The following are terms related to firearms and ammunition topics.
A type of firearm cartridge that underwent a process of fireforming to contain more propellant to improve the performance of the round. The term may also refer to cutting down the cartridge to contain a different caliber of projectile.
The physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term refers to the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. Actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used. A firearm action is technically not present on muzzleloaders as all loading is done by hand. The mechanism that fires a muzzleloader is called the lock.
A service rifle capable of semi- or full automatic fire, that fires intermediate cartridges.
A term used in some jurisdictions within the United States, usually used to describe semi-automatic rifles that fire from a detachable magazine.
A pistol that is capable of automatic fire; a machine pistol.
A self-loading rifle that is capable of automatic fire.
A tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released to propel a projectile out of the end at high velocity.
a field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behavior and impact effects of projectiles. Often broken down into internal ballistics, transitional ballistics, external ballistics and terminal ballistics.
A service rifle capable of semi-automatic or fully automatic fire of a full-power rifle cartridge.
An attachment point at the muzzle end of a long gun for a bayonet.
An ammunition belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into some machine guns in place of a magazine.
A support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, but with two legs. On firearms, bipods are commonly used on rifles and machine guns to provide a forward rest and reduce motion. The bipod permits the operator to rest the weapon on the ground, a low wall, or other object, reducing fatigue and permitting increased accuracy.
A firearm propellant that is designed to reproduce the burning rate and propellant properties of black powder (making it safe for use in black-powder firearms), while providing advantages in one or more areas such as reduced smoke, reduced corrosion, reduced cost, or decreased sensitivity to unintentional ignition.
A type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound (report). Blanks are often used for simulation (such as in historical reenactments, theatre and movie special effects), training, and for signaling (see starting pistol). Blank cartridges differ from dummy cartridges, which are used for training or function testing firearms; these contain no primer or gunpowder, and are inert.
Some weapons use an adapter fitted to the muzzle when firing blanks.
A system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains power from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the powder charge.[2]
A system of operation that pushes the weapon's bolt forwards to eject the bullet and cycle the action.
A type of firearm action in which the firearm's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech (barrel) with a small handle. As the handle is operated, the bolt is unlocked, the breech is opened, the spent shell casing is withdrawn and ejected, the firing pin is cocked, and a new round/shell (if available) is placed into the breech and the bolt closed.
The part of a repeating, breech-loading firearm that blocks the rear opening (breech) of the barrel chamber while the propellant burns, and moves back and forward to facilitate loading/unloading of cartridges from the magazine. The extractor and firing pin are often integral parts of the bolt.
A tool used to clean the barrel of a gun.
Crude adjustments made to an optical firearm sight, or iron sights, to align the firearm barrel and sights. This method is usually used to pre-align the sights, which makes zeroing (zero drop at XX distance) much faster.
A firearm whose barrels are hinged, and rotate perpendicular to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow the loading and/or unloading of ammunition.
The part of a breechloader that is opened for the insertion of ammunition.
A component that reduces the velocity of recoiling parts (such as the bolt).
A firearm configuration in which both the action and magazine are located behind the trigger.
A firing mode enabling the shooter to fire a predetermined number of rounds, with a single pull of the trigger.
the small metal projectile that is part of a cartridge and is fired through the barrel. Sometimes, but incorrectly, used to refer to a cartridge.
In small arms, the internal diameter of a firearm's barrel or a cartridge's bullet, usually expressed in millimeters or hundredths of an inch; in measuring rifled barrels this may be measured across the lands (.303 British) or grooves (.308 Winchester) or; a specific cartridge for which a firearm is chambered, such as .45 ACP or .357 Magnum. In artillery, the length of the barrel expressed in terms of the internal bore diameter.
An obsolete mechanism for discharging a firearm.
A shortened version of a service rifle, often chambered in a less potent cartridge or; a shortened version of the infantryman's musket or rifle suited for use by cavalry.
The assembly consisting of a bullet, gunpowder, shell casing, and primer. When counting, it is referred to as a "round".
A type of small arms ammunition that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant, and projectile together as a unit.
A quad stack box magazine.
A cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component. The centerfire cartridge has replaced the rimfire in all but the smallest cartridge sizes. Except for low-powered .22 and .17 caliber cartridges, and a handful of antiques, all modern pistol, rifle, and shotgun ammunition are centerfire.
A type of single barrelled machine gun or autocannon that uses an external source of power to cycle the weapon.
The portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel.
Inserting a round into the chamber, either manually or through the action of the weapon.
