wire cartridge

When we arrived at the knoll, after having crossed the frozen bog, I took on account of the considerable distance at which the bird would have to be shot at, if he, as we supposed, would settle in the top of the fir tree the shot out of my gun, and loaded again with a wire cartridge.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 89:

(firearms) An early type of shotgun cartridge that had wire lining in the case to assist concentrating the shot.


overpenetrate

en-verb

overpenetrate (third-person singular simple present overpenetrates, present participle overpenetrating, simple past and past participle overpenetrated)

overpenetrates (present singular third-person)
overpenetrating (participle present)
overpenetrated (participle past)
overpenetrated (past)

(intransitive, transitive, weaponry, of a bullet or other projectile) To pass completely through a target and out the other side, potentially striking another person or object located further downrange.


police special

(US, firearms, historical) A pistol manufactured for police use.


police positive

en-noun

police positive (plural police positives)

(US, firearms, historical) Synonym of police special (“pistol manufactured for police use”)


well-served

en-adj

well-served (comparative more well-served, superlative most well-served)

more well-served (comparative)
most well-served (superlative)

(military, weaponry) (of a gun, artillery, etc.) Operated well.


depriming

(firearms) The action of the verb to deprime; the removal of primer from cartridge


deprimed

(firearms) Pertaining to a cartridge missing is priming/primer


nonsharp

nonsharp (comparative more nonsharp, superlative most nonsharp)

more nonsharp (comparative)
most nonsharp (superlative)

Not sharp, as:
(tools) dulled or intentionally blunt.

Not sharp, as:
dulled or intentionally blunt.


CQBW

(military, weaponry) Abbreviation of close quarters battle weapon.


breech face

(firearms) The area around the firing pin, which is against the head of the cartridge.


MCLOS

manual command to line of sight
w:manual command to line of sight

(military, weaponry) Initialism of manual command to line of sight, a method of missile guidance requiring that the operator manually steer the missile onto the target.


à rouet

The earliest pistols were made with wheels (à rouet), and the barrel did not measure more than a foot in length.

1875, P. L. Jacob ·, The Arts in the Middle Ages, and at the Period of the Renaissance, page 104:

Soon the petronel was replaced by the arquebuse à rouet, and a little later on by the wheel-lock pistol, which was first used by the German cavalry at the battle of St. Quentin, in 1557.

1937, Franklin Henry Hooper, The Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 5, page 69:

In 1639–42, the average value of an arquebus à rouet was 80 livres; flintlock muskets were valued at 6 livres.

2008, David Hackett Fischer, Champlain's Dream, page 617:

(firearms, historical) Having a small wheel fixed to the pan of firelocks for discharging them.


greataxe

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greataxe.wav

From great + axe. Probably modeled on greatsword, greathelm, etc.

The Saint-Commander rested his famous greataxe against his chair. Gil recalled its name, Red Pilgrim.

1979, Brian Daley, The Starfollowers of Coramonde, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 48:

Dragon King Greataxe can be buffed by spells and consumables, while the Dragon Greatsword cannot.

2020 July 23, Corvo Attano, EdgeOfDreams, “Dragon king greataxe or Dragon greatsword?”, in reddit.com:

Last few days I played outpost rush or wars, the team with the most hammers + greataxes just wins.

2021 November 16, Leandermann, “PvP is only the highest number of greataxe + hammer wins”, in reddit.com:

(rare, video games, fantasy, weaponry) A giant axe; a broadaxe.


thermobaric weapon

en-noun

thermobaric weapon (plural thermobaric weapons)

From being a weapon which produces heat (“thermo-”) and pressure (“baric”).

(weaponry) A weapon of a class of bombs, which causes a large explosion, with effects similar to a nuclear blast, by having an explosion, flash of heat, shockwave, producing a vacuum, and vacuum collapse pressure wave. Typically produced by aerosolizing a fuel throughout the air, and setting it alight, producing a detonation, that consumes all the oxygen in the region.


greatbow

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greatbow.wav

He hooked the tip of his own greatbow under the door’s hasp, muttered som thing under his breath and pulled, hard. Nothing happened. Again, and again nothing.

1981, Peter Morwood, The Warlord's Domain, DAW, →ISBN, page 84:

You can turtle with a crossbow but you're wide open after every shot. Greatbows have knockdown but you're superslow.

2021 April 12, the_3rdist, “What is your all time favourite themed runs?”, in reddit.com:

Maybe samurai would give you a head start for a greatbow build.

