator fatigue and permitting increased accuracy.
    Black Powder (also called gunpowder): A mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing a volume of hot gas made up of carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen, and a solid residue of potassium sulfide. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. Modern firearms do not use the traditional black powder described here, but instead use smokeless powder.
    Black-Powder Substitute: A firearm propellant that is designed to reproduce the burning rate and propellant properties of black powder (making it safe for use in black-powder firearms), while providing advantages in one or more areas such as reduced smoke, reduced corrosion, reduced cost, or decreased sensitivity to unintentional ignition. Pyrodex is the trade name of the only known such substitute, at this time.
    Blank: A type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound (report). Blanks are often used for simulation (such as in historical reenactments, theatre and movie special effects), training, and for signaling (see starting pistol). Blank cartridges differ from dummy cartridges, which are used for training or function testing firearms; these contain no primer or gunpowder, and are inert.
    Blowback: A system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains power from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the powder charge.
    Bluing or Blueing: A passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust, and is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. True gun bluing is an electrochemical conversion coating resulting from an oxidizing chemical reaction with iron on the surface selectively forming magnetite (Fe3O4), the black oxide of iron, which occupies the same volume as metallic iron.
    Boat-Tail Bullet: An aerodynamic bullet design shaped like a boat, with a pointed tip and gradually tapered to a flat base. Boat-tail bullets typically have better long-range accuracy than other bullets.
    Bolt Action: A type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech (barrel) with a small handle. As the handle is operated, the bolt is unlocked, the breech is opened, the spent shell casing is withdrawn and ejected, the firing pin is cocked, and finally a new round/shell (if available) is placed into the breech and the bolt closed.
    Bolt Thrust or Breech Pressure: The amount of rearward force exerted by the propellant gases on the bolt or breech of a firearm action or breech when a projectile is fired. The applied force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity.
    Bore Snake: A tool used to clean the barrel of a gun.
    Boresight: An optical device inserted in a rifle muzzle to tentatively zero a riflescope by setting its crosshairs coaxial to the rifle's bore. Speeds up subsequent live-fire zeroing.
    Brass: The empty cartridge case.
    Break-Action: A firearm whose barrels are hinged, and rotate perpendicular to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of ammunition.
    Breech Pressure or Bolt Thrust: The amount of rearward force exerted by the propellant gases on the bolt or breech of a firearm action or breech when a projectile is fired. The applied force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity.
    Bullet Drop: The ballistic measurement of how far a bullet drops, at 100 yard intervals, were the barrel pointed perfectly parallel to the Earth. A baseline trajectory used for computing other ballistic data.
    Bullet Trace: Also called "bullet track." A tiny but visible wisp of trail left through mirage by a bullet's shockwave.
    Bullpup: A firearm configurations in which both the action and magazine are located behind the trigger.
    Burst Mode: A firing mode enabling the shooter to fire a predetermined number of rounds with a single pull of the trigger.
    Button Rifling: Rifling that is formed by pulling a die made with reverse image of the rifling (the 'button') down the pre-drilled bore of a firearm barrel. See also cut rifling and hammer forging.
    Caliber: The internal diameter of a firearm's barrel or a cartridge's bullet, usually expressed in millimeters or hundredths of an inch; in measuring rifled barrels this may be measured across the lands (such as .303 British) or grooves (such as .308 Winchester).
    Calling A Shot: The practice of "calling" where your shot impacted just after firing but prior to observing it through a spotting scope.
    Cannelure: A circumferential groove generally of a knurled or plain appearance on a bullet or cartridge case that is typically used for crimping and lubrication.
    Canting: Turning or dipping the barrel slightly right or left, usually as the result of a bad sight picture or improperly mounted scope. This results in bullet trajectory obliquely departing from Point of Aim as distance increases.
    Carbine: A shortened version of a service rifle, often chambered in a less potent cartridge. The M4 Carbine is an example that uses the same cartridge but a shorter barrel, whereas the M1 Carbine is an example using a different cartridge.
    Cartridge: The assembly consisting of a bullet, gunpowder, shell casing, and primer. When counting, it is referred to as a round.
    Caseless Ammunition: A type of small arms ammunition that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant, and projectile together as a unit.
    Last edited by NugginFutz; 01-11-2015, 05:07 AM. Reason: Added citations
    If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
  • NugginFutz
    Chieftain
    • Aug 2013
    • 2622