Commonwealth parlance for a stripper clip, a speedloader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine.
Device on a firearm which, when operated, results in the hammer or striker being cocked or moved to the ready position.
A tapered constriction of a shotgun barrel's bore at the muzzle end. Chokes are almost always used with modern hunting and target shotguns, to improve performance
Damage that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome.[4] The term originated in the United States military, but it has since expanded into broader use.
A type of optical "blind" sight that allows the user looking into it to see an illuminated aiming point aligned with the device the sight is attached to regardless of eye position (parallax free).[5] The user can not see through the sight so it is used with both eyes open while one looks into the sight, with one eye open and moving the head to alternately see the sight and then at the target, or using one eye to partially see the sight and target at the same time.[6] (variant names/types: "collimating sight",[7] "occluded eye gunsight" (OEG).[8])
A shoulder-held firearm that has two or more barrels; and at least one rifle barrel and one shotgun barrel. Most combination guns are of an over-under design (O/U), in which the two barrels are stacked vertically on top of each other, but side-by-side (SxS), in which the two barrels are parrarel to one another are also made.
The premature explosion of ammunition, for example when a gun is hot from sustained firing the heat can ignite the propellant and make the weapon fire.
A family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not enough to destroy the barrel of the firearm, or gun.
close-quarters combat (CQC) or close quarters battle (CQB) is a type of fighting in which small units engage the enemy with personal weapons at very short range, potentially to the point of hand-to-hand combat or fighting with hand weapons such as swords or knives.
A type of blowback operation when fired uses an operation to delay the opening until the gas pressure drops to a safe level to extract.
A breechloading handgun, that typically has one to four barrels. Because of their construction, derringers are much smaller and more concealable than many other types of handguns.
A type of gas operation for a firearm that directs gas from a fired cartridge directly to the bolt carrier or slide assembly to cycle the action.
The lock that preceded the 'true' flintlock in both rifles and pistols in the 17th century. Commonly used throughout Europe in the 1600s, it gained popular favor in the British and Dutch military. A doglock carbine was the principal weapon of the harquebusier, the most numerous type of cavalry in the armies of Thirty Years War and the English Civil War era.
A shotgun with two barrels that are usually of the same gauge or bore. The two types of double-barreled shotguns are over/under (O/U), in which the two barrels are stacked on top of each other, and side-by-side (SxS), in which the two barrels sit parrarel to each other. For double-barreled guns that use one shotgun barrel and one rifle barrel, see combination gun.
A rifle that has two barrels, usually of the same caliber. Like shotguns, they are configured either in over-and-under or side-by-side.
A firearm with three barrels (from the German word drei for three). Typically it has two shotgun barrels in a side-by-side configuration on the top, with a single rifle barrel underneath.
A type of firearms magazine that is cylindrical in shape, similar to a drum.
the practice of "firing" a firearm without ammunition. That is, to pull the trigger and allow the hammer or striker to drop on an empty chamber.
A bullet designed to expand on impact, increasing in diameter to limit penetration and/or produce a larger diameter wound. The two typical designs are the hollow-point bullet and the soft-point bullet.
A round of ammunition that is completely inert, i.e., contains no primer, propellant, or explosive charge. It is used to check weapon function, and for crew training.[10] Unlike a blank, it contains no charge at all.
Devices used to help reduce the sound of a firearm, to prevent hearing damage. Most commonly earplugs or ear defenders.
The use of an electric current to fire a cartridge, instead of a percussion cap. In an electronic-fired firearm an electric current is used instead to ignite the propellant, which fires the cartridge as soon as the trigger is pulled.
For optics such as binoculars or a rifle scope, eye relief is the distance from the eyepiece to the viewer's eye that matches the eyepiece exit pupil to the eye's entrance pupil. Short eye relief requires the observer to press their eye close to the eyepiece in order to see an un-vignetted image. For a shooter, eye relief is an important safety consideration. An optic with too short an eye relief can cut skin at the contact point between the optic and the shooter's eyebrow due to recoil.
An expanding bullet is a bullet designed to expand on impact, increasing in diameter to limit penetration and/or produce a larger diameter wound. The two typical designs are the hollow-point bullet and the soft-point bullet.
A part in a firearm that serves to remove brass cases of fired ammunition after the ammunition has been fired. When the gun's action cycles, the extractor lifts or removes the spent brass casing from the firing chamber.
A case hardening processes that diffuse nitrogen and carbon into ferrous metals at sub-critical temperatures to improve scuffing resistance, fatigue properties and corrosion resistance of metal surfaces. Also called nitriding.
