flute

→ Irish: fliúit

→ Welsh: ffliwt

From Middle English fleute, floute, flote, from Old French flaute, fleüte, from Old Provençal flaüt, of uncertain origin. Perhaps ultimately from three possibilities:
* Blend of Provencal flaujol (“flageolet”) + laüt (“lute”)
* From Latin flātus (“blowing”), from flāre (“to blow”)
* Imitative.
Doublet of flauta and fluyt.

(architecture, firearms) A semicylindrical vertical groove, as in a pillar, in plaited cloth, or in a rifle barrel to cut down the weight.

hulli

architecture: vertical groove in a pillar


stock

en-noun

stock (countable and uncountable, plural stocks or (obsolete) stocken)

stocks (plural)
stocken (obsolete plural)

→ Dutch: stock

desctree

→ French: stock
→ Romanian: stoc
→ Turkish: stok

→ Italian: stock

→ Portuguese: estoque

→ Spanish: stock

From Middle English stok, from Old English stocc, from Proto-West Germanic *stokk, from Proto-Germanic *stukkaz (“tree-trunk”), with modern senses mostly referring either to the trunk from which the tree grows (figuratively, its origin and/or support/foundation), or to a piece of wood, stick, or rod. The senses of "supply" and "raw material" arose from a probable conflation with steck (“an item of goods, merchandise”) or the use of split tally sticks consisting of foil or counterfoil and stock to capture paid taxes, debts or exchanges. Doublet of chock.

stark (non-rhotic, father-bother merger)

The most underrated component in building a custom gun is the metalsmithing. Stock work immediately attracts attention. Fancy checkering patterns, meticulously executed, are sure to elicit oohs and ahhs.

2013, Tom Turpin, Modern Custom Guns: Walnut, Steel, and Uncommon Artistry, 2nd edition, Iola, Wis.: Gun Digest Books, →ISBN, page 47:

en:handle or stem of tool or weapon
en:shoulder rest for firearm

A handle or stem to which the working part of an implement or weapon is attached.

(firearms) The part of a rifle or shotgun that rests against the shooter's shoulder.


cast

New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *kas-
Proto-Germanic *kastōną
Old Norse kastabor.
Middle English casten
English cast
From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin.
Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.
The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

cog

Cast is the measurement of the central line of the gun and the stock’s butt. If the butt is tilted slightly to the left of the central line, it’s called “cast on.” If the butt is tilted slightly to the right of the central line, it’s called “cast off.”

Savage Arms, "THE PERFECT SHOTGUN FIT," 2021

(firearms) The measurement of the angle of a shotgun stock from a top-view center line, used to align the shotgun to the shooter's eye.


hand

From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand, from Proto-West Germanic *handu, from Proto-Germanic *handuz.
See also Dutch and Swedish hand (“hand”), Danish hånd, German Hand, West Frisian hân). Perhaps compare Old Swedish hinna (“to gain”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰-𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (fra-hinþan, “to take captive, capture”); and Latvian sīts (“hunting spear”), Ancient Greek κεντέω (kentéō, “prick”), Albanian çandër (“pitchfork, prop”).

handvol

that which is, or may be, held in a hand at once

hand

set of cards held by a player in a card game

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

catch someone with a hand in the cookie jar

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

give with one hand and take away with the other

one can't hold two watermelons in one hand

talk to the hand 'cause the face ain't listening

the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world

the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

(firearms) The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.

handgreep

small part of a gunstock near the lock, grasped when aiming


action

en-noun

action (countable and uncountable, plural actions)

→ Arabic: أَكْشِن (ʔakšin)

→ Bulgarian: екшън (ekšǎn)

→ German: Action

→ Irish: aicsean

→ Hebrew: אקשן (akshn)

→ Japanese: アクション (akushon)

→ Korean: 액션 (aeksyeon)

→ Russian: экшн (ekšn)

From Middle English accioun, accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āctus + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti; see also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

der

pump-action shotgun

The way in which a mechanical device acts when used; especially a firearm.

(firearms) The way in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism.


cold

en-adj

cold (comparative colder, superlative coldest)

colder (comparative)
coldest (superlative)

Sranan Tongo: kowru
Aukan: koo

From Middle English cold, from Anglian Old English cald. The West Saxon form, ċeald (“cold”), survived as early Middle English cheald, cheld, or chald. Both descended from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz, a participle form of *kalaną (“to be cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots cald, cauld (“cold”), Saterland Frisian koold (“cold”), West Frisian kâld (“cold”), Dutch koud (“cold”), Low German kold, koolt, koold (“cold”), German kalt (“cold”), Danish kold (“cold”), Norwegian kald (“cold”), Swedish kall (“cold”).

faire froid (idiom in French; there is no translation for the adjective alone)

κάνει κρύο (kánei krýo) (idiom in Greek; there is no translation for the adjective alone)

хо́лодно (xólodno) (+ dative, “to be cold”)

olla kylmä (to feel cold; subject in the adessive case)

avoir froid (idiom in French; there is no translation for the adjective alone)

avere freddo (idiom in Italian; there is no translation for the adjective alone)

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

cold as a witch's tit

cold as a witch's teat, cold as a witch's tit in a brass bra

make someone's blood run cold

make the blood run cold, one's blood runs cold

(firearms) Not loaded with a round of live ammunition.


SP

en-noun

SP (countable and uncountable, plural SPs)

SPs (plural)
S.P. (alternative)
S. P. (alternative)


hair

hair (countable and uncountable, plural hairs)

From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German Low German Haar (“hair”), German Haar (“hair”), Swedish, Danish and Norwegian hår (“hair”), Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrowed from Old French chevelëure (“hair, head-hair, coiffure, wig”).
The modern spelling with ai is not a regular representation of the vowel developed from Middle English. Rather, it is from Middle English here (haircloth) influenced by Old French haire.

noncog

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

(countable, engineering, firearms) A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.


neck

From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca (“neck, nape”), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (“nape, neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (“back of the head, nape, neck”). Cognate with Scots nek (“neck”), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak (“neck”), Saterland Frisian Näkke (“neck”), West Frisian nekke (“neck”), Dutch nek (“neck”), German Low German Nack (“neck”), German Nacken (“nape of the neck”), Danish nakke (“neck”), Swedish nacke (“nape of the neck”), Icelandic hnakki (“neck”), Tocharian A kñuk (“neck, nape”). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old English hnocc (“hook, penis”), Welsh cnwch (“joint, knob”), Latvian knaūķis (“dwarf”). Doublet of nek. More at nook. Displaced halse (“neck, throat”) and swire (“neck”).

(firearms) The small part of a gun between the chase and the swell of the muzzle.

kaula

firearms: part between the chase and the swell of the muzzle


heel

From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock.
Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

(firearms) The back, upper part of the stock.


bull

en-noun

bull (countable and uncountable, plural bulls)

bear

investor who sells in anticipation of a fall in prices

From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Thracian βόλινθος (“wild bull”), Macedonian вол (vol, "ox"), Slovene vol ("ox"), Albanian buall (“buffalo”) or related bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).

rozzer. See also Thesaurus:police officer

(military, firearms) The central portion of a target, inside the inner and magpie.


boot

Solombala English: бучь (bučʹ)

→ Maltese: buz

→ Russian: бутса (butsa)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: бу́це

Latin script: búce

→ Swahili: buti

From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.

cog

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

(firearms) A hard plastic case for a long firearm, typically moulded to the shape of the gun and intended for use in a vehicle.


brick

en-noun

brick (countable and uncountable, plural bricks)

⇒ Welsh: brics

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break.

gloss

"cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">brik</i>

cog

(firearms) A carton of 500 rimfire cartridges, which forms the approximate size and shape of a brick.


report

desc

→ Japanese: レポート (repōto), リポート (ripōto)

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English reporten, from Anglo-Norman reporter, Middle French reporter, and their source, Latin reportāre (“to carry back, return, remit, refer”), from re- + portāre.

der

While their masters, the mates, seemed afraid of the sound of the hinges of their own jaws, the harpooneers chewed their food with such a relish that there was a report to it.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Cabin Table”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 166:

[…] a pistol-shot, flash and report, came from the hedge-side.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

He knelt upon one knee, cocked the weapon, placed the muzzle against the man's forehead, and turning away his eyes pulled the trigger. There was no report. He had used his last cartridge for the horse.

1889, The Coup de Grâce, Ambrose Bierce:

(firearms) The sharp, loud sound from a gun or explosion.

výbuch

ballistics: the sharp, loud sound from a gun or explosion


ring

→ French: ring
→ Romanian: ring

→ Hungarian: ring

→ Italian: ring

→ Japanese: リング

→ Polish: ring

→ Serbo-Croatian: ring

→ Spanish: ring

→ Turkish: ring

From Middle English ryng, from Old English hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, extended nasalized form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Doublet of rank and rink, as well as indirectly range.
Cognates
* West Frisian ring
* Low German Ring
* Dutch ring
* German Ring
* Swedish ring
* Finnish rengas
More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *krǫgъ (whence Bulgarian кръг (krǎg), Polish krąg, Russian круг (krug)).