    #2
    Firearms Glossary Part 2

    Casket Magazine: A quad stack box magazine.
    Centerfire: A cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component. The centerfire cartridge has replaced the rimfire in all but the smallest cartridge sizes. Except for low-powered .22 and .17 caliber cartridges, and a handful of antiques, all modern pistol, rifle, and shotgun ammunition are centerfire.
    Chain Gun: Type of machine gun or autocannon that uses an external source of power to cycle the weapon.
    Chamber: The portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel.
    Chambering: Inserting a round into the chamber, either manually or through the action of the weapon (e.g., pump-action, lever-action, bolt-action, or automatic-action.).
    Charging Handle: Device on a firearm which, when operated, results in the hammer or striker being cocked or moved to the ready position.
    Cheekweld: See Stockweld
    Choke: A tapered constriction of a shotgun barrel's bore at the muzzle end. Chokes are almost always used with modern hunting and target shotguns, to improve performance
    Clip: A device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit, ready for insertion into the magazine of a repeating firearm. This speeds up the process of loading and reloading the firearm as several rounds can be loaded at once, rather than one round being loaded at a time. The term clip commonly refers to a firearm magazine, though this usage is incorrect. In the correct usage, a clip is used to feed a magazine or revolving cylinder, while a magazine or a belt is used to load cartridges into the chamber of a firearm.
    Cold Barrel Zero: Applies ONLY to the exact impact of the very first round, not after warming. Police and counterterrorist forces zero their weapons for the CBZ.
    Collateral Damage: Damage that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome. The term originated in the United States military, but it has since expanded into broader use.
    Collimator Sight: A type of optical "blind" sight that allows the user looking into it to see an illuminated aiming point aligned with the device the sight is attached to regardless of eye position (parallax free). The user can not see through the sight so it is used with both eyes open while one looks into the sight, with one eye open and moving the head to alternately see the sight and then at the target, or using one eye to partially see the sight and target at the same time.
    Combination Gun: A shoulder-held firearm that has two barrels; one rifle barrel and one shotgun barrel. Most combination guns are of an over/under design (abbreviated as O/U), in which the two barrels are stacked vertically on top of each other, but some combination guns are of a side-by-side design (abbreviated as sxs), in which the two barrels sit beside each other.
    Comeups: Expressed as full moas or 1/4 moas, you must "come up" in elevation to go from one range to another range, usually in 100-yard increments.
    Concentricity: The attribute of a series of circles having the same center. As it applies to ammunition, the case wall, case neck, bullet shank and bullet tip are all considered when determining concentrically. This is related to run-out, in that concentrically is 1/2 the run-out value.
    Condition 1: Pistol: Full magazine, cartridge in chamber, hammer cocked, safety on. AKA "cocked and locked."
    Condition 2: Pistol: Full magazine, cartridge in chamber, hammer down, safety off.
    Condition 3: Pistol: Full magazine, chamber empty.
    Condition 4: Pistol: Full magazine separate from gun, chamber empty.
    Cordite: A family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not enough to destroy the barrel of the firearm, or gun.
    Coriolis Effect: Causes drift related to the spin of the Earth, known as Coriolis drift. Coriolis drift can be up, down, left or right. Coriolis drift is not an aerodynamic effect; it is a consequence of flying from one point to another across the surface of a rotating planet (Earth).
    CQB: Close quarters combat (CQC) or close quarters battle (CQB) is a type of fighting in which small units engage the enemy with personal weapons at very short range, potentially to the point of hand-to-hand combat or fighting with hand weapons such as swords or knives.
    Cut Rifling: Also known as Single Point Cut Rifling. This is one of the oldest methods of rifling and dates back to the time that rifling was first invented in Nuremberg, Germany in 1520. Cut Rifling consists of removing steel from the inside of a barrel using a cutting tool with a hard point.
