5 Commonly Misused Gun and Ammo Terms

It doesn’t matter if it’s a gun novice or an anti-gun lobbyist group, many people out there have a bad habit of saying misused gun and ammo terms. From political agendas to regional lexicon mistakes, it’s a wonder anyone knows what the other person’s talking about.

Here are some of the most common misused gun and ammo terms today

Clip

A clip is NOT what holds your cartridges and feeds them into your firearm. That’s a magazine. A clip is designed to help you quickly load your magazine. If you get confused, just remember that a clip has no moving parts (like a paper clip), while a magazine does (like the pages of a magazine).

Accidental Discharge

Almost every single time someone “accidently” shoots another person, the media and (some) politicians start talking about guns and how they accidentally discharge. And while there are such things as accidental discharges, that’s not what happened in these circumstances. See, an accidental discharge occurs when a gun misfires and they’re rare.  But negligent discharges, which occur when a person pulls the trigger when they shouldn’t have, happen all too often.

Assault Weapon

This vague term is not a firearm term, but rather a political one. It made its way into the modern vocabulary in 1989 and, it seems, is here to stay. But what is an assault weapon? No one really knows. Unknowing people often think its an automatic rifle, but then when the anti-gun establishment uses it, that’s not what they’re referring to, after all, civilians aren’t allowed to own automatic weapons. Others assume it means assault rifles, which isn’t the case. And still more assume that the AR in AR-15 refers to assault rifle, and it, therefore, must be an assault weapon, but that’s not true either. Instead, it represents ArmaLite rifle, the first company to make and market the AR-15.

Pistol

In many people’s mind, even those who use firearms, a pistol solely refers to a semi-automatic handgun, but the term has a much boarder definition. In face, a pistol is any gun that is designed to be held with one hand. That means both semi-automatics, such as the iconic Colt 1911, and revolvers, like the Ruger SP101, are pistols

Bullet

Although bullet is a common term, many people get it wrong. If you don’t believe that, linger around the ammunition department at Walmart for just a few minutes. See how many people walk up to the counter and ask to purchase bullets. When you purchase a box of ammo, you’re buying cartridges, which include the bullet, gun powder, and the shell that holds them all together. In reality, the bullet is simply the projectile in the cartridge, in most cases, the lead ball that propels towards your target.

Although there’s plenty more misused gun and ammo terms, these are some of the most common. What ones do you notice the most? Let us know!