(firearms) Either of the pair of clamps used to hold a telescopic sight to a rifle.


ball

en-noun

ball (countable and uncountable, plural balls)

→ Cantonese: 波 (bo¹)

→ Japanese: ボール (bōru)

→ Makah: ba·la

→ Yoruba: bọ́ọ̀lù

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

ампыл

object, generally spherical, used for playing games

туп

ballistics: a solid nonexplosive missile

(ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.

A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.

[…] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […]

1659, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, England’s Confusion, London, page 7:

I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 294:

[…] some headstrong Maroons were using a soldier of Captain Craskell’s ill, and compelling him to write to his commander, that it was too late to do any thing good, and that they wanted nothing, having got plenty of powder and ball […]

1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148:

This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 1:

(uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.


clear

en-verb

clear (third-person singular simple present clears, present participle clearing, simple past and past participle cleared)

clears (present singular third-person)
clearing (participle present)
cleared (participle past)
cleared (past)
CLR (alternative)

From Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr (“clear, bright”)), Middle English skere (“clear, sheer”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr (“sheer, clear, pure”)), Middle English smolt (“clear (of mind), serene”) (from Old English smolt (“peaceful, serene”)). Cognate with Danish klar, Dutch klaar, French clair, German klar, Italian chiaro, Norwegian klar, Portuguese claro, Romanian clar, Spanish claro, and Swedish klar.

çliroj

to remove obstructions or impediments from

raivata

to remove in order to make something else unobstructed

To prevent any shooting accidents, remember to clear your pistol and stay aware of your surroundings.

(transitive, firearms) To unload a firearm, or undergo an unloading procedure, in order to prevent negligent discharge; for safety reasons, to check whether one's firearm is loaded or unloaded.


magpie

From Mag, a nickname for Margaret that was used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie (“magpie”), from Old French pie, from Latin pīca, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“woodpecker, magpie”). Displaced native Old English agu, "magpie".

der

(military, firearms) The third circle on a target, between the inner and outer.


wildcat

wildcats (plural)
wild-cat (alternative)
wild cat (alternative)

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt.
Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

John Audubon
bobcat
wildcat
wildcat (disambiguation)
wildcat cartridge

wildcat cartridge
wildcat cartridge#English

(firearms) Clipping of wildcat cartridge.


wildcat

wild-cat (alternative)
wild cat (alternative)

(firearms) Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.


crown

→ Japanese: クラウン (kuraun)

→ Korean: 크라운 (keuraun)

→ Maori: karauna

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”).
* (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

doublet

(firearms) A rounding or smoothing of the barrel opening.


crown

en-verb

crown (third-person singular simple present crowns, present participle crowning, simple past and past participle crowned)

crowns (present singular third-person)
crowning (participle present)
crowned (participle past)
crowned (past)

(firearms) To widen the opening of the barrel.

avartaa

firearms: to widen the opening of the barrel


nut

→ Japanese: ナット (natto)

From Middle English nute, note, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin.
See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.

dió

walnut in particular and an element in the name of some other nuts

dióféle

literally: ’walnut-like’, the family of this fruit

walnuts, hazelnuts/peanuts, chestnuts, and related fruits

even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight


hammer

From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion.
(declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.

sense

Nonstop hammer cock, violent mannered shots land a lot

2016, Doseone, “Enter the Gungeon”, in Enter the Gungeon OST:

In the course of a single month this year, the following news reports emanated from Florida: A gun enthusiast in Tampa built a 55-foot backyard pool shaped like a revolver, with a hot tub in the hammer.

2023 March 27, Helen Lewis, “How Did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor?”, in The Atlantic:

(firearms) A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.


rifled

(firearms) Having a spiral on the interior of a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight to improve range and accuracy.

rihlattu

having a spiral groove on the inside of a gun barrel


download

en-verb

download (third-person singular simple present downloads, present participle downloading, simple past and past participle downloaded)

downloads (present singular third-person)
downloading (participle present)
downloaded (participle past)
downloaded (past)
DL (alternative)
dl (alternative)
d/l (alternative)
D/L (alternative)

→ Danish: downloade

→ Dutch: downloaden

→ German: downloaden; herunterladen (calque)

desc

→ Lao: ດາວໂຫຼດ (dāo lōt)

→ Lao: ດາວໂຫຼດ (dāo lōt)

→ Malay: muat turun (calque)

→ Maltese: ddawnlowdja

→ Thai: ดาวน์โหลด (daao-lòot)

From down- + load. Verbal form first appears c. 1962 in the Wichita Falls (Texas) Times. Nominal form first appears c. 1977 in Scientific American.

(transitive, firearms) To load a gun (especially a muzzle-loader) with less propellant than its designed load.


rd

(knitting, firearms) Abbreviation of round.


switch

→ Gulf Arabic: سويچ (swīč)

→ German: Switch

Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

камута́тар

system allowing the interconnection of telephone lines

(firearms, slang) Synonym of Glock switch.

(slang, metonymic) A Glock pistol equipped with a Glock switch.


tap

en-noun

tap (countable and uncountable, plural taps)

The verb is derived from Middle English tappen, teppen (“to give (something) a knock or tap; to hit (something) lightly, pat, tap”), either:
* imitative of the making of a tapping sound; or
* from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”) (modern French taper), from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”), or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to rap, strike, tap”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike; to stun; to be speechless”). Doublet of dab.
Verb sense 1.1.1 (“to arrest (someone)”) and sense 1.6 (“to choose or designate (someone) for a duty, etc.”) allude to a police officer or other person tapping someone on their shoulder to catch their attention or to select them.
The noun is derived from Middle English tap, tappe (“light blow or hit”), and then either:
* from Middle English tappen (verb) (see above); or
* from Old French tape (“light slap or touch, pat”) (modern French tape), from tapper, taper (verb) (see above).
Cognates
* German tappen (“to fumble; to grope”)
* Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”)

der

(firearms, slang) A shot fired from a firearm.


fan

en-verb

fan (third-person singular simple present fans, present participle fanning, simple past and past participle fanned)

fans (present singular third-person)
fanning (participle present)
fanned (participle past)
fanned (past)

Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
*Latin ventus (“wind”)
*Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”)
*German Wanne (“winnowing basket”)
*Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”)
*Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”).
More at winnow.

der+

Audio (Southern England)

To fan a single action revolver, hold down the trigger and strike the hammer repeatedly with a free hand.

2011, Hans-Christoan Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14:

(firearms, transitive) To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.

thumbing

to firing a revolver by holding trigger and hitting hammer


lock

Tok Pisin: lok

→ Hawaiian: laka

From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”).
The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Related to luxe via Latin.

der

"I never saw such a gun in my life," replied poor Winkle, looking at the lock, as if that would do any good.

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:


flag

en-verb

flag (third-person singular simple present flags, present participle flagging, simple past and past participle flagged)

flags (present singular third-person)
flagging (participle present)
flagged (participle past)
flagged (past)

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape.
Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(firearms) To point the muzzle of a firearm at a person or object one does not intend to fire on.

osoittaa

firearms: to point at a person or object one does not intend to fire on


cartouche

Borrowed from French cartouche, from Italian cartuccia, from carta, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs). Doublet of cartridge.

(firearms) A wooden case filled with balls, to be shot from a cannon.

(firearms) A gunner's bag for ammunition.


timber

en-noun

timber (countable and uncountable, plural timbers)

From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-West Germanic *timr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm).
Cognates include Dutch timmer, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Norwegian tømmer, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), Latin domus and Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos).

der

(firearms, informal) The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.


rad

(firearms, slang) Abbreviation of sight radius.


muzzle

From earlier muzle, musle, mousle, mussel, mozell, from Middle English mosel, from Old French musel, museau, muzeau (modern French museau), from Late Latin mūsus (“snout”), probably expressive of the shape of protruded lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgīre (“to moo, bellow”). Doublet of museau. Displaced native Middle English kevel from Old English cæfl (“gag, bit, muzzle”), see English cavel.

onomatopoeic

expressive

Coordinate term: breech

(firearms) The mouth or the end for entrance or discharge of a gun, pistol etc., that the bullet emerges from.


sleet

en-noun

sleet (countable and uncountable, plural sleets)

From Middle English slete, probably from Old English *slēte, *slȳte, *slīete, from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet”). Walter W. Skeat, the author of Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, suggests Old Norse slydda (whence Danish slud (“mixture of rain and snow”)). The word appears to be akin to Low German Sloot (“hail”), dialectal German Schloße (“large hailstone”), Old Gutnish sloyta (“slush, sleet”). Doublet of slut.

cog

(firearms) The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.


sock

en-noun

sock (plural socks or (informal, nonstandard) sox)

socks (plural)
sox (informal nonstandard plural)

desctree

→ French: socquette
→ Portuguese: soquete

Japanese: ソックス (sokkusu) < socks

Swahili: soksi < socks (plural)

From Middle English socke, sokke, sok, from Old English socc (“sock, light shoe, slipper”), a West Germanic borrowing from Latin soccus (“a light shoe or slipper, buskin”), from Ancient Greek σύκχος (súkkhos, “a kind of shoe”), probably from Phrygian or from an Anatolian language. Beekes compares Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬑𐬀 (haxa, “sole of the foot”). Cognate with Scots sok (“sock, stocking”), West Frisian sok (“sock”), Dutch sok (“sock”), German Socke (“sock”), Danish sok, sokke (“sock”), Swedish sock, socka (“sock”), Icelandic sokkur (“sock”). Doublet of zocco; also related to zoccolo, socle, and zocalo.

der

(firearms, informal) Ellipsis of gun sock.


corn

en-noun

corn (usually uncountable, plural corns)

Kashubian: kòrné (Canada)

Tok Pisin: kon

→ Maori: kānga

Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish korn, Norwegian Bokmål korn, Norwegian Nynorsk korn and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao.
The sense maize (Zea mays) is an ellipsis of Indian corn that developped in 18th century North America.

doublet

what does that have to do with the price of corn

R.I.P Scumpy ah you did say Popcaan
And if a boy diss we clap corn.

