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Glossary of Firearms Terms

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Shooting is a sport with a specialized vocabulary. Shooters use unusual words, and use familiar words to describe unfamiliar ideas. There are unique words to describe each part of the gun, and woe to the new shooter who uses "clip" when she really meant to say "magazine"!

Because the jargon is so specialized, it can sometimes be difficult for a newcomer to figure out what everyone else is talking about. Here's a cheat sheet that might help.




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Except where otherwise noted, all articles and images on this web site © 2006-2008 by Kathy Jackson. For permission to quote, please contact author.

There is absolutely no way to put together a glossary like this without a lot of help. Specifically, I would like to thank the people at three firearms discussion boards -- The Armed Citizen, The High Road, and The Firing Line -- for all their help, comments, witticisms, criticisms, corrections, explanations, and objections ... and for their unfailing willingness to surf over here to find out what I've done wrong this time. Thanks, folks.

Disclaimer: The author of this site assumes that you are an adult human being capable of making your own choices and taking responsibility for same. If you are not an adult, or are not capable of taking responsibility for your own choices, STOP. Do not read anything else on this site. The author has made a reasonable, good-faith effort to assure that the articles herein are accurate and contain good advice, but hereby advises the reader that the author is a normal human being who makes the normal number of human mistakes. Deal with it. If it sounds stupid to you, don't do it. The author accepts absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for anything you might say or do as a result of reading any material on this site. Live your own life.