Correct Terminology
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863 Posts
Calling a cartridge a bullet at ain't my "favorite" misnomer but it's the one that bothers me most when I hear it from reloaders. And, frequently, calling a bullet a "round."
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676 Posts
Arsenal: Used by every journalist applied to any collector with more than 2 firearms and a 100 rounds of ammunition.
Tactical: Used by the youngster who needs a gun that is tactical. Join the marines.
Assault rifle: Again used by every journalist and politician who know less about firearms than I know about the legal differences between different types of law.
Shotty or Shottie: Is shotgun that hard to say?
Tactical: Used by the youngster who needs a gun that is tactical. Join the marines.
Assault rifle: Again used by every journalist and politician who know less about firearms than I know about the legal differences between different types of law.
Shotty or Shottie: Is shotgun that hard to say?
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11,188 Posts
1. A hunter: someone who likes to hunt, but not always has to "kill" something while hunting.
2. A shooter: someone who likes to shoot because he likes to be on top of his game if he wants to "kill" something because he likes to hunt. (see #1)
3. A reloader: someone who likes to hunt and shoot (see 1 and 2) and likes itty bitty groups.
4. A recoil junky: (see 1-3)
RJ
2. A shooter: someone who likes to shoot because he likes to be on top of his game if he wants to "kill" something because he likes to hunt. (see #1)
3. A reloader: someone who likes to hunt and shoot (see 1 and 2) and likes itty bitty groups.
4. A recoil junky: (see 1-3)
RJ
Our local so-called "newspaper" dearly LOVES any story involving a shotgun. Of course, it is always a ".12 guage shotgun".
Now, let's see. The guage of a shotgun is the number of pure lead balls of the gun's bore size that would make up one pund. Thus, 12 balls the size of a 12 ga. bore would weiogh one pound. Apparently in this case, about 1/8 of a ball the size of this gun's bore would weigh a pound, so ONE ball the size of a .12 ga, bore would weight about EIGHT POUNDS.
For some reason, they never mention the wheeled carriage upon which the .12 guage in question must have been mounted, nor the horse or motor vehicle with which the cannon-wielding miscreant must have towed it.
Now, let's see. The guage of a shotgun is the number of pure lead balls of the gun's bore size that would make up one pund. Thus, 12 balls the size of a 12 ga. bore would weiogh one pound. Apparently in this case, about 1/8 of a ball the size of this gun's bore would weigh a pound, so ONE ball the size of a .12 ga, bore would weight about EIGHT POUNDS.
For some reason, they never mention the wheeled carriage upon which the .12 guage in question must have been mounted, nor the horse or motor vehicle with which the cannon-wielding miscreant must have towed it.
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7,606 Posts
Yes! jwp, can you do one on 'caliber', and 'cartridge'!
Cartridge, caliber and bullet are used as freely and interchangeably, by some, as "their, there and they're". If I turn my nose up far enough and forget what good folk the writers of these little errors usually are, I guess I could get irritated by it. However, I am more forgiving of anyone who supports our 2nd Amendment rights than that, so I turn a blind eye to all of the little squiggly red lines and misused terms. I'll take an honest man with an "interesting" writing style over a pinko liberal lawyer who writes befuddling prose, with ill intent.
I can string a few words together but that's not nearly as important as the sincere message we hear from some of our seasoned members, who maybe had to leave school to work after the 8th grade, like my grandpa did. Spelling and grammar and diction are all nice things...but they'll never trump WISDOM. So, to all you fine gentleman who don't always know where the punctuation marks go; keep writing what you feel and I'll be more than happy figure out what you have to say. It's almost always worth my time.
Jason
I can string a few words together but that's not nearly as important as the sincere message we hear from some of our seasoned members, who maybe had to leave school to work after the 8th grade, like my grandpa did. Spelling and grammar and diction are all nice things...but they'll never trump WISDOM. So, to all you fine gentleman who don't always know where the punctuation marks go; keep writing what you feel and I'll be more than happy figure out what you have to say. It's almost always worth my time.
Jason
"If I turn my nose up far enough and forget what good folk the writers of these little errors usually are, I guess I could get irritated by it. However, I am more forgiving of anyone who supports our 2nd Amendment rights than that, so I turn a blind eye to all of the little squiggly red lines and...."
broom-jm, I agree, and when you do you encourage someone to write by participating, being welcome should not be conditional...and I can not imagine how miserable I would be if all I did was was look for fault. No matter how bad, there is a little good, no matter how good, there is a little bad, could have been Confucius or the school of Yen Yang that said that.
F. Guffey
broom-jm, I agree, and when you do you encourage someone to write by participating, being welcome should not be conditional...and I can not imagine how miserable I would be if all I did was was look for fault. No matter how bad, there is a little good, no matter how good, there is a little bad, could have been Confucius or the school of Yen Yang that said that.