2022 February 14, ytinifniozob, Zamoku, “Greatbows”, in reddit.com:

(rare, science fiction, video games, weaponry, fantasy) A giant bow; a longbow.


loitering munition

loitering munition (plural loitering munitions)

Coordinate term: homing munition

Loitering munitions can circle overhead for extended periods of time, searching for potential targets over a wide area and, once they find one, destroy it. Unlike homing munitions, loitering munitions do not require precise intelligence on enemy targets before launch.

2018, Paul Scharre, chapter 3, in Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:

She noted that the report stated the Kargu-2 and “other loitering munitions” attacked convoys and retreating fighters. Loitering munitions, which are simpler autonomous weapons that are designed to hover on their own in an area before crashing into a target, have been used in several other conflicts, Ms. Franke said.

2021 June 3, Maria Cramer, quoting Ulrike Franke, “A.I. Drone May Have Acted on Its Own in Attacking Fighters, U.N. Says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, weaponry) A munition, often a UAV, that waits passively around the target area and attacks only once a target is located.


Nordenfelt gun

Named after the Swedish steel producer and banker Thorsten Nordenfelt, who funded its development.

(firearms, historical) A kind of organ gun having a row of up to twelve barrels, and fired by pulling a lever back and forth, with ammunition fed by gravity through a chute for each barrel.


vent-piece

(firearms) In a breechloading firearm, a vertical sliding block with a conical plug on its front surface to seal the firing chamber and close the breech.


forward assist

(firearms) A button on certain rifles that pushes the bolt carrier forward, ensuring that the bolt is locked.


PHASR

From the fictional Star Trek weapon technology, the phaser.

Coordinate term: TASER

(weaponry) Acronym of personnel halting and stimulation response. (a non-lethal laser weapon technology that causes temporary blindness)


Glock switch

(firearms) A device which modifies the firing system of a Glock pattern pistol, by bypassing the semiautomatic catch, which enables fully automatic fire.


auto sear

Coordinate term: bump stock

(firearms) A device which allows for a closed-bolt self-loading firearm to reliably function in fully automatic fire by preventing the hammer or striker from falling until the bolt is fully in battery.


surgical strike

surgical strike (plural surgical strikes)

Kennedy at the time was greatly concerned over reports that the Chinese Communists were secretly conducting nuclear explosions at Lop Nor in Northwest China—a sure indication they were working on atomic weapons. This was the period when Moscow and Peking were still close to each other, otherwise it might have been possible for the United States to devise a way to neutralize Peking's nuclear potential at an early stage. At their meeting Kennedy asked Chen many questions about Lop Nor. Could he have been thinking of a preventive surgical strike?

1983, James C. H. Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39:

Months later, Modi ordered a surgical strike on alleged insurgents inside Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, and vowed to isolate Islamabad diplomatically.

2017 August 10, Ashok Sharma, “AP Explains: 70 years of India-Pakistan tensions unresolved”, in AP News, archived from the original on 2022-10-02:

(military, weaponry) A military attack of closely-controlled scope on a highly specific target.


flash pan

(firearms) A small receptacle for priming powder, found next to the touch hole on muzzleloading guns.


choke tube

(firearms) An internally tapering metal cylinder attached to the muzzle of a shotgun, designed to constrict the spreading pattern of the shot pellets.


uncockable

(rail transport, firearms, rare) Not able to be cocked.


cockable

(rail transport, firearms, rare) Able to be cocked.


terzetta

(firearms, historical) An old Italian flintlock pistol.


ammunitional

[…] the manufacturer's potential liability in this type of situation have emphasized the highly dangerous nature of the product involved, such as ammunitional or inflammable substances.

1960, Louis R. Frumer, Melvin I. Friedman, Products Liability:

To assist action one must give ammunitional specifics to those about to fight.

1972, Carolyn Clugston Leopold, Carolyn Leopold Michaels, School Libraries Worth Their Keep: A Philosophy Plus Tricks, Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press:

(firearms) Of or relating to ammunition.


cyclic rate

cyclic rate (countable and uncountable, plural cyclic rates)

(firearms) The rate at which an automatic firearm will fire if its firing mechanism is held down, causing the delay between successive shots to be the time needed for the firearm's action to cycle.


cowboy load

cowboy action shooting
cowboy action shooting

(firearms) An underpowered load used in cowboy action shooting.


musket ball

Archaeologists excavating the site of Coleshill Manor in Warwickshire have uncovered the foundations of a medieval gatehouse, on which are around 200 marks and indentations from pistol and musket balls. A further 40 musket balls were removed from nearby soil, where the moat would have been located.