2014 June 9, Andrae Hugh Sutherland respectively Popcaan of Popcaan, “Where We Come From” (track 13), in Where We Come From:

We got spinners and dotties
We got .40s and MACs
We got nuff live corn
[…] See the four-door pausing
Skengs out, everyone runnin
But the corn just slapped and floored em
50 shots in that mop

2016 September 9, Liquez respectively Dimzy of 67, “Jump Out Gang” (track 7), in Let’s Lurk:

(Jamaica, MLE, slang, firearms, uncountable) Bullets, ammunition, charge and discharge of firearms.


shotgun

en-noun

shotgun (countable and uncountable, plural shotguns)

shotguns (plural)
shot-gun (alternative)

desc

Japanese: → 散弾銃 (sandanjū) (calque), → ショットガン (shottogan)

→ Tok Pisin: sot gan

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Meat was cooked up within hours after the hunter killed the deer with his shotgun.

You can't talk to a man / With a shotgun in his hand

1971, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, “Smackwater Jack”, in Tapestry, Ode Records:

An unusual custom is followed at Llangennith, when shotguns are fired at a wedding - to scare off evil spirits from the newlyweds.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 258:

(firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.


chamber

From Middle English chambre, borrowed from Old French chambre, from Latin camera, from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”). Doublet of camera.

der

Dianne loaded a cartridge into the chamber of the rifle, then prepared to take aim at the target.

(firearms) The area holding the ammunition round at the initiation of its discharge.

حُجْرَة

part of a firearm holding the round before firing

(firearms) One of the bullet-holding compartments in the cylinder of a revolver.

патронник

compartment holding a bullet of a revolver


forty-five

The robber brandished a forty-five at the cashier to make her empty the till for him.

The phoenix he helped create
Out of control boy without a dad
Shot the gun that startled my life
While I drove him with a forty-five

1998, “Soil”, in Serj Tankian (lyrics), Daron Malakian (music), System of a Down, performed by System of a Down, Track 7:


furniture

en-noun

furniture (usually uncountable, plural furnitures)

From Middle French fourniture (“a supply, or the act of furnishing”), from fournir (“to furnish”).

uder

(firearms) The stock and forearm of a weapon.


dope

en-noun

dope (countable and uncountable, plural dopes)

From Dutch doop (“thick dipping sauce”), from Dutch dopen (“to dip”), from Middle Dutch dopen, from Old Dutch *dōpen, from Frankish *daupijan, from Proto-Germanic *daupijaną.
“Doop” in the sense “narcotic drug” ultimately refers to viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks; “insider information” perhaps from knowing which horse had been doped in a race. Sense of "stupid person" perhaps following from the drug sense (i.e. relating to those intoxicated on opium), compare dope up. Related to English dip and German taufen.

смазка

viscous liquid used to prepare a surface

(uncountable, firearms) Ballistic data on previously fired rounds, used to calculate the required hold over a target.


patch

From Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”), from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-West Germanic *plakkju, from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat from Middle English platten. Germanic cognates would then include Middle English plecke, dialectal English pleck (“plot of ground, patch”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot”), Low German Plakk, Plakke (“spot, piece, patch”), Dutch plek (“spot, place, stain, patch”), Dutch plak (“piece, slab”), Swedish plagg (“garment”), Faroese plagg (“cloth, rag”).
Or, possibly a variant of Old French pieche, dialectal variant of piece (“piece”). Compare also Old Occitan petaç (“patch”).

tilkku

small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel

flejtuch

piece of greased cloth used to fit a rifle ball to the bore

(firearms) A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.

(firearms) A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.


proof

en-verb

proof (third-person singular simple present proofs, present participle proofing, simple past and past participle proofed)

proofs (present singular third-person)
proofing (participle present)
proofed (participle past)
proofed (past)

From Middle English proof, from Old French prove, from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from Latin probō (“to prove”); see prove; compare also the doublet probe.

(transitive, firearms) To test-fire with a load considerably more powerful than the firearm in question's rated maximum chamber pressure, in order to establish the firearm's ability to withstand pressures well in excess of those expected in service without bursting.


rack

rack (third-person singular simple present racks, present participle racking, simple past and past participle racked)

racks (present singular third-person)
racking (participle present)
racked (participle past)
racked (past)
rack (infinitive)
rack (first-person present singular)
racked (first-person past singular)
rack (present second-person singular)
rackest (archaic present second-person singular)
racked (past second-person singular)
rackedst (archaic past second-person singular)
racks (present singular third-person)
racketh (archaic present singular third-person)
racked (past singular third-person)
rack (plural present)
racked (past plural)
rack (present subjunctive)
racked (past subjunctive)
rack (imperative present)
racking (participle present)
racked (participle past)

From Old English reċċan (“to stretch out, extend”).

inh

(firearms) To (manually) load (a round of ammunition) from the magazine or belt into firing position in an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.

(firearms) To move the slide bar on a shotgun in order to chamber the next round.


charge

en-noun

charge (countable and uncountable, plural charges)

From Middle English chargen, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricō (“to load”), from Latin carrus (“a car, wagon”); see car. Doublet of cargo.

(firearms) A measured amount of powder and/or shot in a cartridge.


smelly

A comical pronunciation of the initials SMLE.

(firearms, informal) a Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle or one of its derivatives.


clay

clay (usually uncountable, plural clays)

soul

antonym(s) of “material of the human body”

From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”).
Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūten (“glue”) (whence ultimately English glue), Russian глина (glina, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.

der

We went shooting clays at the weekend.


shunt

From Middle English shunten, schunten, schonten, schounten, shont, shonte, shount, shounten, shunte (“to move rapidly or suddenly, jerk; to swerve, turn away; to avoid, dodge, escape, evade”), either:
* possibly a back-formation from Middle English shǒnen (“to decline to do, refuse; to abandon, forsake; to disdain, dislike, hate; to avoid, escape; to be afraid, fear; to be wary of”), from Old English sċunian, sċyniġan; see shun. Or
* an alteration of Middle English shunden, *schunden, *schinden, from Old English sċyndan, sċendan (“to hasten, hurry”) (as in āsċyndan (“to remove, take away”), from Proto-West Germanic *skundijan, from Proto-Germanic *skundijaną (“to compel, drive, push; to accelerate, rush, speed up”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(n)t- (“to rattle, shake”).
* from unrecorded Old English *sċunettan, a derivative of sċunian (“to shun, avoid”).
The English word is cognate with Danish skynde (“to hasten, hurry, speed”), Icelandic skynda, skunda (“to hasten”), Middle High German schünden (“to compel; to urge; to irritate”), Norwegian skynde (“to hurry, rush”), Swedish skynda (“to hasten, hurry; to scuttle, scurry”). Outside Germanic, compare Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “to dart, leap, spring, spurt or burst forth, ejaculate, assail, drop, split”), Albanian shkund (“to shake; to swig”).
As regards the noun sense, compare Middle English shunt (“swerve; sudden jerk”), derived from the verb.

cog

In length, this gun was the same as the French, but weighed 9 cwt. less. It was rifled in six grooves on the shunt plan, in the form in which it has been generally applied to large guns, with the difference that some of the angles of the grooving were rounded off. […] To impede fouling, a slightly greater windage was allowed in the chamber of the shunt gun, the diameter there being 0.04 greater than at the mouth of the bore.

1865 October, “Rifled Guns and Missiles”, in Colburn’s United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, part III, number CCCCXLIII, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 170:

The shunt system, of which the 64-pr. is the only example now in the service, has been considered inferior to the Woolwich, because besides being unnecessarily complicated, the grooves which are cut with abrupt sharp angles weaken the gun. […] [I]n the shunt gun, however, in addition to the mere fact of the driving side of the double groove being shallow, and the loading side deep, the two grooves join in one deep one at 2 feet 7.5 inches from the muzzle, […]

1870, Charles Orde Browne, “Section II. Muzzle-loading Armstrong, Shunt System.”, in Ammunition. A Descriptive Treatise on the Different Projectiles, Charges, Fuzes, &c., at Present in Use for Land and Sea Service, and on Other War Stores Manufactured in the Royal Laboratory, part II (Ammunition for Rifled Ordnance), London: Printed under the superintendence of Her Majesty's Stationery Office by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, […], →OCLC, page 108:

(firearms) The shifting of the studs on a projectile from the deep to the shallow sides of the grooves in its discharge from a shunt gun.


breech

en-noun

breech (countable and uncountable, plural breeches)

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

der

Coordinate term: muzzle

(firearms) The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber.


gauge

en-noun

gauge (countable and uncountable, plural gauges)

From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

cog

(firearms) A unit of measurement which describes how many spheres of bore diameter of a shotgun can be had from one pound of lead; 12 gauge is roughly equivalent to .75 caliber.


tang

From Middle English tange, variant of tonge (“tongs, fang”), from Old Norse tangi (“pointed metal tool”), perhaps related to Old Norse tunga (“tongue”). But see also Middle Dutch tanger (“sharp, tart, pinching”).

ruoti

projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to some other part

angel

part of small instrument inserted into handle

The rifle carried a vernier sight on the tang[…]

1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter IV, in Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC:

A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.

