Glossary

A (hopefully) handy list of some terminology, slang, acronyms, and other linguistic peculiarities in the firearm community's lexicon. While by no means complete, it should be of at least some small help.

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• ACTS & PROVE: a pair of acronyms used in the Canadian Firearms Safety Course.
• ACP: Automatic Colt Pistol. A designation given to several different cartridges.
• AJHP: Aluminum Jacketed Hollow Point
• ANAL PROBE: another take on the ACTS and PROVE acronyms.
• ANSI: American National Standards Institute.
• AP: Armor-Piercing
• ATA: Amateur Trap Association
• ATC: Authorization to Carry; a permit issued by the government of Canada allowing holders of Restricted and Prohibited class firearms to carry them in Canada. Almost impossible to get for self-protection as Canada is a may issue jurisdiction openly hostile to individual self-defense.
• ATT: Authorization To Transport; under Canadian law, a permit that you must have to take a firearm, other than those classified as non-restricted, out of your house.
• Autoloader: semi-automatic firearm.

B

• Bang switch: slang for "trigger." Usually heard in rewording the third rule as, "keep your booger picker off the bang switch."
• BATF: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms
• BBL: barrel.
• Booger picker: slang for "trigger finger." Usually heard in rewording the third rule as, "keep your booger picker off the bang switch."
• Boomstick: slang term for a long gun.
• BT: Boattail
• Bubba: 1) verb: slang term meaning to repair or modify a firearm in a slipshod, excessive, or outrageous manner. "OMG, you bubba'ed it to death!" 2) noun: one who bubba's his (they're almost always male) guns.
• Buck: 1) slang term for buckshot. 2) slang for felt recoil. "Mind that 10-gauge, she's got some buck."

C

• cal: Caliber
• CF: Centerfire (ammunition)
• CF P&R: Centerfire pistol & revolver (ammunition)
• CFR: Centerfire rifle (ammunition)
• CFSC: Canadian Firearms Safety Course; also known as the "Canadian look-down-the-gun-barrel course." Required under Canadian law in order to get a license for non-restricted firearms.
• Chicago typewriter: a Thompson submachine gun with drum magazine and forward grip.
• Clip: is NOT A MAGAZINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• CRFSC: Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course; required under Canadian law in order to get a license for any but the most basic firearms, or any kind of handgun at all.
• CUP: Copper units of pressure
• Cyl: Cylinder

D

• DA: Double action
• DAO: Double Action Only
• DIAS: Drop-In Auto Sear; a device that is adds an auto sear to an otherwise semi-automatic AR-15 so that when used with M-16 fire control parts including an M-16 carrier produces full auto fire.
• DIS: Disintegrating
• DPH: Diamond Pyramid Hardness

E

• E0: Muzzle energy
• EV: Extreme variation

F

• FA: Full Auto.
• FFL: Federal Firearms License
• FL: Factory Load
• FMC: Full Metal Case
• FMJ: Full metal Jacket
• FMJSWC: Full Metal Jacket Semi-Wad Cutter
• FP (Incorrect): Foot pounds
• FPS (incorrect): Feet per second
• ft-lb: Foot-pounds
• ft/s: Feet per second
• FUD: acronym for "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt" or, less politely, "F*cked up, Useless, Disinformation." Usually used in reference to gun grabbers. "I'm getting sick and tired of all this FUD."

G

• Ga: Gauge
• Gatt: gatling gun.
• gm: Gram
• gr: Grain

H

• HBWC: Hollow Base Wad Cutter
• HP: Hollow Point
• HPE: Hollow Point Expanding
• HPL: Hollow Point Lead
• HSP: Hollow Soft Point
• HV: High Velocity

I

• IBT: Ignition Barrel Time
• Imp Cyl: Improved Cylinder (choke)
• Imp Mod: Improved modified (choke)
• IMR: Improved Military Rifle Powder
• IPSC: the International Practical Shooting Confederation.

J

• JHP: Jacketed Hollow Point
• JSP: Jacketed Soft Point

L

• lbf-ft: pound-force-foot
• LH: Left Hand
• LOP: length of pull; the distance from the trigger to the end of the buttstock. Most often, rifle and shotgun stocks are provided with a 13.75" LOP from the factory, as this is felt to be the average length of the average adult male's requirement for both a comfortable grasp of the firearm and for best trigger manipulation.
• LR: Long Rifle (type of rimfire cartridge)
• LUP: Lead Units of Pressure

M

• Mare's leg: a cut-down lever-action rifle.
• MOA: 1) Minute of Arc; a unit of angular measurement, equal to one sixtieth (1/60) of a degree. 2) Minute of Angle; the measurement of a ballistic round's deviation from its initial heading
• MSM: Mainstream media. Used to describe outlets which in most countries are almost exclusively located on the political hard Left and bitterly opposed to such individualistic notions as the rights to self-defense and gun ownership. Not so much a gun term but used frequently.

O

• OAL: Overall length.
• OOB: Out-Of-Battery; an unsafe condition in which a live round is at least partially in the firing chamber and capable of being fired, but is not properly secured by the usual mechanism of that particular weapon.

P

• PAL: Possession and Acquisition License; a firearm purchase and ownership permit required under Canadian law.
• POL: Possession Only License; an ownership-only firearm permit required under Canadian law.
• Pro-crime: A more cor­rect term for one who advo­cates gun con­trol by remov­ing or restrict­ing law-​abiding cit­i­zens from arm­ing them­selves in self-​defense.
• PROVE: an acronym used in the Canadian Firearms Safety Course.

R

• ROF: Rate Of Fire.
• Roll your own: handload.

S

• SBS: side-by-side; an arrangement of gun barrels, most commonly found in double barrel shotguns.
• SBR: Short barreled rifle.
• Slug chucker: 1) a shotgun with the barrel rifled for slugs. 2) a hunter who only uses slugs, never buckshot.
• Smelly: Lee-Enfield (SMLE) rifle.
• Smoke pole: slang for a black powder musket or rifle.
• SxS: side-by-side; an arrangement of gun barrels, most commonly found in double barrel shotguns.

W

• Wheel gun: a revolver.