2023 February 8, “HS2 archaeologists uncover evidence of early Civil War skirmish”, in RAIL, number 976, page 24:

(firearms, historical) A spherical projectile suitable for firing from a musket.


scope bite

(firearms) Injury during recoil as the scope hits one's face.


Pedersen device

Pedersen device (plural Pedersen devices)

Developed by John Pedersen (arms designer).

(firearms) An experimental weapon attachment for the M1903 Springfield bolt action rifle that allowed it to fire a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) pistol-type cartridge in semi-automatic mode.


drum magazine

(firearms) A high-capacity cylindrical magazine for firearms, storing rounds of ammunition in a central spiral.


Chicago piano

Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun

(slang, weaponry) The Thompson submachine gun.

(slang, military, weaponry) A 1.1-inch anti-aircraft gun.

(slang, military, weaponry) A multiple 2-pounder gun pom pom anti-aircraft gun.


snubnosed revolver

snubnosed revolver (plural snubnosed revolvers)

(firearms) A small, medium, or large frame revolver with a short barrel, generally less than four inches in length.


in battery

(firearms) Of a firearm, in the firing position after recovery from the recoil of a previous discharge.


pumpgun

(firearms, informal) A pump-action firearm.


magazine gun

(firearms) A type of portable firearm consisting of a chamber holding cartridges which are set into position for firing automatically.


junk wad

junk wad (countable and uncountable, plural junk wads)

(firearms) A plug made of oakum bound with spun yarn and designed to keep the powder and shot in place when loading a gun or cartridge.


flash-to-bang time

flash-to-bang time (countable and uncountable, plural flash-to-bang times)

(military, weaponry) The period of time between when light is first observed and when the sound of the (nuclear or other) detonation is heard.


multibarrels

His own [heart] was hammering like a minigun, multibarrels firing.


fully-automatic

Coordinate term: semi-automatic

(weaponry, firearms) That loads itself and fires continuously.


controlled variable time

controlled variable time (countable and uncountable, plural controlled variable times)

(military, weaponry) A type of artillery fuze that has a mechanical timer which activates the radar when it is near the target.


functioning time

functioning time (countable and uncountable, plural functioning times)

(military, weaponry) Of ordnance, the amount of time required for the fuze to detonate after impact or after a preset time.


pistolized

(chiefly Philippines, firearms) with shoulder stock removed and replaced with a pistol grip on a long gun (such as a shotgun or carbine)


superprojectile

He knew the cause—tons of khatonite were being turned out where only pounds had been required before—tons of high explosive that were to be transported in those dread superprojectiles to congested centres of population all over the world.

1932, Bob Olsen, Earl Repp, William Lemkin, Amazing Stories, page 698:

The six submarines, of a type now maneuvering off the coast, are shown surfaced off enemy coast line launching superprojectiles, guided from sub conning towers to targets as far as 500 miles inland.

1950, Donald Goldsmith, Los Angeles Times, Volume 69, page 3:

t. The comet or asteroid would part the - atmosphere like a superprojectile, leaving a hole through the air as wide as itself.

1985, Donald Goldsmith, Nemesis: The Death-Star and Other Theories of Mass Extinction, Walker, →ISBN, page 144:

Picture an onrushing comet or asteroid that approaches Earth at a relative velocity between 10 and 50 kilometers per second, so that the object arrives from the moon's distance in a matter of a few hours— not much of a warning even if anything were to done about it. The comet or asteroid would part the atmosphere like a superprojectile, leaving a hole through the air as wide as itself. Even though air rushes back into the hole at the speed of sound, it would taken tens of seconds for the hole to disappear.

1987, Thomas R. McDonough, Space: The Next Twenty-Five Years, Wiley, →ISBN, page 134:

(rare, firearms, physics) A superior projectile; a supershot.


heat-seeking

(military, weaponry) Of a missile or rocket, able to detect and follow the heat emitted by an aircraft engine or rocket.


try-miter square

try-miter square (plural try-miter squares)

(tools, carpentry) A joinery tool that can be used as a standard 90 degree try square and also as a 45 degree miter square.


miter square

(tools, carpentry, woodworking) A hand tool used in woodworking and metalworking for marking and checking angles other than 90°.


range queen

(weaponry, uncommon) A gun which is shot, but only at a range in order to avoid damage.


blow forward

(firearms) A firearm action where the propellant gas pressure and the friction of the bullet traveling down the bore drag the whole gun barrel forward to facilitate the opening of the breech.


barleycorn sight

barleycorn sight (plural barleycorn sights)

(weaponry) A type of front sight of triangular appearance.


belt-fed

(weaponry) Supplied with ammunition by means of a belt.


ghost bullet

[…] not see them— ghost-bullets flying.