F. Guffey
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3,312 Posts
Monty - we know! <grin>(grinning here)
On proper usage of both terms and grammar, I'm a stickler. I often hear the excuse, "as long as you know what I mean..." The problem is, I DON'T. Do I assume you know and used the correct term, or do I assume you don't know and used the wrong term? We only communicate through language, and sloppy, incorrect language can only result in sloppy and incorrect communication.
Is close enough really good enough? I once got an email from a guy who failed to notice the difference between grains and grams. You can imagine how upset he was with what happened to his new gun.</grin>
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13,441 Posts
Shells rather than cartridges.
Can someone explain to me why an empty cartridge case is a shell, while an empty shotgun shell is a hull?
Heads instead of bullets. I think that term evolved so the user could say "bullets" instead of "cartridges" and still be able to draw a distinction between the two.
I have to admit, all of us who grew up with cowboy TV shows and movies likely used "bullets" for "cartridges" at one time in our lives. In the heyday of the cap gun, I recall it was important to distinguish between "bullets" and "real bullets", as when dad took us shooting.
Can someone explain to me why an empty cartridge case is a shell, while an empty shotgun shell is a hull?
Heads instead of bullets. I think that term evolved so the user could say "bullets" instead of "cartridges" and still be able to draw a distinction between the two.
I have to admit, all of us who grew up with cowboy TV shows and movies likely used "bullets" for "cartridges" at one time in our lives. In the heyday of the cap gun, I recall it was important to distinguish between "bullets" and "real bullets", as when dad took us shooting.
I'm afraid I have to both agree and disagree with the preceding posts regarding grammar and style.
I have no problem, generally, with loose or nonexistent grammar and style when it comes to casual communication between friends. Much of the traffic in forums like this one consists of just such messages.
However, that doesn't mean such things are unimportant. Sometimes, posts containing no punctution, one long run-on sentence, and bad spelling are virtually impossible to understand, let alone answer intelligently. When discussing technical matters such as load data, clear communication is not just a matter of clarity but potentially of damage to firearms and/or shooters. And I get particularly upset when, as is often the case, I see posts pertaining to Second Amendment issues (usually forwarded stuff introduced by, "A buddy sent this to me -- pass it on!") that contain outright plagiarisms and false attributions (such as the supposed "Hitler speech" about gun control that Hitler never uttered, or the wonderful "Why I carry a Gun" essay by "Major L. Caudill, USMC ret.", who did NOT write it and may not even exist), or lousy spelling and grammar. These things can and do sometimes "go viral", becoming widely distributed, and they do nothing but serve up ammo for those of the anti-Second Amendment crowd who are always keeping a sharp lookout for evidence that we are the illiterate, lowlife boobs they wish to portray us as, anyway.
So when I see terms like "clip" or "bullet" or "caliber" being used improperly I try, as tactfully as I can, to correct the writer. I figure that, after all, the person is usually asking to be educated on the subject he is inquiring about, and so I try to do my best to accommodate when I can.
I have no problem, generally, with loose or nonexistent grammar and style when it comes to casual communication between friends. Much of the traffic in forums like this one consists of just such messages.
However, that doesn't mean such things are unimportant. Sometimes, posts containing no punctution, one long run-on sentence, and bad spelling are virtually impossible to understand, let alone answer intelligently. When discussing technical matters such as load data, clear communication is not just a matter of clarity but potentially of damage to firearms and/or shooters. And I get particularly upset when, as is often the case, I see posts pertaining to Second Amendment issues (usually forwarded stuff introduced by, "A buddy sent this to me -- pass it on!") that contain outright plagiarisms and false attributions (such as the supposed "Hitler speech" about gun control that Hitler never uttered, or the wonderful "Why I carry a Gun" essay by "Major L. Caudill, USMC ret.", who did NOT write it and may not even exist), or lousy spelling and grammar. These things can and do sometimes "go viral", becoming widely distributed, and they do nothing but serve up ammo for those of the anti-Second Amendment crowd who are always keeping a sharp lookout for evidence that we are the illiterate, lowlife boobs they wish to portray us as, anyway.
So when I see terms like "clip" or "bullet" or "caliber" being used improperly I try, as tactfully as I can, to correct the writer. I figure that, after all, the person is usually asking to be educated on the subject he is inquiring about, and so I try to do my best to accommodate when I can.
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1,629 Posts
Why O Why ?