    Direct Impingement: A type of gas operation for a firearm that directs gas from a fired cartridge directly to the bolt carrier or slide assembly to cycle the action.
    Dominant Eye: The ability of one eye to focus more intensely than the other, causing the second eye to compensate by slightly misaligning itself.
    Doping The Wind: A competitive shooter's term, meaning to estimate the wind accurately and adjust sights for correct compensation.
    Double Rifle: A rifle that has two barrels, usually of the same caliber. The two types of double rifles are over/under (abbreviated as O/U), in which the two barrels are stacked on top of each other, and side-by-side (abbreviated as SxS), in which the two barrels sit beside each other.
    Double-Barreled Shotgun: A shotgun with two barrels, usually of the same gauge or bore. The two types of double-barreled shotguns are over/under (abbreviated as O/U), in which the two barrels are stacked on top of each other, and side-by-side (abbreviated as sxs), in which the two barrels sit beside each other.
    Drum Magazine: A type of firearms magazine that is cylindrical in shape, similar to a drum.
    Dry Fire: The practice of "firing" a firearm without ammunition. That is, to pull the trigger and allow the hammer or striker to drop on an empty chamber.
    Dummy: A round of ammunition that is completely inert, i.e., contains no primer, propellant, or explosive charge. It is used to check weapon function, and for crew training. Unlike a blank it contains no charge at all.
    Dwell Time: The time gas can exert pressure on the system after the projectile passes the gas port and before it exits at the muzzle.
    Ejector: A device within the action of a rifle or pistol which causes a cartridge casing to be ejected or thrown from the open chamber of the firearm.
    Electronic Firing: The use of an electric current to fire a cartridge, instead of a percussion cap. In an electronic-fired firearm an electric current is used instead to ignite the propellant, which fires the cartridge as soon as the trigger is pulled.
    Energy: The amount of potential energy a bullet can deliver at various distances is expressed in foot-pounds.
    Exit Pupil: The cone of clear vision created at the rear of an optical device, such as a spotting scope. Measured by dividing the objective lens diameter in mm by the magnification.
    External Ballistics: That portion of a bullet's travel after it exits a muzzle but before impacting a target.
    Extractor: A part in a firearm that serves to remove brass cases of fired ammunition after the ammunition has been fired. When the gun's action cycles, the extractor lifts or removes the spent brass casing from the firing chamber.
    Eye Relief: For optics such as binoculars or a rifle scope, eye relief is the distance from the eyepiece to the viewers eye which matches the eyepiece exit pupil to the eye's entrance pupil. Short eye relief requires the observer to press his or her eye close to the eyepiece in order to see an unvignetted image. For a shooter, eye relief is an important safety consideration. An optic with too short an eye relief can cause a skin cut at the contact point between the optic and the eyebrow of the shooter due to recoil.
    Falling Block Action: (Also known as a sliding-block action) is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the rifle and actuated by a lever. When in the top position, it is locked and resists the force of recoil while sealing the chamber. In the lower position, it leaves the chamber open to be loaded by a cartridge from the rear.
    Ferritic Nitrocarburizing: A case hardening processes that diffuse nitrogen and carbon into ferrous metals at sub-critical temperatures to improve scuffing resistance, fatigue properties and corrosion resistance of metal surfaces. Also called nitriding.
    Field Of View: The angular measurement of how wide an area can be observed through an optical device. Spotting scopes have a very narrow Field of View, rifle scopes wider, binoculars even wider.
    Fire Forming: The process of reshaping a metallic cartridge case to fit a new chamber by firing it within that chamber.
    Fluted Barrel: A barrel on which thin grooves have been cut along its outside, long axis. Allows for a greater external surface for cooling while also creating better rigidity.
    Follow-Through: A shooter's continuous concentration and nonreaction after firing a shot so he develops a mental and physical habit of no disruption at instant of shooting.
    Last edited by NugginFutz; 12-14-2016, 05:43 PM.
    If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