(firearms) The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock.


PTA

en-noun

PTA (countable and uncountable, plural PTAs)

Their computer cannot issue a Permit to Acquire to somebody who does not have the appropriate category of licence; or whose licence is about to expire. I am hearing from lots of people who want to know why it's taking weeks, or even months, for the PTA to be issued, when the waiting period is supposed to be only 28 days. The reason is, of course, that the massive backlog of five-year licence renewals, caused by the under-resourcing of the Registry, is holding up PTA′s because they can't be issued until after the licence renewal is issued.

2003 October 21, CD, “NEWSLETTER FROM THE OFFICE OF JOHN TINGLE MLC 15.10.03”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

I think that is the most meaningless sections of the law out of the whole thing, PTA for second and subsequent arms. They are likely processing hundreds of thousands of PTA′s weekly for absolutely no demonstratable purpose with tax payer monies.

2004 January 28, Seb, “NEWSLETTER FROM NSW SHOOTERS PARTY January 27 2004”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

get your PTA, and then think about spending a few hundred on a more modern .22 and a scope.

2004 June 18, Lindsay, “Yaaaay. PTA in less than a month”, in aus.sport.shooting (Usenet):

Recently, people applying for a Permit to Acquire have received a letter back from the Firearms Registry saying they had to submit a Certificate of Inspection of their secure storage, before the application could be processed. This was a new thing, and, in the case of people who already have a firearm, was pretty pointless, since we all had our secure storage inspected in that great state-wide sweep; and unless the applicant's address had changed, there was little point in a new inspection. In any case, I had countless reports of people asking their local police to do a new inspection to go with the PTA and being told the police were much too busy to do all that again.

2006 February 22, CD, “NSW Shooters party Newsletter Feb 21 2006”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

(Australia, firearms) Initialism of permit to acquire: a form lodged with the police to acquire a specific firearm; the authorisation subsequently acquired.


shoulder

shoulders (plural)
shouder (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

inh

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

(of an object) The portion between the neck and the body.

(firearms) The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.


magnum

From Latin magnum, neuter of magnus (“great”).
* (bottle): Ellipsis of magnum bonum.
* (handgun): Name registered 1935 by Smith & Wesson Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts.

(firearms) A powerful firearm cartridge, often derived from a shorter, less powerful cartridge calibre that uses the same bullet.


blank

From Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), Spanish blanco. More at blink, blind, blanch. Doublet of blanc.

cog

It was an unloaded gun that fired only blanks.

(firearms) Short for blank cartridge. [since the 19th century].


cartridge

cartridges (plural)
cartage (alternative)

/ˈkɑɹtɹɪd͡ʒ/

Corruption of earlier cartage, from French cartouche, from Italian cartoccio (“roll of paper”), from Medieval Latin carta (“paper”). Doublet of cartouche.

Cartridge (firearms)
Magnetic tape data storage
cartridge

Still, a dozen men with rifles, and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride.

1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:

(firearms) The package consisting of the bullet, primer, and casing containing gunpowder; a round of ammunition.


flyer

→ Finnish: flaijeri

→ French: flyer

→ German: Flyer

→ Korean: 플라이어 (peullaieo)

→ Portuguese: flyer

From fly + -er (agent noun suffix).
With regard to the sense "female kangaroo": because of the high speed at which they move.

(firearms) A stray shot away from the group on a target.


outer

From Middle English outre, outer, outter, uttre, from Old English ūtre, ūtera, ūterra (“outer”), equivalent to out + -er. Compare German äußere (“outer”), Danish ydre (“outer”), Swedish yttre (“outer”), Icelandic ytri (“outer”). Piecewise doublet of utter.

(military, firearms) The fourth circle on a target, outside the inner and magpie.


sight radius

en-noun

sight radius (plural sight radiuses or sight radii)

sight radiuses (plural)
sight radii (plural)

(firearms) The distance between the front and rear sights of a firearm.


lock time

lock times (plural)
lock-time (alternative)

(firearms) The time, usually measured in milliseconds, from when the trigger is pulled until the firing pin strikes the primer.


peep sight

(firearms) On some rifles, a type of sight where the shooter looks through a small aperture on the rear sight.


Damascus barrel

Damascus barrel (plural Damascus barrels)

(firearms) A gun barrel formed by twisting and welding strips of metal around a hard die; no longer commonly used now due to its inability to handle high cartridge pressure on modern ammunition.


cyclic

en-adj

cyclic (comparative more cyclic, superlative most cyclic)

more cyclic (comparative)
most cyclic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek κυκλικός (kuklikós). Possibly from cycle + -ic.

On it came, closer and closer, and as it did so it became clear that the pilot, if he was alive, had terminal intentions. Though the torpedo somehow missed, the plane itself did not. To those watching helplessly from other stations, the ship's antiaircraft gunners, in their final moments, were an inspiration: eyes focused through iron sights on the plane as it sped at them, weapons hot, going cyclic, hunched down and never flinching until the Betty struck high on the mainmast, killing them all.

2011, James D. Hornfischer, “26: Suicide”, in Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, retrieved 2022-12-17, page 256:

(firearms, of an automatic weapon) Firing at its full cyclic rate.


doghead

(firearms) That part of a matchlock or flintlock gun or rifle that holds the burning fuse or flint and applies it to the gunpowder.


SLR

(firearms) Initialism of self-loading rifle.


inner

outer

antonym(s) of “One who supports remaining in the EU”

From Middle English inner, ynner, ynnere, from Old English innera, comparative of inne (“within”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁en.

(military, firearms) The 2nd circle on a target, between the bull (or bull's eye) and magpie.


dum dum

dum dums (plural)
dum-dum (alternative)
dumdum (alternative)

Named after the Dum Dum arsenal in Calcutta, India.

(informal, firearms) A soft point or hollow point bullet, designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more serious damage.


soft point

(firearms) Of a bullet: having an exposed lead point, designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more damage.


soft point

soft points (plural)
soft-point (alternative)

Coordinate term: hollow point


hollow point

(firearms) A bullet with a small hole drilled or molded in the tip (nose), designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more damage.


muzzle blast

(firearms) A flash of light, heat and smoke at the muzzle of a firearm, caused by escaping gases when a projectile is released.


muzzle brake

(firearms) A device placed at the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the recoil energy by redirecting the escaping gases.


recoil

en-noun

recoil (countable and uncountable, plural recoils)

From Old French reculer. Further from Latin re- + cūlus.

(firearms) The energy transmitted back to the shooter from a firearm which has fired. Recoil is a function of the weight of the weapon, the weight of the projectile, and the speed at which it leaves the muzzle.


revolver

→ Catalan: revòlver

→ Chuvash: ляворвăр (ljavorvăr)

→ Crimean Tatar: revolver

→ Danish: revolver

→ Dutch: revolver

→ Esperanto: revolvero

→ Finnish: revolveri

→ French: revolver

→ Gagauz: livorver

→ Galician: revólver

→ German: Revolver

→ Hungarian: revolver

→ Italian: revolver

→ Japanese: リボルバー (riborubā)

Norwegian:

→ Norwegian Bokmål: revolver

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: revolver

→ Polish: rewolwer

→ Portuguese: revólver

→ Russian: револьвер (revolʹver)

Serbo-Croatian:

→ Cyrillic script: револвер

→ Latin script: revolver

→ Spanish: revólver

→ Swedish: revolver

→ Urum: levorver

→ Yiddish: רעוואָלווער (revolver)

From revolve + er, coined by American inventor Samuel Colt in 1835.

coin

(firearms) A handgun with a revolving chamber enabling several shots to be fired without reloading.


ramrod

(firearms) Device used with muzzleloaders to push the projectile up against the propellant.


smokeless

I run home, jumped in the bed,
Laid a forty-four smokeless under my head.

1971, Thomas G. Burton, Ambrose N. Manning, editors, Folksongs II, Research Advisory Council of East Tennessee State University, page 19:

(firearms) (Of a gun) that does not produce smoke when fired.


keyhole

en-verb

keyhole (third-person singular simple present keyholes, present participle keyholing, simple past and past participle keyholed)

keyholes (present singular third-person)
keyholing (participle present)
keyholed (participle past)
keyholed (past)

(firearms) To strike a target after wobbling in flight so that the long axis of the bullet does not follow the line of flight, typically due to insufficient spin resulting from the rifling in the barrel.


pill

* From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula.
* (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.

(firearms, slang) A bullet (projectile).


flip

en-noun

flip (countable and uncountable, plural flips)

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). Cognate with Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”).

inh

In the case of rifles flip is counteracted by the sighting of the weapons, and it is because of flip that the sights cannot be set so that the line of sight is exactly parallel to the axis of the bore.

1961, Sir Gerald Burrard, The gun. The cartridge, page 224:

A small, lightweight round, such as a .22 LR, generates very manageable recoil and muzzle flip (how much the nose of the gun flips up when you fire it).

