Otherwise, you may be left to wonder what your fellow shooters are talking about.
In common gun related conversations, the following terms are words and phrases that you will likely run into.
Ill break them down into easily understood definitions.
Think you know your way around a firearm? Read on to check out these top 21 terms.
Let me know if you think I missed any important ones!
Action:The guns action is the collection of parts that allow it to chamber and fire a cartridge.
There are a variety of actions such asautomatic,semi-automatic,bolt,leverandrevolver.
There are a lot of confusing terms covering all the parts and pieces involved with shooting.
Assault Rifle: Assault rifles are typically small- to intermediate-caliber rifles that have some kind of fully automatic action.
This term is often misapplied to semi-automatic, civilian-legal firearms.
In the United States, true assault rifles are heavily regulated and not produced for sale to civilians.
See this part? Do you call it a barrel hood, or something else?
It is typically used to define any number of firearms, usually determined by their appearance.
Internally, this portion of the barrel is the chamber area that holds the cartridge for firing.
In many modern autopistol designs, it also acts as part of the locking mechanism.
This is a “stripper clip” holding 5.56mm rounds. Do you use the term “clip” correctly?
Bolt-Acton: Bolt-actions are most commonly rifles.
Turning the bolt and pulling it back will extract and eject a spent case.
Caliber: Officially, caliber is only the measurement of the width of a projectile measured in inches.
Can you identify the dust cover here on this XD-9 Sub-Compact 9mm?
Unofficially, many people use the term to refer to the specific cartridge a firearm is designed to shoot.
Conversely, it can also be measured in millimeters.
Cartridge:A modern cartridge consists of a case, primer, bullet and powder.
You can see the extractor here, but not the ejector. Do you know the difference?
The cartridge case contains all of the other components.
A primer is the small round component in the base of the case.
When struck, the primer ignites the powder in the case.
This is a magazine with loose rounds shown. Do you call it a “clip”?
Clips are often used with guns that have fixed magazines like theM1 Garand rifleand the originalMauser C96pistol.
The term clip is frequently confused with magazine.
Dust Cover: Anything that covers or seals the ejection port of a firearm is a dustcover.
This is the muzzle of a pistol, showing the barrel and its crown where the projectile exits.
It may also be known as an ejection port cover.
The term can also refer to the part of a pistols frame forward of the trigger guard.
Full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets have an exposed lead base.
Here are the primary components of a loaded round of ammunition, including primer (far left), case, powder and projectile.
Some bullets have a complete jacket and are sometimes called Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) projectiles.
Lever-Action:If youve ever seen a cowboy movie, youve probably seen a lever-action gun.
These firearms have a metal handguard around the trigger that moves.
Smokeless powder is used in all modern cartridges.
When you lever the handguard down, it opens the chamber and removes any fired case.
Magazines can be fixed or removeable.
Most modern pistols and rifles use detachable magazines that can be removed from the gun for loading or storage.
Muzzle: The muzzle is the forward edge of a firearms barrel where a projectile exits.
Powder: All modern cartridges use smokeless powder.
Black powder is a special kind of powder used inmuzzleloading firearms.
Primer: A primer is used to ignite the powder in a cartridge.
Revolver: Predominantly seen in handguns,revolvershave a cylinder that holds cartridges.
A single-action revolver requires you to manually cock the trigger.
A double-action revolver simultaneously rotates the cylinder and cocks the hammer with a longer trigger pull.
Most defensive revolvers are double-action style guns.
Revolvers are sometimes known as wheel guns and six shooters.
Semi-Automatic: Asemi-automatic firearmis one that discharges a single bullet with a single press of the trigger.
The gun will not fire until the trigger is pressed again.
Semi-automatic firearms are one of the most common kinds of guns in existence.
[Be sure to readHow to Load a Pistol.]
Silencer (or Suppressor): This is a sound suppressing equipment that acts much like a cars muffler.
While the term sound suppressor is more accurate, the name comes from the Maxim Silencer.
The Maxim Silencer is considered to be the first commercially successful firearm sound suppressor.
Go to forum thread
HellcatSeries
XD3" Sub-Compact
XD-ETMSeries