    Comment

    • NugginFutz
      Chieftain
      • Aug 2013
      • 2622

      #3
      Firearms Glossary Part 3

      Foot-Pound: The amount of energy required to lift 1 pound 1 foot.
      Forward Assist: A button, found commonly on M16 and AR-15 styled rifles, usually located near the bolt closure, that when hit will push the bolt carrier forward, ensuring that the bolt is locked.
      Fouling: The accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling material can consist of either powder, lubrication residue, or bullet material such as lead or copper.
      Fouling Shot: A fouling shot is a shot fired through a clean bore, intended to leave some residue of firing and prepare the bore for more consistent performance in subsequent shots. The first shot through a clean bore will behave differently than subsequent shots through a bore with traces of powder residue, resulting in a different point of impact. Also, the Fouling Shot Journal, a publication of the Cast Bullet Association
      Frangible Bullet: A bullet that is designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impact to minimize their penetration for reasons of range safety, to limit environmental impact, or to limit the danger behind the intended target. Examples are the Glaser Safety Slug and the breaching round. Devistating on soft targets.
      Free Recoil: Technique of heavily sandbagging a rifle and touching it only with your finger when firing to improve consistency.
      Free-Floated Barrel: Barrel which does not touch the rifle's forearm, for better accuracy. It "floats" freely, unimpeded.
      Gas-Operated Reloading: A system of operation used to provide energy to operate autoloading firearms.
      Gauge: The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel.
      Glass Bedding: Applying liquid fiberglass or epoxy between a rifle's action/receiver and the stock for the snuggest possible fit. This eliminates any "play" between action and stock. Used in quality sniper rifles.
      Goose Necking: The undesirable practice of stretching one's head up above the rifle cheekrest (and thereby losing the stockweld) in order to see through a scope. Corrected by using a different buttstock, installing a strap-on cheeckrest, or using an adjustable cheekrest.
      Grain : Is a unit of measurement of mass that is based upon the mass of a single seed of a typical cereal. Used in firearms to denote the amount of powder in a cartridge or the weight of a bullet. Traditionally it was based on the weight of a grain of wheat or barley, but since 1958, the grain (gr) measure has been redefined using the International System of Units as precisely 64.79891 mg. There are 7,000 grains per avoirdupois pound in the Imperial and U.S. customary units.
      GrendelGrip Safety: A safety mechanism, usually a lever on the rear of a pistol grip, that automatically unlocks the trigger mechanism of a firearm as pressure is applied by the shooter's hand.
      Gunpowder: Also called black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing a volume of hot gas made up of carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen, and a solid residue of potassium sulfide. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. The term gunpowder also refers broadly to any propellant powder. Modern firearms do not use the traditional gunpowder (black powder) described here, but instead use smokeless powder.
      Half-Cock: The position of the hammer where the hammer is partially but not completely cocked. Many firearms, particularly older firearms, had a notch cut into the hammer allowing half-cock, as this position would neither allow the gun to fire nor permit the hammer-mounted firing pin to rest on a live percussion cap or cartridge. The purpose of the half-cock position has variously been used both for loading a firearm, and as a safety-mechanism.
      Hammer: The function of the hammer is to strike the firing pin in a firearm, which in turn detonates the impact-sensitive cartridge primer. The hammer of a firearm was given its name for both resemblance and functional similarity to the common tool.
      Hammer Bite: The action of an external hammer pinching or poking the web of the operator's shooting hand between the thumb and fore-finger when the gun is fired. Some handguns prone to this are the M1911 pistol and the Browning Hi-Power.
      Hammer Forging: A barrel manufacturing technique through the process of forging the barrel over a mandrel containing a reverse image of the rifling, and often the chamber as well.
      Hang Fire: An unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant. This failure was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, due to the poor or inconsistent quality of the powder. Modern weapons are susceptible, particularly if the ammunition has been stored in an environment outside of the design specifications.
      Hardball Bullet: Also called "full metal jacket" or "metal case" this bullet design uses a hard metal covering over a lead core so the round does not expand upon impact, as required by the Geneva Convention - all military ammunition is this.
      Headspace: The distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge (the datum reference) to the face of the bolt. Used as a verb, headspace refers to the interference created between this part of the chamber and the feature of the cartridge that achieves the correct positioning.
      Headstamp: A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber, if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added.
      Hoard: A stock or store of money or valued objects, typically one that is secret or carefully guarded.
      Hold: Compensating for wind or elevation by purposely aiming high/low or right/left instead of changing the setting on your scope. This is the fastest means of engaging multiple targets at assorted distances.
      Holographic Weapon Sight: A non-magnifying gun sight that allows the user to look through a glass optical window and see a cross hair reticle image superimposed at a distance on the field of view. The hologram of the reticle is built into the window and is illuminated by a laser diode.
      Horde: A large, loosely organized group of people, belonging to the Grendel clan.
      Improved Cartridge: A wildcat cartridge that is created by straightening out the sides of an existing case and making a sharper shoulder to maximize powder space. Frequently the neck length and shoulder position are altered as well. The caliber is NOT changed in the process.
      Improvised Firearm: A firearm manufactured by someone who is not a regular maker of firearms.
      IMR Powder or Improved Military Rifle: A series of tubular nitrocellulose smokeless powders evolved from World War I through World War II for loading military and commercial ammunition and sold to private citizens for reloading rifle ammunition for hunting and target shooting.
      Infrared Scope: A night observation device which needs an infrared light for illumination (active). These lights can be detected by other IR optics as well as Western Starlight-type night vision devices (passive), making them dangerous to use.
      Internal Ballistics: A subfield of ballistics, that is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel. The study of internal ballistics is important to designers and users of firearms of all types, from small-bore Olympic rifles and pistols, to high-tech artillery.
      Iron Sights: A system of aligned markers used to assist in the aiming of a device such as a firearm, crossbow, or telescope, and exclude the use of optics as in a scope. Iron sights are typically composed of two component sights, formed by metal blades: a rear sight mounted perpendicular to the line of sight and consisting of some form of notch (open sight) or aperture (closed sight); and a front sight that is a post, bead, or ring.
      Last edited by NugginFutz; 10-05-2013, 02:49 AM.
      If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