2015, Tara Dixon Engel, The Handgun Guide for Women, page 33:

(firearms, uncountable) The tendency of a gun's barrel to jerk about at the moment of firing.


blowback

en-noun

blowback (countable and uncountable, plural blowbacks)

blowbacks (plural)
blow-back (alternative)

The Israeli UZI submachine gun, one the most easily recognized examples of a blowback firearm, is well known for its simplicity, ease of manufacture, low maintenance, and utter reliability.

2012, Robert E. Walker, Cartridges and Firearm Identification, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 24:

(firearms) A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and cock the hammer.


kickback

kickback (countable and uncountable, plural kickbacks)

kickbacks (plural)
kick-back (alternative)
kick back (alternative)

(uncountable, firearms, machinery) Recoil; a sudden backward motion, usually in the direction of the operator.


forty-four

I went back home and I went to bed;
With a forty-four revolver under my head.

1936 July 27, The Journal of American Folklore, volume 40, number 193, page 221:

(firearms) (Of a gun) firing a 0.44 inch calibre bullet.


receiver

From Anglo-Norman receverre, receivour et al., later also reformed as receive + -er. Compare recevor, rescaivour.

curator

person appointed to settle financial affairs

прыёмнік

electronic device that receives and converts signal

(firearms) The part of a firearm containing the action.


quoin

(firearms) A wedge of wood or iron put under the breech of heavy guns or the muzzle of siege-mortars to raise them to the proper level.


Maxim

Maxims (plural)
Maxim gun (alternative)
maxim gun (alternative)
maxim (alternative)

* (machine guns): After the inventor Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916).

Again we went on, and climbed the false immensity of another ridge, when several rifles and a maxim opened upon us, and very close they were.

1928, Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, Penguin, published 2010, page 104:

(firearms) The Maxim gun, a British machine gun of various calibres used by the British army from 1889 until World War I.

(firearms) Any machine gun that derives from the design pattern of Maxim's patented design

(firearms, informal, obsolete) A machine gun


snapshot

How quick the eye and hand to catch him [the ruffed grouse] when he rises from the underbrush and is out of sight in the wood before the untrained sportsman stops him with what is little more than a snapshot, so instantaneously must all be done!

1892, Stanley Waterloo, A Man and a Woman:

(firearms) A quick offhand shot, made without deliberately taking aim over the sights.


squib

Possibly imitative of a small explosion.

unk

Possibly

(firearms) A malfunction in which the fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck.


conical

(firearms) A bullet with a conical shape.


tactical

(firearms) Having a military appearance, typically with accessories such as a bipod, adjustable stock, detachable magazine or black coloration.


striker

lyöjä

someone or something that hits someone or something else

Someone or something that hits someone or something else.

(firearms, military) A mechanism of a firearm acting upon the firing pin.


amplitude

en-noun

amplitude (countable and uncountable, plural amplitudes)

Borrowed from Middle French amplitude, from Latin amplitūdō, from amplus (“large”). By surface analysis, ample + -itude.

(firearms) The horizontal line which measures the distance to which a projectile is thrown; the range.


trigger

Originally tricker, from Dutch trekker (“pull”, noun, as in drawer-pull, bell-pull), from Dutch trekken (“to drag, draw, pull”).

bor

Just pull the trigger.

[W]e pull'd aſide the Tricker, and obſerv'd, that according to our expectation the force of the Spring of the Lock vvas not ſenſibly abated by the abſence of the Air.

1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 14]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects, (Made, for the Most Part, in a New Pneumatical Engine) […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, →OCLC, page 89:

(firearms) A finger-operated lever used to fire a gun.


inlet

en-verb

inlet (third-person singular simple present inlets, present participle inletting, simple past and past participle inlet)

inlets (present singular third-person)
inletting (participle present)
inlet (participle past)
inlet (past)

From Middle English inleten, equivalent to in- + let. Cognate with Dutch inlaten (“to let in, admit”), Low German inlaten (“to let in”), German einlassen (“to admit, let in”), Swedish inlåta (“to enter, engage”).

(firearms) To carve the wooden stock of a firearm so as to position the metal components in it.


stadia

(firearms) Hash marks or other reticle etchings on a riflescope's lens which are used for stadiametric rangefinding; lines or curves for estimating the range of a target of known height, such as an enemy soldier or a game animal.


bascule

A device for coupling and releasing the trigger mechanism in a bascule of a gun

1997, Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

(firearms) The portion of a breech-loading firearm that pivots open in order to allow access to the chamber.


charger

/ˈt͡ʃɑɹd͡ʒɚ/

-ɑː(ɹ)dʒə(ɹ)

From Middle English chargere, equivalent to charge + -er.

dækketallerken

a large platter under the dinner plate in a formal dinner setting

(firearms) A speed loader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine.


bourrelet

The bourrelet is a slightly raised surface on the rocket designed to maintain a light contact with the inside of the launching tube to center the rocket when fired.

2019, Thomas Gersbeck, Practical Military Ordnance Identification, 2nd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 111:

(firearms, weaponry) An accurately machined portion around the diameter of a shell of a gun, which acts to increase accuracy of projectile fit to the barrel.


Thompson

Thompsons (plural)
Tompson (alternative)
Tomson (alternative)
Thomson (alternative)
Thomason (alternative)
Thomasson (alternative)

Variant of Thomson, from Tom + -son, originally meaning "son of Thomas". In some instances of people so named, a calque of Scottish Gaelic MacTamhais (“McTavish”); also an anglicisation of the Gaelic name MacTamhais, meaning "son of Thomas".

calque

Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun#English

(firearms) Ellipsis of Thompson submachine gun (“Tommy gun”).


forearm

From fore- + arm. Compare Dutch voorarm (“forearm”), Danish forarm (“forearm”), German Vorderarm (“forearm”).

(firearms) A section of the weapon between the receiver and the muzzle, used to hold the firearm steady.


full house

American Handgunner, Heavyweight Bullets In The .357 Magnum
An occasional pig, and not so occasional ram, would quiver and then settle back down without toppling, even when hit dead center with a full-house load with a 158-gr. jacketed .357 Magnum bullet.

(firearms) Having ammunition loaded to full allowable power, usually in reference to magnum handgun cartridges and shotgun shells.


tschinke

(firearms) A light wheellock hunting rifle once used for shooting wildfowl.


cannelure

(firearms) A ringlike groove, such as that around the cylinder of an elongated bullet for small arms to contain a lubricant, or around the rotating band of a gun projectile to lessen the resistance offered to the rifling.


zero deflection

(firearms) The adjustment of a sight, exactly parallel to the axis of the bore of the gun to which it is attached.


bridge mount

(firearms) A sight mount with a strong metal frame between the rings, used on large-caliber rifles to negate the effects of recoil on accuracy.


cocked

(firearms) Of a firearm or crossbow; to have the cock lifted or prepared to be fired.

viritetty

firearms: having the cock lifted or prepared to be fired


repeater

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-repeater.wav

(firearms, dated) A gun that has a store of cartridges and does not need reloading after each shot.

автоматична пушка

a gun that has a store of cartridges and does not need reloading after each shot


plunger

(firearms) The firing pin of a breechloader.


plink

en-verb

plink (third-person singular simple present plinks, present participle plinking, simple past and past participle plinked)

plinks (present singular third-person)
plinking (participle present)
plinked (participle past)
plinked (past)

We plinked all week long in the slow-moving days between hunting seasons. Life Savers or Necco Wafers at 25 yards offhand, or 50 yards prone, and vanilla wafers offhand at 50 yards or prone at 100, were challenging targets.

1992, Ken Warner, Gun Digest, 1993, page 19:

(firearms) To take part in the sport of plinking.


disintegrating link

en-noun

disintegrating link (plural disintegrating links)

(firearms) A pressed metal or plastic link, used to join cartridges for a machine gun, which is expelled when the cartridge is removed during loading.


headless

From Middle English heedles, hevedles, from Old English hēafodlēas (“headless”), equivalent to head + -less. Cognate with Dutch hoofdloos (“headless”), Danish hovedløs (“headless”), Swedish huvudlös (“headless”), Icelandic höfuðlaus (“headless”).

A headless shell doesn't have a flange.

(obsolete, firearms) Rimless, not having a cartridge case rim (flange).


floorgrip

(firearms) A device used to steady firing and counter the effects of recoil, resulting in far more accurate fire when shooting in full auto mode. It can be incorporated in some rifles as part of the Rail Integration System.


overbore

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

(firearms) Such that the capacity of the burning cartridge powder is greater than the volume within the barrel.


overbore

en-verb

overbore (third-person singular simple present overbores, present participle overboring, simple past and past participle overbored)

overbores (present singular third-person)
overboring (participle present)
overbored (participle past)
overbored (past)

(firearms, transitive) To modify so that the capacity of the burning cartridge powder is greater than the volume within the barrel.


bullseye

bullseyes (plural)
bull's-eye (alternative)
bull's eye (alternative)

→ German: Bullauge (calque)

→ Esperanto: bovokulo (calque)

From bull's + eye. May have come from the practice of English archers shooting an arrow through the eye socket of a bull's skull as a test of skill. The connection to philately comes from the shape of the key plate or vignette.

(military, firearms) The centre of a target, inside the inner and magpie.