A weapon that fires bullets, and of such a size that is designed for usage by one individual.
The process of reshaping a metallic cartridge case to fit a new chamber by firing it within that chamber.[11]
The part of a firearm that strikes the primer, discharging the round.
An obsolete mechanism for discharging a firearm.
A button, found on firearms firing from closed bolt only and with non-reciprocating cocking handles, commonly on AR-10/AR-15-styled rifles, usually located near the bolt closure, that when hit, pushes the bolt carrier forward, ensuring that the bolt is locked in-battery position.
The accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling material can consist of either powder, lubrication residue, or bullet material such as lead or copper.
A bullet that is designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impact to minimize their penetration for reasons of range safety, to limit environmental impact, or to limit the danger behind the intended target. Examples are the Glaser Safety Slug and the breaching round.[14] [15]
A term for a General Purpose Machine Gun used by Door gunners that is not installed on a weapon mount but a bungee/sling allowing more free movement.
An L-shaped piece of steel hinged at the rear used in flintlock firearms. The flint scraping the steel throws a shower of sparks into the flash pan.
A device used in some types of firearms ammunition when non-jacketed bullets are used in high pressure cartridges, to prevent the buildup of lead in the barrel and aid in accuracy.[16]
A system of operation used to provide energy to operate autoloading firearms.
A hand-crank operated cannon named after its inventor, Richard Gatling. In modern usage, a Gatling often refers to a rotary machine gun.
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel.
A safety mechanism, usually a lever on the rear of a pistol grip, that automatically unlocks the trigger mechanism of a firearm as pressure is applied by the shooter's hand.
An unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant. This failure was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, due to the poor or inconsistent quality of the powder. Modern weapons are susceptible, particularly if the ammunition has been stored in an environment outside of the design specifications.
The position of the hammer where the hammer is partially but not completely cocked. Many firearms, particularly older firearms, had a notch cut into the hammer allowing half-cock, as this position would neither allow the gun to fire nor permit the hammer-mounted firing pin to rest on a live percussion cap or cartridge. The purpose of the half-cock position has variously been used both for loading a firearm, and as a safety-mechanism.
The function of the hammer is to strike the firing pin in a firearm, which in turn detonates the impact-sensitive cartridge primer. The hammer of a firearm was given its name for both resemblance and functional similarity to the common tool.
A type of firearm that is compact enough that it can be held and used with only a single hand.
The distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge (the datum reference) to the face of the bolt. Used as a verb, headspace refers to the interference created between this part of the chamber and the feature of the cartridge that achieves the correct positioning.[20]
A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber, if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added.
A machine gun firing large diameter rifle cartridges, considerably larger than a medium or light machine gun. Most heavy machine guns fire larger rounds, such as the .50 BMG or 12.7×108mm.
A firearm manufactured by someone who is not a regular maker of firearms, often as part of an insurgency.
A subfield of ballistics, that is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel. The study of internal ballistics is important to designers and users of firearms of all types, from small-bore Olympic rifles and pistols, to high-tech artillery.
A metal, usually copper, wrapped around a lead core to form a bullet.
A firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The recoil or backward momentum of a firearm when it is discharged.
an attachment that projects a laser beam onto the target, providing a rough point of impact.
The distance between the trigger and the butt end of the shoulder stock of a rifle or shotgun.
A type of firearm action with a lever that encircles the trigger guard area, (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked.
a class of machine gun often defined as being designed for carry and use by a single operator and firing the same intermediate-power cartridge as other soldiers in a unit.
the mechanism of a firearm that is used to initiate the ignition and propel the projectile down the barrel.
A fully automatic weapon capable of sustained fire over a long period of time.
A pistol capable of automatic fire. Also used interchangeably with submachine gun.
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm (fixed) or removable (detachable). The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm.
Firearm parts and ammunition that are suitable for a competitive match. This refers to parts that are designed and manufactured such that they have a relatively tight-tolerances and high level of accuracy.
An obsolete mechanism for discharging a firearm.
A class of machine gun often defined as being designed for carry and use by multiple operators, firing a full-power rifle cartridge.
A high explosive round used for armour piercing etc.
The part of a firearm at the end of the barrel from which the projectile exits.
Devices that are fitted to the muzzle of a firearm to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire.
the kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as a rough indication of the destructive potential of a given firearm or load. The heavier the bullet and the faster it moves, the higher its muzzle energy and the more damage it does.