      Comment

      • NugginFutz
        Chieftain
        • Aug 2013
        • 2622

        #4
        Firearms Glossary Part 4

        Jacket: A metal, usually copper, formed around a lead core of a bullet.
        Jeweling: A cosmetic process to enhance the looks of firearm parts, such as the bolt. The look is created with an abrasive brush and compound that roughs the surface of the metal in a circular pattern.
        Kentucky Windage: A vintage American frontier term, meaning to hold rifle sights right or left of a target to compensate for effect of a crosswind.
        Keyhole or Keyholing: Refers to the shape of the hole left in a paper target by a bullet fired down a gun barrel which has a diameter larger than the bullet or which fails to properly stabilize the bullet. A bullet fired in this manner tends to wobble or tumble as it moves through the air and leaves a "keyhole" shaped hole in a paper target instead of a round one.
        Khyber Pass Copy: A firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
        Leade: (Freebore, Throat) The smooth, unrifled gap in a rifle's bore between the chamber and the start of the rifling.
        Length Of Pull (LOP): The distance between the trigger and the butt end of the stock of a rifle or shotgun.
        Lever-Action: A type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked.
        Live Fire Exercise or LFX: Any exercise in which a realistic scenario for the use of specific equipment is simulated. In the popular lexicon this is applied primarily to tests of weapons or weapon systems that are associated with the various branches of a nation's armed forces, although the term can be applied to the civilian arena as well.
        Lock Time: The amount of time between the sear releasing the hammer and its striking the firing pin and, consequently, a cartridge's primer. Short lock time is desirable for a precision rifle so that there's no time for weapon movement after the shooter pulls the trigger. (Typically 0.0022 to 0.0057 of a second)
        Lot or Lot Number: One batch of ammunition made up at the same time and using the same run of subcomponents. A sniper uses ammunition of the same lot number to enhance consistent performance.
        Lug: Any piece that projects from a firearm for the purpose of attaching something to it. For example barrel lugs are used to attach a break-action shotgun barrel to the action itself. If the firearm is a revolver, the term may also refer to a protrusion under the barrel that adds weight, thereby stabilizing the gun during aiming, mitigating recoil, and reducing muzzle flip. A full lug extends all the way to the muzzle, while a half lug extends only partially down the barrel. On a swing-out-cylinder revolver, the lug is slotted to accommodate the ejector rod.
        Magazine: A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm (fixed) or removable (detachable). The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm.
        Match Grade: Firearm parts and ammunition that are suitable for a competitive match. This refers to parts that are designed and manufactured such that they have a relatively tight-tolerances and high level of accuracy.
        Match-Grade Ammunition: Ammunition manufactured to much closer tolerances than regular ammunition to produce rounds that consistently perform to the highest of standards
        Maximum Effective Range: The greatest distance at which a weapon can inflict casualties, based upon both the energy of a bullet and the weapon's inherent accuracy.
        Meplat: From a French term for a flat surface, is the technical term for the flat or open tip on the nose of a bullet. The shape of the meplat is important in determining how the bullet moves through the air. In particular the size and shape of the meplat has a significant effect on the ballistic coefficient of a bullet.
        Mil or Milliradian: An angular measurement equal to 1/6400 of a circle or 3.375 minutes of arc (in NATO countries). The mil is a handy measurement since it subtrends 1 yard at 1000 yards, 1 meter at 1000 meters, etc., and therefore facilitates range estimation. The "real" trigonometric unit of angular measurement of a circle is 1/6283 (3.438 minutes of arc), and is in use by telescopic sight manufacturers using (stadiametric) rangefinding in reticles.
        Mil Dot: A tiny dot of very exact angular width in some scope reticles, such as the M3A1 Leupold, and used for range estimation.
        Minute Of Angle (MOA): An angular width (1⁄21,600 of a circle) normally used to describe shooting and scope adjustments since 1 MOA is approximately 1 inch (1.047") at 100 yards, 2/200, etc.
        Moderator: See suppressor
        Mount: AKA "base," this is the intermediate adapter which connects a scope to a rifle. Scope rings attach the scope to the base.
        Muzzle: The part of a firearm at the end of the barrel from which the projectile will exit.
        Muzzle Brake: A recoil-reducing device attached to the barrel that deflects blast laterally or backwards to mitigate recoil or even 'pull' the rifle slightly forward. Reduces recoil but can also make blast more visible by disturbing ground debris at the muzzle.
        Muzzle Crown: Polished, smoothly finished rifling at the muzzle done during manufacture to ensure the unimpeded, consistent exit of bullets. Some have a recessed crown to reduce the chance of 'dinging' any rifling edges during normal use.
        Muzzle Energy: The kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as a rough indication of the destructive potential of a given firearm or load. The heavier the bullet and the faster it moves, the higher its muzzle energy.
        Muzzle Velocity: Muzzle velocity is the speed at which a projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately 800 ft/s (240 m/s) for some pistols and older cartridges to more than 4,000 ft/s (1,200 m/s) in modern cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger.
        National Match: A term applied to ammunition and certain firearms to distinguish them as having been modified for higher precision shooting. Expert gunsmiths have fine-tuned them for match-type accuracy.
        Necking Down / Necking Up: Refers to shrinking or expanding the neck of an existing cartridge to make it use a bullet of a different caliber. A typical process used in the creation of wildcat cartridges.
        NecroPoster: A person posting in a really old topic, usually more than a year old. They look for old posts and try to start them up again. Most necroposting is caused by an unenlightened race known as the n00b.
        NRA or National Rifle Association Of America: An American organization which lists as its goals the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and self-defense in the United States. The NRA is also the sanctioning body for most marksmanship competition in the USA, from the local to the Olympic level (particularly bullseye style events).
        Objective Lens: The front/forward lens of an optical device
        Obturate: Obturation is the process of a bullet expanding under pressure to fit the bore of the firearm, or a cartridge case expanding under pressure to seal the chamber. See also swage.
        Ocular Lens: The rear/back lens or eyepiece of an optical device.
        Ordinate: The maximum Height above a horizontal surface that a bullet rises while in trajectory to a target. Ex: the ordinate of a federal .308 match round that impacts a target at 300 yards is 7.23 inches.
        Out-Of-BatteryOver-Bore: Small caliber bullets being used in very large cases. It is the relationship between the volume of powder that can fit in a case and the diameter of the inside of the barrel or bore.
        Parallax: The tendency for scope crosshairs to shift and change the point of impact if the shooter moves his head. Not a problem with new quality scopes of 10x or less, but can be a problem above 10x unless a side focus is provided or objective lens is adjustable.
        Parkerizing: A method of protecting a steel surface from corrosion and increasing its resistance to wear through the application of an electrochemical phosphate conversion coating. Also called phosphating and phosphatizing.
        Permanent Wound Channel: The path of permanent tissue damage left by a bullet, usually an inch or 2 in diameter. When this channel passes thru vitals organs or nerve tissue, significant injury or death results.
        Last edited by NugginFutz; 11-30-2016, 12:50 AM.
        If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