འབེན་མིག ('ben mig, literally “target-eye”)


en-noun

M1 (countable and uncountable, plural M1s)

(firearms) A semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War.


dry fire

en-verb

dry fire (third-person singular simple present dry fires, present participle dry firing, simple past and past participle dry fired)

dry fires (present singular third-person)
dry firing (participle present)
dry fired (participle past)
dry fired (past)
dryfire (alternative)
dry-fire (alternative)

Rob finished cleaning his empty gun then pointed it at an imaginary target and dry fired.

2009, Debra Parmley, A Desperate Journey, →ISBN, page 32:

(firearms) To discharge a weapon without ammunition in the chamber.


lapping

en-noun

lapping (countable and uncountable, plural lappings)

From Middle English lapping, lappyng, lappinge, equivalent to lap + -ing.

(firearms) The process of rubbing away the lands, or metal between the grooves of a rifled gun, to increase the bore.


pepperbox

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

She had her knees up, resting her wrists on them; the pepperbox muzzle of a flechette pistol emerged from her hands.

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 21:

(firearms) A repeating firearm with three or more barrels grouped around a central axis.


holdover

holdover (countable and uncountable, plural holdovers)

This rangefinder not only measures the distance to the target, but also provides a digital readout of the inches of holdover at that distance.

(firearms) The distance (at target) by which a rifle scope is aimed higher than the intended point of impact in order to compensate for bullet drop over the distance to the target.


headspace

headspace (countable and uncountable, plural headspaces)

headspaces (plural)
head space (alternative)
head-space (alternative)

en:gap inside firearm action, bolt face to cartridge stop

(firearms) The gap between the face of the bolt and the stopping surface for the cartridge.


headspace

en-verb

headspace (third-person singular simple present headspaces, present participle headspacing, simple past and past participle headspaced)

headspaces (present singular third-person)
headspacing (participle present)
headspaced (participle past)
headspaced (past)
head space (alternative)
head-space (alternative)


deprime

deprime (third-person singular simple present deprimes, present participle depriming, simple past and past participle deprimed)

deprimes (present singular third-person)
depriming (participle present)
deprimed (participle past)
deprimed (past)

(firearms) to remove the (remnant) primer from a cartridge casing (from the brass).


chronograph

chronograph (third-person singular simple present chronographs, present participle chronographing, simple past and past participle chronographed)

chronographs (present singular third-person)
chronographing (participle present)
chronographed (participle past)
chronographed (past)

/ˈkɹɒnəɡɹɑːf/

/ˈkɹɑnəˌɡɹæf/

From Ancient Greek χρονογράφος (khronográphos, “chronicler”). Equivalent to chrono- + -graph.

uder

(firearms) To make an accurate measurement of the speed of a projectile.


wildcatter

Audio (US)

Roy Weatherby began his career in the firearms industry as a “wildcatter”, developing his revolutionary ideas about rifle cartridge performance and design.

a. 2005, “Ammunition”, in Weatherby, archived from the original on 2005-02-15:

(firearms) A person who makes wildcat cartridges and the guns that use them.


tige

Borrowed from French tige (“stem”), from Latin tibia (“shin bone, leg”). Doublet of tibia.

(firearms, historical) A steel pin in early rifles.


stovepipe

stovepipes (plural)
stove-pipe (alternative)

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

From stove + pipe. The firearms sense is due to the trapped cartridge case resembling a stovepipe of the stove sense.

(firearms) A type of malfunction affecting breechloading firearms, where a spent cartridge casing fails to eject completely, instead becoming stuck in the firearm's ejection port, usually oriented vertically or nearly so.


stovepipe

en-verb

stovepipe (third-person singular simple present stovepipes, present participle stovepiping, simple past and past participle stovepiped)

stovepipes (present singular third-person)
stovepiping (participle present)
stovepiped (participle past)
stovepiped (past)
stove-pipe (alternative)

(intransitive, firearms) Of a cartridge case, to become wedged vertically in the ejection port of a breechloading firearm, rather than ejecting completely from the weapon.


reload

reload (third-person singular simple present reloads, present participle reloading, simple past and past participle reloaded)

reloads (present singular third-person)
reloading (participle present)
reloaded (participle past)
reloaded (past)

(firearms) To load a gun again; or recharge a used cartridge.


reload

(firearms) An ammunition cartridge prepared from previously fired ammunition.


misfire

misfire (third-person singular simple present misfires, present participle misfiring, simple past and past participle misfired)

misfires (present singular third-person)
misfiring (participle present)
misfired (participle past)
misfired (past)

Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).

(firearms) To fail to discharge properly.


sporter

(firearms) A firearm suitable for sporting use.


pan

→? Irish: panna

→ Japanese: パン

From Middle English panne, from Old English panne, from Proto-West Germanic *pannā, from Proto-Germanic *pannǭ, from Late Latin panna, from Latin patina (“broad, shallow dish, pan, stewpan”), from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē, “kind of flat dish”), which is probably from Pre-Greek.
Cognate with West Frisian panne, Saterland Frisian Ponne, Dutch pan, German Low German Panne, Pann, German Pfanne, Danish pande, Swedish panna, Icelandic panna.

der

flash in the pan

[…] he pull’d the Trigger, but Providence being pleas’d to preserve me for some other Purpose, the Cock snapp’d, and miss’d Fire. Whether the Prime was wet in the Pan, or by what other Miracle it was I escap’d his Fury, I cannot say […]

1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, pages 95–96:

And he […] glared on the cold pistols that hung before him—ready for anything. And he took down one with a snatch and weighed it in his hand, and fell to thinking again; and, as he did, kept opening and shutting the pan with a snap, […]

1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

(firearms) The part of a flintlock that holds the priming.


wheellock

(historical, firearms) An early type of firearm, using a spring-driven wheel against a flint to make sparks in the firing pan.


undercharge

en-verb

undercharge (third-person singular simple present undercharges, present participle undercharging, simple past and past participle undercharged)

undercharges (present singular third-person)
undercharging (participle present)
undercharged (participle past)
undercharged (past)

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

to undercharge a gun

(transitive, firearms) To put too small a charge into.


priming

(firearms) The powder or other combustible used to communicate fire to a charge of gunpowder, as in a firearm.


concentrator

(firearms) A frame or ring of wire or hard paper fitting into the cartridge case used in some shotguns, and holding the shot together when discharged, to secure close shooting; also, a device for slightly narrowing the bore at the muzzle for the same purpose.


speed loader

speed loaders (plural)
speedloader (alternative)

With a speed loader, a practiced user can dump and reload their revolver's cylinder surprisingly fast — even, in some cases, no slower than someone can swap magazines in a semiauto.

(firearms) A pressed metal (or plastic) clip, holding a set number of cartridges for a firearm, and used for rapid reloading of the weapon or its magazine.


saucisse

Borrowed from French saucisse (“sausage”). Doublet of sausage.

(mining, firearms) A long and slender pipe or bag, made of cloth well pitched, or of leather, filled with powder, and used to communicate fire to mines, caissons, bomb chests, etc.


plinking

en-noun

plinking (countable and uncountable, plural plinkings)

(firearms) Informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles and wood blocks.


oiler

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

From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil + -er.

(firearms) A small (typically thumb-sized) metal container of oil, often containing an integral brush.


TRB

(military, firearms) Initialism of tap, rack, bang.


muzzle velocity

muzzle velocity (plural muzzle velocities)

The decision about ammunition turned on the detailed specifications, known as the “technical data package,” that the Army drew up when it converted the rifle into the M-16. The data package included the requirements that the muzzle velocity of the rifle must average 3,250 feet per second (fps), plus or minus 40, and that the pressure within the firing chamber must not exceed 52,000 pounds per square inch.

1981 June, James Fallows, “M-16: A Bureaucratic Horror Story”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:

Perhaps stunned by what Steve Bannon, the MAGA strategist, calls the “muzzle velocity” of action and orders, Democrats have had a difficult time addressing the disconnect between what Mr. Trump talks about and what they see as workers get fired, tariffs put upward pressure on prices and hold times for tax assistance stretch into hours.

2025 March 5, David E. Sanger, quoting Steve Bannon, “Trump Celebrates His Disruption but Slides Over Its Costs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(firearms) The velocity of a discharged projectile at the muzzle of a firearm.


free float

en-verb

free float (third-person singular simple present free floats, present participle free floating, simple past and past participle free floated)

free floats (present singular third-person)
free floating (participle present)
free floated (participle past)
free floated (past)

(firearms) to alter a firearm so that no part of the barrel touches the stock.


barrelled

a barrelled action

a double-barrelled shotgun

(firearms) Having a barrel or specified number of barrels.


softnose

soft-nose (alternative)
soft nose (alternative)

Questions that have arisen regarding the "stopping power" of the modern small-caliber bullet, particularly in view of the reduction of the caliber of the rifle in some services to 0.25 inch, or even less, have led to propositions to adopt soft-nose or "mushrooming" bullets, which will be deformed on striking an animate object, inflict a more dangerous wound, and increase the shock over that given by a hard bullet of the same caliber and weight, which would penetrate the body without deformation. […] The soft-nose bullet is inferior in accuracy, and is especially inferior in its ability to penetrate hard substances used for defensive purposes, making it almost useless to reach troops under cover that would be dislodged by the service bullet.

