Using the four "C's" in firearm terminology.

noneck180

noneck180

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Well I just want to get a few things off my chest. There are way too many people using incorrect teminology. It drives me crazy that some misunderstand and/or use the the terms Caliber, Cartridge, Chamber and Chambering interchangeably in reference to the identification of a firearm and/or the round it fires. We tend to accept that people use these terms wrong every minute on this site. Repeated incorrect usage does not make it correct. It may, however, be okay because, almost everyone misuses these terms in the very same way.


"Caliber"- The diameter of a firearms bore or the diameter of the corresponding bullet fired through it.

"Cartridge"- A combination of a bullet, powder, primer, and a specific brass case.

"Chamber" Noun,-refers to the portion of a breech-loading gun or firearm in which the cartridge is contained when said cartridge is in shooting position.

"Chambering" Noun, -hich refers to the cartridge which fits a particular gun. For example, if a gun is intended for use with the 7MM Rem Mag cartridge, its chambering is said to be 7MM Rem Mag.

"Chamber" verb to place a round of ammunition into the chamber.

"Chamber" Verb used as a verb to refer to the act of cutting a chamber into a firearm.

I guess I am just tired of seeing/reading...
"What Caliber is the best for Moose"? "Oh the 270 win Cailber had always put moose in the freezer for me".
" What Caliber is that rilfe you have there? It sure is nice" . "Why Thank-you, it is a 6.5 Swede Caliber, I have used it on everything from Gophers to Moose."

Well if I even help one person by my rant I have accomplished something. My hope is one day we all can get the terminology correct. So we as group can communicate properly and accurately. Please excuse my punctuation, grammer and spelling.
Oh, I can't sleep and it's about -40 or colder outside.
 
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How about when people spell advice, as in: I need some advice, as advise.

Or when people say bullets when they mean loaded ammunition.

I could go on but there is no point. Apparently correcting people's mistakes in terminology or basic grammar/spelling makes you an ass. Best to just leave it alone I guess.
 
The pot calling the kettle black. It's the same thing when people use the term mag to describe the clip for a rifle or handgun. Just have to accept it as they will never change.
 
noneck180 said:
Well I just want to get a few things off my chest. There are way too many people using incorrect teminology. It drives me crazy that some misunderstand and/or use the the terms Caliber, Cartridge, Chamber and Chambering interchangeably in reference to the identification of a firearm and/or the round it fires. We tend to accept that people use these terms wrong every minute on this site. Repeated incorrect usage does not make it correct. It may, however, be okay because, almost everyone misuses these terms in the very same way.


"Caliber"- The diameter of a firearms bore or the diameter of the corresponding bullet fired through it.

"Cartridge"- A combination of a bullet, powder, primer, and a specific brass case.

"Chamber" Noun,-refers to the portion of a breech-loading gun or firearm in which the cartridge is contained when said cartridge is in shooting position.

"Chambering" Noun, -hich refers to the cartridge which fits a particular gun. For example, if a gun is intended for use with the 7MM Rem Mag cartridge, its chambering is said to be 7MM Rem Mag.

"Chamber" verb to place a round of ammunition into the chamber.

"Chamber" Verb used as a verb to refer to the act of cutting a chamber into a firearm.

I guess I am just tired of seeing/reading...
"What Caliber is the best for Moose"? "Oh the 270 win Cailber had always put moose in the freezer for me".
" What Caliber is that rilfe you have there? It sure is nice" . "Why Thank-you, it is a 6.5 Swede Caliber, I have used it on everything from Gophers to Moose."

Well if I even help one person by my rant I have accomplished something. My hope is one day we all can get the terminology correct. So we as group can communicate properly and accurately. Please excuse my punctuation, grammer and spelling.
Oh, I can't sleep and it's about -40 or colder outside.
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I understand where you are going here, but I think you are also a little off, like as in the Moose rifle thread. When I ask what caliber I want to here you want a .338 WM. That tells me to use the .338 caliber, but they are telling me to use the Win mag in that caliber. Most people know exactly what caliber and cartridge means, but if you ask me what caliber I won't just say 7mm or .30 cal. I'm going to first tell you I think the 7mm but more specifically the 7mm REM Mag. I think you are getting a little over zealous
 
Give up.
Or you'll never sleep.
The great majority of firearms owners don't give a hoot if they misuse terminology.
There are far more pressing issues to fret over IMO.
 
joe-nwt said:
I can't stand it when people use the windchill as the actual temperature.
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Agreed. That's just a way for pussies to make it sound colder than it is, so they can in their own mind appear tougher than they are.

People play a similar game when they say that the area they hunt is the hardest, and the game they pursue is the smartest. That's just a way to imply that they are the most skilled and smartest hunters without actually coming out and saying. Normally they are just following he traditions of the area, which loosely translated means doing it the easiest and most effective way for that area. Sometimes they have to struggle a bit, explaining that it is a lot harder than it looks, meaning that they are a lot better than you would guess.

The mag/clip, caliber/cartridge thing is a opportunity for annoying people to broad-cast how smart them are. Who really believes that someone is going to accidently buy 500 half-moon clips and try to use them in a Sako 75? Has there been an rash of rifles shipped without chambers because some-one ordered up some .270s?
 
grammar
noun
gram·mar \ˈgra-mər\: the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language

: speech or writing judged by how well it follows the rules of grammar

: a book that explains the grammar rules of a language

Grammer-

kelsey-grammer-20080602043143898-2419611.jpg
 
I also find it annoying the way people mess up the terminology. Some of it is due to ignorance, and some of it is because people just don't care, yet they expect everyone to know that they are referring to ammunition, when they use the term " bullets". The people that I am teaching to shoot, or to reload, either learn the terminology, or I stop teaching them. On the positive side, I did make $20 on a bet, when someone asked me how many bullets the magazine in my rifle would hold, and I responded " a full box of 50. He bet me that I couldn't fit 50 bullets in the magazine, and when I turned the rifle over, opened the floor plate and poured in a box of 50 bullets, he put up a bit of an argument, but he did pay up. It really takes no more effort to say ammunition rather than bullets, or cartridge rather than caliber, but some people just can't be bothered use the right terminology.
 
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