Glossary

A bipod is a two-legged stand that is usually attached to the barrel of a rifle. There are also similar such tools as the monopod and tripod, including bipods that can be carried into the field for use in hunting or shooting.

One of the shooting sports where nordic cross country skiing is combined with rifle shooting, most famously in the Winter Olympics.

A backstop in the form of a large, heavily mounded pile of dirt.

There are two common themes here. A benchrest is a common item used to rest the firearm on while sighting in; an item made specifically for firearms that will not damage the finish while firing. Also, benchrest shooting is a competition whereby competitive shooters seek to place five or 10 consecutive shots into the smallest possible grouping on a paper target at various distances.

Mainly a safety feature nearly always at the top part of the backstrap and most commonly found on 1911-style pistols. This feature keeps the shooters hand from getting 'bitten' by the hammer.

A firearm is said to be in 'battery' when it is loaded and the breech is locked and ready to fire. A semi-automatic shotgun, for instance, is out of battery when the slide fails to come all the way forward again after the gun has fired, making it impossible (and possibly dangerous) to attempt firing another round.

A safety covering on the barrel of a long gun which encloses it in a perforated metal or sometimes plastic guard, preventing the hot barrel from burning the user.

This term refers to the long tube-shaped part of a firearm. It provides an exit path with direction and velocity for a discharging bullet.

Browning Automatic Rifle. Used for the military rifle and the Browning semi-auto civilian hunting rifles.

The science of cartridge discharge through an examination of the launch, flight path, behavior, and projectile effects of a bullet and its casing.

Originally a primitive firearms term to denote a spherical projectile, which can now be a full-jacket bullet with a cylindrical profile, capped with a round nose.

Even deer hunters know that this a handgun term and not a reference to our favorite cut of venison. The backstrap refers to the rearmost surface of the grip that carries the palm while handling the firearm.

An automatic firearm chambers, fires, and ejects multiple cartridges with a single pull of the trigger. Also referred to as a “machine gun,” it will continuously fire rounds as long as the trigger is engaged and the magazine has ammunition. This type of gun is strictly regulated by the federal government.

Any firearm that uses the gasses of the spent or fired shell or cartridge, blowback or recoil operation to eject it and load the next round. Also known as semi-automatic, such as a shotgun that can be fired without the need to manually chamber another round.

This is a political term, and has no actual definition.