1897, “Seacoast Guns”, in Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1896, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 21:

When I got the rifle I shot a coyote in a trap, to see what effect the soft nose bullet would have. He was struck back of shoulder, and a hole torn, where bullet entered, about 3½ inches in diameter.

1898 September, A. A. Haines, “The Ideal Gun for Coyotes [letter]”, in G[eorge] O[liver] Shields, editor, Recreation, volume IX, number 3, New York, N.Y.: G. O. Shields (Coquina), →OCLC, page 216, column 1:

The soft nose bullet if it is fired and hitting any hard object, especially bone, it flattens and becomes distorted and is no longer round and has a tearing force with it.

1935 November 11, J. C. Shields, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 184:

The softnose technique involved placing an inhibitor on a blaster, which allowed a laser to travel at slower speeds, actually penetrating the target. Initially developed for mining purposes, they were quickly adapted by some greedy weapons manufacturer.

[2002, Eoin Colfer, “Cruisin’ for Chix”, in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Miramax Books; Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, →ISBN, page 35:

(firearms) Of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact, causing a large amount of damage; soft-nosed.

pehmeäkärkinen

of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact


softnose

en-noun

softnose (countable and uncountable, plural softnoses)

softnoses (plural)
soft-nose (alternative)
soft nose (alternative)

Coordinate term: hollow point

The soft nose when it strikes a hard substance, mushrooms, would leave ten times as large a hole as a hard nose bullet striking the same substance. A soft nose bullet would leave a ragged edge.

1935 November 11, Clyde L. McNeil, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 215:

And get a couple of boxes of .40 caliber Glasers, too. And about a dozen boxes of .30 caliber softnoses for my SKS. You need some cash for all that?

2000, John W. Myers, “Can Your Home Fort be Defended if Attacked? Or, ‘Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition’”, in The Crossland Shootpout: Adventures of a Photojournalist, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116:

The softnoses were just as quickly outlawed, for the obvious reason that these weapons were designed to kill, and not to incapacitate.

On the upside, I guess the sniper keeps the kids home at night. They're at that age where they prefer tear-assing around town to spending time at home. Judy's 15, and that means all she thinks about is boys. Too bad for her none of her knights in shining armor have been willing to risk a .270 Winchester softnose between the eyes.

2004 October 27, William Gussie [pseudonym], “Man, I Wish that Sniper would Go Away”, in The Onion, archived from the original on 2018-03-14:

(firearms, countable) A bullet of this kind; (uncountable) bullets of this kind collectively.

pehmeäkärkinen luoti

bullet of this kind; bullets of this kind collectively


reloader

(firearms) A shooter who makes their own ammunition from separately purchased components.

(firearms) The equipment used by such a shooter, particularly a levered press used to force the components together.


AMR

AMR (countable and uncountable, plural AMRs)

Coordinate term: anti-tank gun

anti-materiel rifle
anti-materiel rifle#English

anti-materiél rifle
anti-materiél rifle#English

(military, firearms) Initialism of anti-materiel rifle/anti-materiél rifle.


smoothbore

(firearms) A cannon, gun or other firearm that has an unrifled barrel.


unrifled

(firearms) Having a bore with a smooth interior, i.e. one that has not been rifled


chicken wing

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

(firearms) A 20th-century shooting stance where the two elbows are positioned inline with the neck.


boresight

(firearms, weaponry) A device mounted along the bore axis of a gun barrel for purposes of aligning the barrel with the gun's sights.


boresight

en-verb

boresight (third-person singular simple present boresights, present participle boresighting, simple past and past participle boresighted)

boresights (present singular third-person)
boresighting (participle present)
boresighted (participle past)
boresighted (past)

A holiday spirit prevailed throughout the task group on these special days; stationkeeping was a bit more lax, and gun crews were off-duty so that the gunners could lubricate, adjust, and boresight their guns[…]

2022 December 21, Drachinifel, quoting M. Dick van Orden, 11:52 from the start, in Typhoon Cobra - When the weather does more damage than the enemy, archived from the original on 2025-03-02:

(firearms, weaponry) To use a boresight to align a gun barrel with the gun's sights.


obturator

From Latin obtūrō (“to stop, block up”).

(firearms) Any device for preventing the escape of gas through the breech mechanism of a breech-loading gun; a gas check.


sidelock

sidelocks (plural)
side-lock (alternative)

(firearms) The design of a gun that has the lockwork mounted to the inside of a plate; compare boxlock.


CCW

(US, firearms) Initialism of concealed carry weapon.


CCW

(US, firearms) Initialism of carrying a concealed weapon.


headstamp

Photographs were taken of the weapons' serial numbers and [of the] markings on the bottoms of the cartridge casings, known as headstamps, which can reveal where and when ammunition was made.

2009 Chivers, C.J. (The New York Times), Is U.S. Ammo going to Taliban?; run in Austin American-Statesman, May 20, 2009, p A-1

(military, firearms) The identification marking on the base (bottom) of a cartridge casing.


DAO

en-noun

DAO (countable and uncountable, plural DAOs)

(firearms) Initialism of double action only, a trigger mechanism for revolving cylinder and semi-automatic firearms.


autoload

en-verb

autoload (third-person singular simple present autoloads, present participle autoloading, simple past and past participle autoloaded)

autoloads (present singular third-person)
autoloading (participle present)
autoloaded (participle past)
autoloaded (past)

(firearms, weaponry) To load (firearms or artillery) automatically.


autoloading

(firearms, weaponry) The act or process of loading automatically, as done by an autoloader.


TEC

I strap out, step out in every direction / Glock, TECs, jimmy hats, in case I need protection

1993, “Just Another Day”, in Black Reign, performed by Queen Latifah:

Rep your set, grab a TEC / Leave you wet and project / In the cut like Gillette / Where they serve and don't protect

2019, “ZUU”, in ZUU, performed by Denzel Curry:


hammerless

(firearms) Without a visible hammer; said of a gun having a cock or striker concealed from sight, and out of the way of an accidental touch.


nonrecoil

(firearms, physics) Without recoil; recoilless.


RAS

rail accessory system
rail accessory system#English

(firearms) Abbreviation of rail accessory system.


MPBR

(firearms) Initialism of maximum point blank range.


AHO

(Australia, firearms) Initialism of approved hunting organisation, an organisation of which membership is one of several possible prerequisites for a firearms license.


(singular only, informal, firearms) The .303 British rifle calibre.


neck down

neck down (third-person singular simple present necks down, present participle necking down, simple past and past participle necked down)

necks down (present singular third-person)
necking down (participle present)
necked down (participle past)
necked down (past)

(firearms, transitive) To alter (a cartridge) by forcing it into a smaller calibre and size.


bullpup

bullpups (plural)
bull pup (alternative)
bull-pup (alternative)

From bull + pup. The firearms sense originated from firearm designers in the United States during the 1930s. The unconventional configuration of bullpup rifles was compared by analogy to bulldog puppies, which were considered "squat, ugly, but still aggressive and powerful".

(firearms) A firearm configuration in which the trigger is located forward of the magazine and breech, as opposed to a conventional configuration in which the trigger is located rear of the magazine and breech.


hang fire

hang fires (plural)
hangfire (alternative)
hang-fire (alternative)

(firearms) The situation when a gun does not immediately fire when the trigger is pulled, but may fire shortly after.


firing pin

(firearms) the part of the firing mechanism which strikes the cartridge's primer to ignite the gunpowder.


saddle ring

(firearms) A small metal ring on the side of a firearm, allowing it to be hung on a saddle hook or attached to a lanyard.


wadcutter

(firearms) a special-purpose bullet designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities.


Nosler

The bullet is named after gunsmith John Nosler.

(firearms) A bullet having two lead-filled partitions separated by a copper or brass section, intended to retain hitting power after the initial expansion on impact.


wristguard

(firearms) A metal band between the stock and the receiver.


sight in

sight in (third-person singular simple present sights in, present participle sighting in, simple past and past participle sighted in)

sights in (present singular third-person)
sighting in (participle present)
sighted in (participle past)
sighted in (past)

(firearms) To align the sights of a firearm.


SxS

en-noun

SxS (plural SxS or SxSes or SxS's or SxSs)

SxS (plural)
SxSes (plural)
SxS's (plural)
SxSs (plural)

(firearms) Abbreviation of side by side (a double barrelled shotgun with both barrels beside each other, rather than over and under).


Mannlicher stock

Mannlicher stock (plural Mannlicher stocks)

* From a 1903 carbine designed by Ferdinand Mannlicher.

(firearms) A stock on a rifle that runs the full length of the weapon.


breechblock

breechblocks (plural)
breech block (alternative)

(firearms) The metal block that closes the breech of a breech-loading gun after insertion of the cartridge.


ACP

(firearms) A class of handgun ammunition; Initialism of automatic Colt pistol.


running target

(firearms) A target that is towed across a range as the shooter shoots.


obturation

obturation (countable and uncountable, plural obturations)

From Latin obturare (“to stop up”): compare French obturation.

(firearms) The process of a bullet expanding under pressure to fit the bore of the firearm, or a cartridge case expanding under pressure to seal the chamber.


Yellow Boy

From the golden yellow colour of its receiver.