        Comment

        • NugginFutz
          Chieftain
          • Aug 2013
          • 2622

          #5
          Firearms Glossary Part 5

          Picatinny Rail: A bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform.
          Plinking: Informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles, and balloons filled with water.
          Point-Blank Range: Exploiting the flat phase of a particular bullet's trajectory so a shooter can hit targets with almost no high or low holds. Federal .308 match does not begin plunging until 400 yards; therefore, setting scope at 300, the shooter can ignore correct range estimation and holds, instead aiming dead-on at all ranges to 300 and never miss by more than about 7 inches--acceptable for hunters but not snipers.
          Polygonal Rifling: A type of gun barrel rifling where the traditional lands and grooves are replaced by "hills and valleys" in a rounded polygonal pattern, usually a hexagon or octagon.
          Primer: A metal cup containing primary explosive inserted into a recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge.
          Pump-Action: A rifle or shotgun in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from the trigger whilst reloading. When used in rifles, this action is also commonly called a slide action.
          Rate Of Fire: The frequency at which a firearm can fire its projectiles.
          Rate Of Twist: Term to describe rifling by the distance in inches a bullet passes in the barrel during a single rotation. Expressed as 1:n, where n is the number of inches travelled during that rotation.
          Recoil: The backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile, according to Newton's third law. (often called kickback or simply kick)
          Recoil Lug: A wide, heavy steel lug attached below the barrel at the front of the receiver through which recoil is transmitted to the rifle stock.
          Recoil Operation: Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used in locked-breech, autoloading firearms. As the name implies, these actions use the force of recoil to provide energy to cycle the action.
          Red Dot Sight: A type of reflector (reflex) sight for firearms that uses a red light-emitting diode as a reticle to create an aimpoint.
          Reflector (Reflex) Sight: A generally non-magnifying optical device that has an optically collimated reticle, allowing the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see a cross hair or other projected aiming point superimposed on the field of view. Invented in 1900 but not generally used on firearms until reliably illuminated versions were invented in the late 1970s (usually referred to by the abbreviation "reflex sight").
          Reticle or Reticule: Another word for "crosshair," the post, dot, or intersecting lines in a scope.
          Revolver: A repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing.
          Rifle Bedding: A process of filling gaps between the action and the stock of a rifle with an epoxy based material.
          Rifling: Helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis. This spin serves to gyroscopically stabilize the projectile, improving its aerodynamic stability and accuracy.
          Rimfire Ammunition: Usually found only in .17 or .22 rounds, a cartridge that has an internal primer detonated by a firing pin striking the cartridge’s rim.
          Rolling Block: A form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a circular shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is locked into place by the hammer, thus preventing the cartridge from moving backwards at the moment of firing. By cocking the hammer, the breechblock can be rotated freely to reload the weapon.
          Round: A single cartridge.
          Sabot: A device used in a firearm to fire a projectile, such as a bullet, that is smaller than the bore diameter.
          Safety: A mechanism used to help prevent the accidental discharge of a firearm, helping to ensure safer handling. Safeties can generally be divided into subtypes such as internal safeties (which typically do not receive input from the user) and external safeties (which typically allow the user to give input, for example, toggling a lever from "on" to "off" or something similar). Sometimes these are called "passive" and "active" safeties (or "automatic" and "manual"), respectively.
          Scope: An abbreviated term for "telescopic sight."
          Selective Fire: A firearm that fires semi–automatically and at least one automatic mode by means of a selector depending on the weapon's design. Some selective fire weapons utilize burst fire mechanisms to limit the maximum or total number of shots fired automatically in this mode. The most common limits are two or three rounds per pull of the trigger.
          Semi-Wadcutter or SWC: A type of all-purpose bullet commonly used in revolvers, which combine features of the wadcutter target bullet, and traditional round nosed revolver bullets, and is used in both revolver and pistol cartridges for hunting, target shooting, and plinking. The basic SWC design consists of a roughly conical nose, truncated with a flat point, sitting on a cylinder. The flat nose punches a clean hole in the target, rather than tearing it like a round nose bullet would, and the sharp shoulder enlarges the hole neatly, allowing easy and accurate scoring of the target. The SWC design offers better external ballistics than the wadcutter, as its conical nose produces less drag than the flat cylinder.
          Short-Barreled Rifle (SBR): Short-barreled rifle (SBR) is a legal designation in the United States, referring to a shoulder-fired, rifled firearm with a barrel length of less than 16 inches (40.6 cm) or overall length of less than 26 inches (66.0 cm). In the United States, an SBR is an item regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) as an NFA firearm. In the absence of local laws prohibiting ownership, American civilians may own an SBR provided it is registered with the BATFE, and a $200 tax is paid prior to taking possession of or creating the firearm.
          Short-Barreled Shotgun (SBS): A type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or deleted stock. Under the National Firearms Act (NFA), it is illegal for a private citizen to possess a sawed-off modern smokeless powder shotgun (a shotgun with a barrel length shorter than 18 inches (46 cm) or an overall length shorter than 26 inches (66 cm)), without a tax-paid registration from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, requiring a background check and either a $200 or $5 tax for every transfer, depending upon the specific manufacturing circumstances of the particular sawed-off modern shotgun being transferred.
          Silencer: Obsolete term for a suppressor, no longer used because no device totally silences a firearm.
          Single-Shot: A firearm that holds only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded after each shot.
          Slam fire: A premature, unintended discharge of a firearm that occurs as a round is being loaded into the chamber, usually caused by the impact of a free floated firing pin against the cartridge’s primer.
          Slide Bite: A phenomenon that is often grouped with hammer bite. In this case the web of the shooting hand is cut or abraded by the rearward motion of the semi-automatic pistol's slide, not by the gun's hammer. This most often occurs with small pistols like the Walther PPK and Walther TPH that have an abbreviated grip tang. This problem is exacerbated by the sharp machining found on many firearms.
          Sling: A type of strap or harness designed to allow an operator carry a firearm (usually a long gun such as a rifle, carbine, shotgun, or submachine gun) on his/her person and/or aid in greater hit probability with that firearm.
          SOG: Using the cover name "Studies and Observatory Group," this was the US military's top-secret unconventional warfare task force during the Vietnam war, composed mostly of US Army Green Berets used in cross-border intelligence forays and raids into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam
          Speedloader: A device used for loading a firearm or firearm magazine with loose ammunition very quickly. Generally, speedloaders are used for loading all chambers of a revolver simultaneously, although speedloaders of different designs are also used for the loading of fixed tubular magazines of shotguns and rifles, or the loading of box or drum magazines. Revolver speedloaders are used for revolvers having either swing-out cylinders or top-break cylinders.
          Last edited by NugginFutz; 10-03-2013, 10:23 PM.
          If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

