Acronyms and terms for the newbies

[The Pontificator]

Fairly new to firearms? Here's a few acronyms to help make the transition easier. Please feel free to add to the list:

ARFCOM: AR15.com (internet message board)

LGS: "Local Gun Shop" or "Local Gun Store"

PSA: Palmetto State Armory, an online vendor and operator of five and soon to be six retail stores in South Carolina.

Neckbeard: Resell trolls (people who suck up .22 ammo, smokeless powder, etc. from retail stores and then resell it online at highly inflated prices...the lowlifes who are creating artificial shortages)

IWB: "Inside the Waistband" holster

AIWB: "Appendix Carry Inside the Waistband" holster; IWB holster suitable for carry at 2 O'clock position

OWB: "Outside the Waistband" holster

SOB: "Small of the Back" holster

Blackout: Refers to the new .300AAC Cartridge, a modified 5.56 x 45 NATO (AR-15/M-16) round designed for better ballistics through a shorter rifle barrel or AR-15 Pistol barrel

SPP: Small Pistol Primer

LPP: Large Pistol Primer

LRP: Large Rifle Primer

SRP: Small Rifle Primer

KB: Kaboom (a gun that blows up due to any number of reasons but main culprits are reloaded ammo with too large a charge, using worn-out rifle brass, or improper headspacing)

Headspace: Refers to the space between the base of the cartridge and the breech face (the part where the firing pin sticks out) and the proper point of contact where the cartridge and the barrel chamber interface to ensure that proper space. A very important thing to know if you're reloading your own ammo. Headspacing can be hard for the newbie to wrap one's head around. Even some of us old timers have trouble defining it. Some cartridges like 9mm headspace on the case mouth. Rifle cartridges often headspace on the tapered portion of the case neck. Reloaded revolver brass and rifle brass must be trimmed to ensure proper headspace. Straight walled pistol brass doesn't need to be trimmed unless you are anal retentive.

Hoplophobe, Hoplophobic: refers to "fear of weapons". Slang term not an actual medical term.

CTD: "Cheaper than Dirt!", a major retailer of firearms and accessories. Some love 'em others hate 'em.

LPK: "lower parts kit" usually used to build a lower receiver on an AR-15 rifle, Usually contains various pins, springs, trigger group, etc.

RCBS: A major manufacturer of reloading equipment. The company was originally known as the "Rock Chuck Bullet Swage Company".

Swage: Term for bending or forming various types of metals into a desired shape but can also mean deformed into an undesirable shape.

ACP: "Automatic Colt Pistol", a designation found on certain types of semi-auto pistol ammunition (.45ACP, .380ACP, .32ACP, etc.)

FUDD: "Elmer Fudd"; Pejorative describing gun owners whose concept of the 2nd Amendment is limited to the use of firearms for hunting.

OC: "Open carry"

CCW: Concealed carry" (other terms include those describing a state's particular name for a concealed firearm permit such as CWP, CHL, etc.)

CQC: Close Quarters Combat

COM: Center of Mass

POA: Point of Aim

Range Nazi: This should be self explanatory

Ring of Fire: Liberal Journalist's term for a former group of low-cost firearms manufacturers located in Southern California

Tenifer: Glock process for treating metal parts against rust and corrosion

Boolit: Slang for cast lead projectiles with no jacketing or plating

Teacup or Teacup Grip: Ineffective method of cupping a pistol grip with the palm of the support hand.

Brass Hog or Brass Vulture: A person who takes another's spent brass without asking. Also: Brass Hole

JHP: Jacketed Hollow Point bullet

SWC: Semi Wad-cutter bullet; tapered cast bullet with a flat point designed for punching a neat hole in a paper target

FMJ: Full Metal Jacket (also TMJ for Total Metal Jacket). Brass or copper covered round nose bullets most often used for training or target practice

FTF: Failure to Feed (also FTE Failure to Eject); Operational problem in semi-automatic or automatic firearms

Squib or Squib Load: When a cartridge has no or insufficient powder resulting in a bullet being stuck in a firearm's barrel

Hang Fire: When a slow-igniting primer causes delayed discharge of a cartridge (I have never seen one in nearly 18 years of shooting)

Rock 'n' Roll: Fully automatic firearms

 

[Toothpick]

Great idea!!

 

[nortac]

DA: Double action, refers to pulling the trigger to both **** and release the hammer to fire, many revolvers can be fired in single action as well.
SA: Single action, where the hammer must be cocked by either manual or mechanical means and the trigger only releases the hammer to fire the weapon.
DAO: Double action only.
DA/SA: Some semi autos are fired by an initial double action pull of the trigger and subsequent firings are single action, these pistols usually have a "de-cocker" lever to de-**** after the last round is fired to return the pistol to a safe condition.
SAA: Single Action Army, refers to the iconic Colt single action "cowboy" pistol or its clones.

 

[Big Jay]

Black Rifle Acronyms

LMT: Lewis Machine and Tool
BCM: Bravo Company
YHM: Yankee Hill Machine
PSA: Palmetto State Armory
BCG: Bolt Carrier Group

I'll think of some more.