(firearms, informal) A Winchester Model 1866 lever action rifle.


mil-dot

mil-dots (plural)
mildot (alternative)
mil dot (alternative)

(firearms) A type of firearm scope reticle using a one-milliradian dot as an aiming point and reference for range and holdover estimation.


double action

(firearms, primarily of revolvers) Requiring only a trigger pull to both cock and fire.


double action

double actions (plural)
double-action (alternative)

(firearms) A trigger mechanism requiring a single pull to both cock and fire.


Maxim gun

After the inventor, Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916).

Maxim (alternative)
maxim (alternative)
maxim gun (alternative)

(firearms) A British machine gun of various calibres used by the British army from 1889 until World War II.

(firearms) A machine gun which derives after some manner from the patented gun mechanism of Sir Hiram Maxim

(firearms, informal, obsolete) A machine gun


tertiate

en-verb

tertiate (third-person singular simple present tertiates, present participle tertiating, simple past and past participle tertiated)

tertiates (present singular third-person)
tertiating (participle present)
tertiated (participle past)
tertiated (past)

Borrowed from Latin tertiāt-, the perfect passive participial stem of Latin tertiō, from tertius (“third”).

(firearms) To examine, as the thickness of the metal at the muzzle of a gun; or, in general, to examine the thickness of, as ordnance, in order to ascertain its strength.


backstrap

(firearms) The rearmost surface applied to the grip especially of a pistol below a possible beavertail.


blaze away

blaze away (third-person singular simple present blazes away, present participle blazing away, simple past and past participle blazed away)

blazes away (present singular third-person)
blazing away (participle present)
blazed away (participle past)
blazed away (past)

Scott, somewhat stunned and now worried that everybody might have opened fire at the U.S. destroyers (he presumably missed Laffey and Farenholt merrily blazing away with their own guns into the darkness), ordered all firing to cease after a couple of minutes.

2020 December 9, Drachinifel, 20:18 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(firearms, intransitive, idiomatic) To fire (firearms) repeatedly.


SPRG

(firearms, with regard to the 30'06 cartridge) Abbreviation of Springfield Armory.


(firearms) The Mauser model 98, or a firearm action based on this design.


straight pull

(firearms) Alternative spelling of straight-pull


recapper

(firearms) A tool that applies a fresh percussion cap or primer to a cartridge shell in reloading it.


full metal jacket

en-noun

full metal jacket (plural full metal jackets)

(firearms) A bullet having a complete covering of copper over the lead core.

(firearms) The metal jacket itself, which covers the lead core.


neck up

en-verb

neck up (third-person singular simple present necks up, present participle necking up, simple past and past participle necked up)

necks up (present singular third-person)
necking up (participle present)
necked up (participle past)
necked up (past)

(firearms) to increase the size of a cartridge's chamber and calibre.


Texas heart shot

en-noun

Texas heart shot (plural Texas heart shots)

(hunting, firearms) A bullet fired through the anal area of an animal.


keyholing

(firearms) The tendency of a bullet fired down an excessively large barrel to wobble in flight and leave a keyhole-shaped puncture in the target.


doglock

(firearms, historical) The lock that preceded the true flintlock in both rifles and pistols in the 17th century.


Picatinny rail

Named after the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.

(firearms) A bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform.


pinfire

(firearms) An obsolete kind of brass cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge.


slamfire

(firearms) The premature accidental discharge of a firearm while a round is being loaded into the chamber.


speedloader

Various speedloaders had different colours. You could also hear the data being loaded (1200baud iirc) and some programs had very interesting 'tunes' in them, and it was also possible to work out where you were in the load of your favourite games by the sound.

2002, John Bland, “Thumb Bandits.”, in comp.sys.acorn.misc (Usenet):

(firearms, computing) Alternative form of speed loader


sporterize

en-verb

sporterize (third-person singular simple present sporterizes, present participle sporterizing, simple past and past participle sporterized)

sporterizes (present singular third-person)
sporterizing (participle present)
sporterized (participle past)
sporterized (past)
sporterise (alternative)

(transitive, firearms) To modify (a firearm) so that it is suitable for sporting use.


underlug

(firearms) One of the locking lugs on a break-action firearm that extend from the bottom of the barrels under the chamber(s) and connect into the receiver bottom.

(firearms) The metal shroud underneath the barrel of a revolver that surrounds and protects the extractor rod.


frizel

To this succeeded the Snaplance ^([sic]), in which a motion was given to the dog, or cock, and a movable plate of steel, called the frizel, or hammer, was placed vertically above the pan to receive the action of the flint.

1832, The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, volume 10, page 164:

(firearms, historical) A movable furrowed piece of steel struck by the flint, to throw sparks into the pan, in an early form of flintlock.


snap cap

1187. B. Lilly. Improvements in the construction of "snap caps" or "nipple protectors" for firearms. Dated May 12, 1863.

1863 December 18, The Mechanics' Magazine, page 889:

Snap caps are dummies (no powder, no primer, no projectile) shaped like the ammunition for a particular gun. They're supposed to provide something for the firing pin to hit during dryfiring, so the gun's lockwork doesn't have to absorb this impact. It's a fine idea, but not all snap caps are made right.

2012, Silvio Calabi, The Gun Book for Boys:

However, it does no harm (and may prevent damage) to use snap caps - dummy rounds which are inserted into the chamber to soften the impact of the firing pin.

2014, MAssad Ayoob, Gun Safety in the Home, page 124:

(firearms) A dummy round of ammunition used to check ammo feed and other mechanical problems.


JSP

jacketed soft point
jacketed soft point#English

(firearms) Initialism of jacketed soft point


dog

en-noun

dog (countable and uncountable, plural dogs)

dogs (plural)
darg (alternative dialectal)
dawg (alternative dialectal)
dug (alternative dialectal)
doggie (alternative childish)
doggy (alternative childish)
doggy woggy (alternative childish)
doggo (alternative childish)

Australian Kriol: dog

Bislama: dog

Gullah: dog

Sranan Tongo: dagu

Tok Pisin: dok

Torres Strait Creole: dog

desc

→ American Sign Language: Kop@Inside-PalmForward 1o@Inside

→ Dutch: dog

→ Esperanto: dogo

Ido: dogo

→ French: dogue

→ German: Dogge

→ Italian: dogo

→ English: dogo

→ Portuguese: dogue

→ Russian: дог (dog)

→ Spanish: dogo

→ Volapük: dog, doeg

Inherited from Middle English dogge (akin to Scots dug), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin.
The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox). Another proposal is that it derives from Proto-West Germanic *dugan (“to be suitable”), the origin of Old English dugan (“to be good, worthy, useful”), English dow, Dutch deugen, German taugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal". Another is that it is related to *docce (“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā (“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence English dock (“stumpy tail”).
In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting. In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.
Despite similarities in forms and meaning, not related to Mbabaram dog.

hond

morally reprehensible person — see also scoundrel

it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

(firearms, archaic) A cock, as of a gun.


shooting glasses

(firearms) A type of impact-resistant eyewear worn by shooters to prevent injury due to a cartridge or gun malfunction blowing hot gas or metal particles into the shooter's face.


organ gun

/ˌɔːɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

/ˌɔɹɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

From organ + gun. The multiple barrels of the device were thought to resemble the pipes of a pipe organ.

The attempts to re-invest the artillery with its one-time superiority were directed in two channels: one aimed at perfecting shrapnel, which had been rather neglected up to this time (England, Prussia, Austria), while the other resurrected the mediaeval idea of the "barrel-organ gun," with a view of assembling a number of rifle barrels and of combining thereby the accuracy of the small arm with the moral effect of canister.

1911, William Balck, “VI. Machine Guns”, in Tactics, Volume 1: Introduction and Formal Tactics of Infantry, page 259:

(firearms, historical) A large, portable firearm normally supported by wheels, in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession; it was chiefly used from the 14th to the 17th century.

Bellifortis
Giuseppe Marco Fieschi
Konrad Kyeser
Louis Philippe I
Musée des Archives Nationales

арга́н

portable firearm in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession


forend

(firearms) Part of a rifle, underneath the barrel, where it is supported by the hand.


(firearms, informal) The .22 Long Rifle calibre.

(firearms, informal) A firearm chambered in that calibre.


Peabody action

Named after the inventor, Henry O. Peabody of Boston, Massachusetts.

(firearms, historical) An early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle.


Bell shot

After Walter "Karamojo" Bell, a Scottish big game hunter.

(hunting, firearms) A shot at an animal's head taken diagonally from behind.


paper hunting

(firearms, informal, sometimes derogatory) target shooting


Broomhandle Mauser

en-noun

Broomhandle Mauser (plural Broomhandle Mausers)

(firearms, informal) The Mauser C96 pistol.


saddle carbine

(firearms) a short carbine intended for use on horseback, typically with a very short barrel and a saddle ring.


gun sock

(firearms) A long tubular cloth covering, sealed at one end, used to provide basic protection for a firearm.


bore sight

(firearms) An optical device, mounted on or near the end of a firearm's barrel, used to align the sights with the bore.

(firearms) A dummy cartridge containing a small battery-operated laser, used to align the sights.


bore sight

en-verb

bore sight (third-person singular simple present bore sights, present participle bore sighting, simple past and past participle bore sighted)

bore sights (present singular third-person)
bore sighting (participle present)
bore sighted (participle past)
bore sighted (past)

(firearms) To align the sights and aiming point of a firearm using a bore sight optical tool.