          Comment

          • NugginFutz
            Chieftain
            • Aug 2013
            • 2622

            #6
            Firearms Glossary Part 6

            Spin Drift: Sideways motion of a projectile in flight, caused by spin stabilization. Even in completely calm air, with no sideways air movement at all, a spin-stabilized projectile will experience a spin-induced sideways component.
            Spitzer Bullet: Also commonly referred to as a spire point bullet, is primarily a small arms ballistics development of the late 19th and early 20th century. The name 'Spitzer' is an Anglicized form of the German word Spitzgeschoss, literally meaning "pointy bullet".
            Sporterising: The practice of modifying military-type firearms either to make them suitable for civilian sporting use or to make them legal under the law.
            Spotting Scope: A single-lens scope, usually of 20 power or greater and used with a tripod for long-range observation, adjusting the sniper's fire, and reading mirage for wind speed and direction.
            Squib Load: A firearms malfunction in which a fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck. Also known as squib round, pop and no kick, or just squib.
            Stadia Marks: Also called stadia lines or stadia hairs, are crosshairs on the reticle of a rifle scope that allow stadiametric rangefinding, a method of determining the range to a target by comparing the spacing of reticle marks against objects of known sizes.
            Stock: The part of a rifle or other firearm, to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached, that is held against one's shoulder when firing the gun. The stock provides a means for the shooter to firmly support the device and easily aim it.
            Stockweld: The habitual placing of a shooter's cheek at the exact same spot on their stock, shot after shot, so that their eye relief and scope picture become consistent. By "welding" their eye to one spot, a shooter improves consistency and therefore accuracy.
            Stopping Power: The ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target, human or animal, sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands.
            Stripper Clip: A speedloader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine. A stripper clip is used only for loading the magazine and is not necessary for the firearm to function.
            Subtends: The amount an angular measurement equals at a given range. For example, 1 minute of angle subtends 3 inches at 300 yards.
            Suppressor: A device that uses baffles and fine meshing to dissipate and slow the escape of gases from a weapon muzzle and thereby reduces the normal muzzle report.
            Swage: To reduce an item in size by forcing through a die. In internal ballistics, swaging refers to the process where bullets are swaged into the rifling of the barrel by the force of the expanding powder gases.
            Swaged Bullet: A bullet that is formed by forcing the bullet into a die to assume its final form.
            Taylor KO Factor: Mathematical approach for evaluating the stopping power of hunting cartridges.
            Telescoping Stock or Collapsing Stock: A stock on a firearm that telescopes or folds in on itself in order to become more compact. Telescoping stocks are useful for storing a rifle or weapon in a space that it would not normally fit in.
            Tennessee Elevation: To compensate or "hold" high or low to hit targets beyond or short of a rifle's zero--the trajectory correlation to Kentucky windage.
            Terminal Ballistics: A sub-field of ballistics, is the study of the behavior of a projectile when it hits its target.
            Throat Erosion: The wearing of the portion of the barrel where the gas pressure and heat is highest as the projectile leaves the chamber. The greater the chamber pressure the more rapid throat erosion occurs which is compounded by rapid firing which heats and weakens the steel.
            Trajectory: The arched path a bullet follows from a rifle's muzzle until it hits the ground. The steepness of this arch varies depending on the angle at which the shooter holds the rifle--and this, of course, will vary according to how far away his intended target is located.
            Trapping: One of two techniques for engaging moving targets. In this technique, the shooter picks a point ahead of the target, holds steadily on the point, then squeezes off a shot when the target arrives there.
            Trigger: A mechanism that actuates the firing sequence of a firearm. Triggers almost universally consist of levers or buttons actuated by the index finger.
            Trunnion: A cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting and/or pivoting point. On firearms, the barrel is sometimes mounted in a trunnion, which in turn is mounted to the receiver.
            Turkey Necking: The undesirable practice of stretching your neck forward or back in order to see through your riflescope properly. Corrected either by lengthening the buttstock or changing the scope eye relief.
            Twilight Factor: A means of measuring an optical device's low-light resolution and magnification, which is probably a more useful way for comparing scopes, binoculars, etc., for night use. Measured by multiplying the objective lens diameter by the device's power, then computing this figure's square root. For a 10x scope having a 40mm objective lens = 400, whose sqrt is 20.
            VelocityWadcutter: A special-purpose bullet specially designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under 800 ft/s (240 m/s). They are often used in handgun and airgun competitions. A wadcutter has a flat or nearly flat front that cuts a very clean hole through the paper target, making it easier to score and ideally reducing errors in scoring the target to the favor of the shooter.
            Wildcat Cartridge or Wildcat: A custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic (such as the power, size or efficiency) of an existing commercial cartridge. See improved cartridge.
            Wind Drift: The lateral distance a bullet drifts in a crosswind, measured in inches at various distances. Some bullet shapes, such as round nose, are more susceptible to wind drift, but others, like boattail, are less affected.
            Windage: The side-to-side adjustment of a sight, used to change the horizontal component of the aiming point. See also Kentucky windage.
            X-Ring: A circle in the middle of a shooting target bullseye used to determine winners in event of a tie.
            Yaw: The heading of a bullet, used in external ballistics that refers to how the Magnus effect causes bullets to move out of a straight line based on their spin.
            Zero: The adjustment of an optical or open sight so that a bullet precisely hits a target at a given distance. Police usually zero their rifles for 100 yards, USMC snipers for 600 yards, and U.S. army snipers for 300 yards.