The speed at which a projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately 800ft/s for some pistols and older cartridges to more than 4000ft/s in modern cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger. In conventional guns, muzzle velocity is determined by the quality (burn speed, expansion) and quantity of the propellant, the mass of the projectile, and the length of the barrel.
The status of a weapon before the action has returned to the normal firing position. The term originates from artillery, referring to a gun that fires before it has been pulled back into its firing position in a gun battery. In firearms where there is an automatic loading mechanism, a 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 can occur.
An ordnance word; to close (a hole or cavity) so as to prevent a flow of gas through it, especially the escape of explosive gas from a gun tube during firing. The process of obturation is where a recess in the base of a bullet allows for expanding gases to press against the base and inside skirt of the bullet creating a gas tight seal to the bore. See also swage.
A situation wherein it may not be practical to mount a telescopic sight directly above the receiver and barrel of a firearm. This was noted with many military and service arms where new ammunition was fed from above along a similar path, in reverse, to the spent cartridge cases being ejected clear. Not often seen or used today, although complete or partial sets of offset mounts attract keen interest from restorers and collectors.
Open-bolt weapons have the bolt to the rear of the receiver when ready to fire. This means that when the trigger is pulled the bolt moves forward, feeds a cartridge into the chamber and fires that cartridge in one movement.
A type of bullet. The open tip design employs a precision deep drawn jacket with lead inserted from the front tip and ogival forming from the open tip mouth, and originated strictly for competitive match.
A method of protecting a steel surface from corrosion and increasing its resistance to wear through the application of an electrochemical phosphate conversion coating. Also called phosphating and phosphatizing.
A kit of firearm parts minus the receiver. Used to build a complete firearm with the purchase or manufacture of a receiver (regulated in the US).
a small cylinder of copper or brass that was the crucial invention that enabled muzzle-loading firearms to fire reliably in any weather. The cap has one closed end. Inside the closed end is a small amount of a shock-sensitive explosive material such as fulminate of mercury. The percussion cap is placed over a hollow metal "nipple" at the rear end of the gun barrel. Pulling the trigger releases a hammer, which strikes the percussion cap and ignites the explosive primer. The flame travels through the hollow nipple to ignite the main powder charge.
A bracket used on some firearms to provide a standardized mounting platform.
An obsolete type of brass cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin that protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge.
Informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles, and balloons filled with water.[27]
A type of firearm that can be held and fired with one hand. The word pistol is usually used to refer specifically to a semi-automatic pistol.
A feature on some firearms that gives the user a slightly curved area to grip, just rear of the trigger.
A rifle or shotgun in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require that the shooter remove their trigger hand during reloading. In rifles, this action is also commonly called a slide action.
A device used with early firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly gunpowder).
The frequency at which a firearm can fire its projectiles. Usually measured in RPM (rounds per minute).
the part of a firearm that houses the operating parts.
The backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile, according to Newton's third law. (often called kickback or simply kick).
An operating mechanism used in locked-breech, autoloading firearms. As the name implies, these actions use the force of recoil to provide energy to cycle the action.
An optical telescope that can be paired with a non-magnifying optical sight turning the combination into a telescopic sight.
A type of reflector (reflex) sight for firearms that gives the uses a red light-emitting diode as a reticle to create an aim point.
A generally non-magnifying optical device that has an optically collimated reticle, allowing the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see a parallax free cross hair or other projected aiming point superimposed on the field of view.[28] Invented in 1900 but not generally used on firearms until reliably illuminated versions were invented in the late 1970s (usually referred to by the abbreviation "reflex sight").
A bullet placed in the cartridge backwards as an ad-hoc way of armour piercing.
A repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing.
A rebound, bounce or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile.
A process of filling gaps between the action and the stock of a rifle with an epoxy based material.
Helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis. This spin serves to gyroscopically stabilize the projectile, improving its aerodynamic stability and accuracy.
A type of firearm cartridge that used a firing pin to strike the base's rim, instead of striking the primer cap at the center of the base of the cartridge to ignite it (as in a centerfire cartridge). The rim of the rimfire cartridge is essentially an extended and widened percussion cap that contains the priming compound, while the cartridge case itself contains the propellant powder and the projectile (bullet).
A gun that has been loaded for rubber bullets, smoke grenades, or any other projectile that is not designed to kill its target.
A form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a circular shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is locked into place by the hammer, thus preventing the cartridge from moving backwards at the moment of firing. By cocking the hammer, the breechblock can be rotated freely to reload the weapon.
A type of autocannon that contains multiple rotating barrels. If in a machine gun caliber it is referred to as a rotary machine gun.
a single cartridge.