Winney----for Winchester
Remmy----for Remington
Loopie----for Leupold
Clip -----for mag
Ki-yo-tie----for Ki-yote
head----for bullet
And the very worse of all -->
Obama---for Commander and Chief
Watch me slip this one past the mods. They'll never even notice it. ----pruhdlr
Winney----for Winchester
Remmy----for Remington
Loopie----for Leupold
Clip -----for mag
Ki-yo-tie----for Ki-yote
head----for bullet
And the very worse of all -->
Obama---for Commander and Chief
Watch me slip this one past the mods. They'll never even notice it. ----pruhdlr
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7,606 Posts
For the most part, have to agree with Rocky & pisgah; discussion of technical issues calls for more precise communication than casual conversation. Understanding poorly worded, termed, punctuated and grammered (is that a word) writing may not be the same between various people, especially technical subjects. However, I don't think we need to be term, grammar and punctuation police either.
When seeing a question - for example - of "What is your favorite .458 'caliber'?" I resist the urge to reply, "It's .458, of course!", because I understand the writer was really asking "What is your favorite .458 'cartridge'?" Even though letting that slide probably helps perpetuate incorrect use of terms, that example isn't worth upsetting anybody by correcting. When incorrect terms become a safety issue, they should always be corrected.
Written communication is a lot more difficult and time-consuming than speaking.
) writing may not be the same between various people, especially technical subjects. However, I don't think we need to be term, grammar and punctuation police either.When seeing a question - for example - of "What is your favorite .458 'caliber'?" I resist the urge to reply, "It's .458, of course!", because I understand the writer was really asking "What is your favorite .458 'cartridge'?" Even though letting that slide probably helps perpetuate incorrect use of terms, that example isn't worth upsetting anybody by correcting. When incorrect terms become a safety issue, they should always be corrected.
Written communication is a lot more difficult and time-consuming than speaking.
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816 Posts
Casing instead of case. Don't know why but that one drives me nuts. Casing is something used to make a sausage not a cartridge.
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542 Posts
Alright, I've used all of those terms wrongly before too, so someone please (tactfully) set me straight!
bullet - the single projectile a rifle/pistol fires?
cartridge - The particular design of the whole fired assembly or one such assembly to be loaded into the firearm?
round - same as above
case - the brass/aluminum/steel part that holds the whole cartridge/round together?
shell - rim-fire cartridges or shotgun rounds?
shot - past tense of "shoot", or the collection of projectiles in a shotgun shell
pellet - an individual projectile for a shotgun or air gun
caliber - the diameter of the rifle/hand gun bullet
ammunition - plural of cartridge
Here's some more:
Revolver - a hand gun with a rotating bank of cylinders holding the cartridges
pistol - anything not a revolver (including auto loaders, muzzle loaders, single shot bolt and break actions, etc.)
How did I do there?
bullet - the single projectile a rifle/pistol fires?
cartridge - The particular design of the whole fired assembly or one such assembly to be loaded into the firearm?
round - same as above
case - the brass/aluminum/steel part that holds the whole cartridge/round together?
shell - rim-fire cartridges or shotgun rounds?
shot - past tense of "shoot", or the collection of projectiles in a shotgun shell
pellet - an individual projectile for a shotgun or air gun
caliber - the diameter of the rifle/hand gun bullet
ammunition - plural of cartridge
Here's some more:
Revolver - a hand gun with a rotating bank of cylinders holding the cartridges
pistol - anything not a revolver (including auto loaders, muzzle loaders, single shot bolt and break actions, etc.)
How did I do there?
Go back to the first post and add a footnote, one of the illustrations looks like a stripper clip meaning there could be more than one type of clip. and when in the UK consider dropping the condescending attitude and allow the bullet to be called a head in honor of Rudyard Kipling and A. Cannon Doyle.
F. Guffey
F. Guffey
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7,606 Posts
I think you did quite well enigma!
Have to say though, 'caliber' is the biggest bugaboo we all have to contend with. 38 spcl is not really '.38 caliber', but .357", or .358" bullet diameter. Likewise, '44 caliber' is really .429" or .430" bullet diameter. Many other examples to confuse us (30-30; .308" dia, etc.), and some cartridge designations are named from bore diameter, others by rifling diameter. Cartridge naming further confuses the issue. 45-70 is 45 caliber, 70 grs of black powder. 270 Win has a .277" dia bullet. 280 (.284") Rem packs the same diameter bullet as the 7mm RM. Do the metric conversion on those and you don't come up with the same number!!...
Have to say though, 'caliber' is the biggest bugaboo we all have to contend with. 38 spcl is not really '.38 caliber', but .357", or .358" bullet diameter. Likewise, '44 caliber' is really .429" or .430" bullet diameter. Many other examples to confuse us (30-30; .308" dia, etc.), and some cartridge designations are named from bore diameter, others by rifling diameter. Cartridge naming further confuses the issue. 45-70 is 45 caliber, 70 grs of black powder. 270 Win has a .277" dia bullet. 280 (.284") Rem packs the same diameter bullet as the 7mm RM. Do the metric conversion on those and you don't come up with the same number!!...
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