 

[nortac]

ND: Negligent Discharge, there is no such thing as an Accidental Discharge

 

[Big Jay]

ND: Negligent Discharge, there is no such thing as an Accidental Discharge

I disagree with that. Accidental Discharge would be from completely unforeseen circumstances like a fault in the firearm or ammo. For example: A hangfire. Now if you shoot someone due to a hangfire, you were negligent, but the discharge was not. SOP for a hangfire is to hold the firearm downrange in a safe direction, drop the magazine while doing so (if applicable), keep the firearm pointed downrange/safe direction for a period of time, once that period of time has expired you eject the round in question.

Negligent Discharge: Is a discharge due to the negligence of the operator. Sweeping the trigger, failure to maintain the firearm, modifying the firearm improperly or not by a gunsmith, simply not paying attention.

Accidental Discharge: Is a discharge due to a malfunction in the firearm or ammo. It's rare, but it happens. I've seen hangfires and malfunctions in brand new firearms/factory ammo.

Like I said, it's rare, but it happens.

Now if someone/you get shot, you did not exercise proper muzzle control.

 

[SFsc616171]

"The Pontificator wrote:
SWC: Semi Wad-cutter bullet; tapered cast bullet with a flat point designed for punching a neat hole in a paper target"

Thqat is incorrect. The semi-wadcutter bullet is a hunting bullet designed and improved upon by Elmer Keith, who employed a Smith and Wesson .38/44 Outdoorsman large frame revolver. The 158 grain semi-wadcutter design, without a hollow point, is still employed today for personal defense. The FBI did, later, employ a hollow point version of this bullet, which too is still used today for personal defense. It is only through the population being inundated with the usage of semi-automatic handguns that this bullet design has not been so widely used. This design bullet can be driven at standard pressure load, or at what is known as a 'plus p' pressure load.

The acronyms for this bullet load are:
LSWC - lead semi-wadcutter
LSWCHP - lead semi-wadcutter hollow point
LSWCHC - lead semi-wadcutter hard cast, as compared to a soft cast lead.

 

[BSAGuy]

PRDR - put rounds down range. Just a little hsorthand I use with my buddies as a euphemism for heading to the range.

 

[fast14riot]

MSR: Modern Sporting Rifle; i.e. any number of "black gun" styles like the AR15 platform used for sporting purposes such as hunting.

DRT: Dead Right There, a hunting term for making an instant or near instant kill with no running of the animal.

MOA: Minutes Of Angle, an angular measurement of 1/60th of 1 degree that is roughly equal to 1" at 100 yards, 2" at 200 yards... being an angular measurement it's linear amount is dependent on the distance.

 

[August West]

BOHICA

a

 

[Rockminer]

BOHICA

a

A fellow Jim Rome listener I see

 

[nortac]

I would say that a "hang fire" is not an AD. You intended for it to go off , it just didn't go off as planned. We may argue semantics, but IMHO, "AD" is a denial of responsibility, whereas, mechanical malfunctions falls under another category of events. Say you are shooting and your gun experiences a "slam fire" or goes "full auto" when it is not designed to do so. These are malfunctions. You put the ball in motion, so to speak, you meant to fire the gun. But you weren't negligent, unless your failure to properly maintain your weapon lead to the mechanical failure.
The bottom line is, guns don't go off by themselves, they may malfunction, sometimes spectacularly, but they require input by someone whether by an overt act or an omission of precautions.

 

[nortac]

"Cold range" : A range where guns are loaded on command only and unloaded on command when shooting has finished.
"Hot range" : A range where weapons are maintained in a constant state of readiness and loaded without command at the discretion of the individual shooter.

 

[Big Jay]

I would say that a "hang fire" is not an AD. You intended for it to go off , it just didn't go off as planned. We may argue semantics, but IMHO, "AD" is a denial of responsibility, whereas, mechanical malfunctions falls under another category of events. Say you are shooting and your gun experiences a "slam fire" or goes "full auto" when it is not designed to do so. These are malfunctions. You put the ball in motion, so to speak, you meant to fire the gun. But you weren't negligent, unless your failure to properly maintain your weapon lead to the mechanical failure.
The bottom line is, guns don't go off by themselves, they may malfunction, sometimes spectacularly, but they require input by someone whether by an overt act or an omission of precautions.

I think the real question is whether or not you shot someone/something in the act of it going off. That's the most important part. IMO, practicing muzzle control is by far and wide the most important aspect of shooting.

 

[Texas reaper]

I have had a few hang fires with cheap tulamo. There's a perfect example on YouTube with a guy that has a hang fire looking down the barrel and it going off. The dude is probably deaf now and is one lucky sob to not have blown his head off. It blew his hat off and barely touched his forehead. A friend of mine had one in a paintball gun and looked down the barrel and that exact time it decided to finally push the projectIle down the barrel and into his right eye. He is now mostly blind in that eye.