A device used in a firearm to fire a projectile, such as a bullet, that is smaller than the bore diameter.
A mechanism used to help prevent the accidental discharge of a firearm in case of unsafe handling. Safeties can generally be divided into sub-types such as internal safeties (which typically do not receive input from the user) and external safeties (which typically allow the user to give input, for example, toggling a lever from "on" to "off" or something similar). Sometimes these are called "passive" and "active" safeties (or "automatic" and "manual"), respectively.
A firearm that fires semi–automatically and at least one automatic mode by means of a selector depending on the weapon's design. Some selective fire weapons utilize burst fire mechanisms to limit the maximum or total number of shots fired automatically in this mode. The most common limits are two or three rounds per pull of the trigger.
Firing a single round of ammunition each time the trigger is pulled.
A pistol that has a single chamber, and is capable of semi-automatic fire.
Specialized facility designed for firearms practice.
Portable weapon mounts.
A legal designation in the United States, referring to a shoulder-fired, rifled firearm with a barrel length of less than 16" (40.6 cm) or overall length of less than 26" (66.0 cm).
A type of firearm designed to fire shotshell, which releases a large number of small projectiles (shot) or a single large projectile (slug) upon firing.
Usually referring to a pistol or revolver, single-action is when the hammer is pulled back manually by the shooter (cocking it), after which the trigger is operated to fire the shot. See also double-action.
A firearm that holds only a single round of ammunition and must be reloaded after each shot.
A premature, unintended discharge of a firearm that occurs as a round is being loaded into the chamber.
A type of strap or harness designed to allow an operator carry a firearm (usually a long gun such as a rifle, carbine, shotgun, or submachine gun) on his/her person and/or aid in greater hit probability with that firearm.
A revolver with a very short barrel.
A device used for loading a firearm or firearm magazine with loose ammunition very quickly. Generally, speedloaders are used for loading all chambers of a revolver simultaneously, although speedloaders of different designs are also used for the loading of fixed tubular magazines of shotguns and rifles, or the loading of box or drum magazines. Revolver speedloaders are used for revolvers having either swing-out cylinders or top-break cylinders.
An aerodynamic bullet design.
The part of a rifle or other firearm, to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached, that is held against one's shoulder when firing the gun. The stock provides a means for the shooter to firmly support the device and easily aim it.
The ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target, human or animal, sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands.
A speedloader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine.
A type of automatic, magazine-fed weapon that fires pistol cartridges.
To reduce an item in size by forcing through a die. In internal ballistics, swaging refers to the process where bullets are swaged into the rifling of the barrel by the force of the expanding powder gases.
Firearm components that narrow down to a conical fashion hence the name taper, notably with barrels and cartridges.
Mathematical approach for evaluating the stopping power of hunting cartridges, which favors cartridges with a high momentum and a large bullet diameter.
A sub-field of ballistics, the study of the behavior of a projectile when it hits its target.[30]
A mechanism that actuates the firing sequence of a firearm. Triggers almost universally consist of levers or buttons actuated by the index finger.
a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting and/or pivoting point. On firearms, the barrel is sometimes mounted in a trunnion, which in turn is mounted to the receiver.
A turn bolt refers to a firearm component that where the whole bolt without using a bolt carrier turns to lock/unlock. This is mostly used to describe manually operated bolt action firearms, but also on some automatic firearms.
A process that increases the diameter of a workpiece by compressing its length.
A firearm specially designed for use underwater.
A small-caliber firearm or high-powered air gun primarily used for varmint hunting—killing non-native or non-game animals such as rats, house sparrows, starling, crows, ground squirrels, gophers, jackrabbits, marmots, groundhogs, porcupine, opossum, coyote, skunks, weasels,[32] or feral cats, dogs, goats, pigs, and other animals considered a nuisance vermin destructive to native or domestic plants and animals.[33]
The speed at which a projectile travels.
A special-purpose bullet specially designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under 800ft/s. They are often used in handgun and airgun competitions. A wadcutter has a flat or nearly flat front that cuts a very clean hole through the paper target, making it easier to score and ideally reducing errors in scoring the target to the favor of the shooter.
An acronym for a family of cartridges designed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company, called Winchester Center Fire, as in the .30–30 WCF or .32-20 WCF.[34]
An obsolete mechanism for discharging a firearm.
The side-to-side adjustment of a sight, used to change the horizontal component of the aiming point. See also Kentucky windage.
The heading of a bullet, used in external ballistics that refers to how the Magnus effect causes bullets to move out of a straight line based on their spin.