            Sources: Glossary of firearms terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
            "The Ultimate Sniper" by Maj. John L. Plaster
            NRA-ILA Glossary
            Last edited by NugginFutz; 09-06-2013, 05:53 PM.
            If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

            Comment

            • LR1955
              Super Moderator
              • Mar 2011
              • 3355

              #7
              NF:

              Thank you for putting this up for people to use as a reference. Sometimes guys use terms on the forum that are hard to figure out. My be a good idea to cite your source.

              Hopefully someone will come up with some marksmanship specific terms and state their value.

              Nothing here need come from a specific source. Sometimes it is better for people to define a term themselves.

              Now to figure out how to put JASmith's 'reticule / reticle' into the list.

              LR1955

              Comment


              • #8
                Excellent reference, thanks! A list of commonly used acronyms would be helpful as well (MOA, COAL, Etc..)

                Comment

                • Michael
                  Warrior
                  • Jan 2012
                  • 353

                  #9
                  IMHO, this thread needs a sticky...
                  I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it.
                  - Voltaire

                  Comment

                  • Tedward
                    Banned
                    • Feb 2013
                    • 1717

                    #10
                    "Sticky' needs added to the Forum Glossary or Definitions IMHO

                    Comment

                    • NugginFutz
                      Chieftain
                      • Aug 2013
                      • 2622

                      #11
                      Originally posted by DW61 View Post
                      Excellent reference, thanks! A list of commonly used acronyms would be helpful as well (MOA, COAL, Etc..)
                      Thank you.

                      I've posted a list of acronyms, such as it is, this morning. Embarrassingly enough, bwaites has already pointed out that I'd omitted AA (Alexander Arms) and has locked the thread to humiliate me until I pay a ransom of 200 rounds of loaded ammo and one orange soda.

                      Originally posted by LR1955 View Post
                      NF:

                      Thank you for putting this up for people to use as a reference. Sometimes guys use terms on the forum that are hard to figure out. My be a good idea to cite your source.

                      Hopefully someone will come up with some marksmanship specific terms and state their value.

                      Nothing here need come from a specific source. Sometimes it is better for people to define a term themselves.

                      Now to figure out how to put JASmith's 'reticule / reticle' into the list.

                      LR1955
                      You're welcome. I've added citations for the sources I remember using. And I paid a small homage to JASmith by including both spellings in the glossary, though without the explanation of their origins.
                      Last edited by NugginFutz; 09-05-2013, 08:55 PM.
                      If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

                      Comment

                      • bwaites
                        Moderator
                        • Mar 2011
                        • 4445

                        #12
                        Thanks! This is great! Stuck!!!

                        Comment

                        • Sputnik
                          Warrior
                          • May 2013
                          • 503

                          #13
                          How does one ask to add to this glossary? I always seem to forget the term where the bullet surface and the lands interact. I think it is called "Bearing Surface"?

                          Comment

                          • NugginFutz
                            Chieftain
                            • Aug 2013
                            • 2622

                            #14
                            The most direct way would be to PM the OP (me), LR1955 or bwaites. That way, the thread doesn't become congested.
                            If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

                            Comment

                            • LR1955
                              Super Moderator
                              • Mar 2011
                              • 3355

                              #15
                              Guys:

                              I will be out of the net for a few days so if you all need to get something into the glossary, get NF or Bill

                              And yes, the bearing surface is the part of the bullet that gets engraved by the rifling. I believe it is also called the bullet shank. I should know because I have been swaging jacketed bullets for years but there you go..


                              LR1955

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X