1966, Victor Jeremy Jerome, The Paper Bridge, page 118:

[…] a 'ghost' bullet from a resisting gun strikes an innocent American tourist; a bomb explodes and the faces of four young school-girls smile defiantly at their Israeli jailer.

1970, The Arab World - Volume 16, page 2:

A shot screeched past her head from the west, like a ghost bullet seemingly shot from the large gap of El Capitan itself.

2005, Amy Lignor, The Heart of a Legend, page 6:

I planned to fire what are known as "ghost bullets” —ones that nobody at the intersection would even see or hear .

2024, Terry Hayes, The Year of the Locust, page 121:

(weaponry) A bullet that is shot by an unseen assailant or one that cannot be seen or heard when it is shot.

Let us assume that this 'ghost bullet' idea is correct. Let us write an equation which relates the distance the ordinary bullet travels with the direction of the recoil of the gun and the amount of recoil, assuming that a ghost bullet does travel off at some strange angle each time.

1964, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, page 412:

And the ghost bullet allowed me to introduce new depths of police corruption.

2012, Douglas Corleone, Last Lawyer Standing, page 304:

In a later account of his attack in Jamaica, Brathwaite claims his assailants shot him with a "ghost bullet,” going so far as to narrate his own death in “I Cristobel Colon.”

2014, Anthony Reed, Freedom Time, page 224:

He didn't find anything on the bullet. Not a trace. A ghost bullet.

2018, Sarah J. Maas, Catwoman: Soulstealer, page 76:

(weaponry, ballistics) A bullet that cannot be found or that is untraceable through ballistic testing.


shell casing

(firearms) The container that holds the bullet, primer, and gunpowder in a cartridge.


green cross

(military, weaponry) A chemical warfare pulmonary agent used during World War I.


contact shot

(firearms, pathology) A gunshot wound incurred while the muzzle of the firearm is in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge.


double-A

(military, weaponry) Synonym of AA (“anti-aircraft”)


triple-A

(military, weaponry) Synonym of AAA (“anti-aircraft artillery”)


air defense

air defense (countable and uncountable, plural air defenses)

(military, weaponry) The use of systems, equipment, and personnel to prevent or reduce the impact of an attack by enemy aircraft or missiles.


priming wire

(firearms) A pointed wire used to pierce a cartridge before priming it by penetrating the vent of a firearm.


blasting cap

(weaponry) A small, metal tube or shell containing a detonating charge and is used to initiate the detonation of other explosives.


paper cartridge

paper cartridge (plural paper cartridges)

(firearms) A type of small arms ammunition used before the advent of the metallic cartridge.


APIT

(weaponry) Initialism of armor-piercing incendiary tracer.


hypercannon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hypercannon.wav

"You'll have to use the hypercannon", the professor answered.

1994, Dina Anastasio, Virtual Troopers: Virtual Reality Magician, Price Stern Sloan, →ISBN, page 136:

Notice that this law also states that we cannot hope to achieve superluminal (faster than light) speeds with a hypercannon mounted on a relativistic spaceship.

2005, John F. Hawley, Katherine A. Holcomb, Foundations of Modern Cosmology, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 193:

Once I realize what I am looking, I have some doubts that this hypercannon is going to be any use to us.

2014, Cynthia Green, Scott Green, GunKnight, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, →ISBN, page 237:

(science fiction, video games, rare, weaponry, fantasy) An extraordinarily powerful, superior cannon.


tap, rack, bang

"Still," Suit echoed. "The way she handles the gun jamming." Suit shook their head in admiration. "Tap, rack, bang, without hesitation. That's extraordinary retention."

2015 March 25, thedeadlymoose, “The Seed of an Idea”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-12-01:

(military, firearms) A technique for clearing a jam or misfire, consisting of applying pressure to the floor plate of the magazine to properly seat the magazine, manually cycling the action to eject an unfired round, and aiming and attempting to fire again.


tap, rack, bang

(military, firearms) To use the tap, rack, bang technique of clearing a jam or misfire.


droplock

(firearms) A variant of the boxlock having a removable lock.


artillery tube

(weaponry) A steel tube that propels shells containing explosives, chemicals, or submunitions.


base cap

(weaponry) The part of a weapon that is attached to the base end of the barrel or casing and holds a firing pin.


recoil spring

(firearms) A spring that absorbs the shock of a fired bullet and returns the firearm to its original position.