Glossary

ACP: Automatic Colt Pistol.
Accidental discharge (AD): Firing of a gun by accident.
Automatic: 1) Weapons that continue to fire as long as the trigger is pulled and ammunition is available.
Bullet: 1) The lead portion, jacketed or otherwise, of the cartridge. 2) Slang for cartridge.
Carbine: The shorter version of a rifle model, initially designed for ease of carry while on horseback.
Cartridge: Pistol or rifle ammunition.
Clip: 1) Slang for pistol magazine. 2) Stripper clips used in Springfield 1903s.
Derringer: Small handgun with one to four barrels, named for Henry Deringer.
Double-action (DA): Cocking the hammer of a handgun by pulling the trigger. In the case of semi-auto handguns, some are DA for the first shot and SA after that, others are DA only.
Fanning: Using the non-shooting hand to fan the hammer back on a revolver while maintaining pressure on the trigger, allowing rapid fire.
Hang-fire: A cartridge that does not fire immediately, but hangs before discharging.
Machine gun: A fully automatic weapon that fires rifle ammunition.
Magazine: Storage area for cartridges. Can be internal (Winchesters, Spencers) or external (modern military rifles, semi-auto handguns). Removable external magazines are often referred to as clips. The term is incorrect, but very popular.
Musket: 1) A smooth-bore muzzle-loading long gun. 2) The long version of certain Winchester rifles.
Pistol: A handgun. In modern times it usually refers to a semi-automatic, to differentiate it from a revolver.
Primer: The portion of a cartridge containing a small charge that, when struck by the hammer, explodes and ignites the powder.
Repeater: A rifle that holds several rounds of ammo, allowing the shooter to quickly reload and fire.
Rifle: A long gun with rifling grooves inside its barrel. Federal law calls for a sixteen-inch minimum barrel length.
Rimfire: Cartridges with the primer around the shell rim. Twenty-two cartridges are rimfires.
Semi-automatic: Firearms that fire one shot for every pull of the trigger but automatically load the next round into the chamber.
Shell: 1) The metal casing of a cartridge. Most often the metal is brass, hence the slang term brass for empty casings. 2) Slang for cartridge.
Shot: Shotgun pellets and buckshot.
Shotgun: A smoothbore long gun that fires shot or slugs encased in shotshells. Coach guns have shorter barrels for much the same reason as carbines do. Federal law requires barrel length to be eighteen inches minimum.
Silencer: Common name for a suppressor. Semi-automatic handguns, rifles, and automatic rifles may be suppressed, but not revolvers.
Single-action (SA): Handguns that require the hammer be cocked prior to pulling the trigger. In most semi-autos firing the first shot cocks the gun for the subsequent shot. All of the OW revolvers, with the possible exception of JD's guns, are SA.
Slide: The top portion of a semi-automatic handgun that slides back after each shot. Chambering a cartridge is sometimes referred to as racking the slide.
Submachine gun: Automatic weapons firing handgun ammunition.
WCF: Winchester Center Fire.