Glossary

A firearm shooting sport in which the competitors attempt to knock over metallic multi-shaped targets at various ranges.

A common name for a suppressor, this mechanism is attached to a gun’s barrel to significantly reduce the sound a gun makes when fired.

The aperture, mechanical or optical, that aids the shooter in aiming their firearm.

The distance between the rear sight and the front sight.

What the shooter sees when looking through the sights downrange at the target.

A shotgun with two barrels that are situated next to each other in tandem.

Bringing the butt of a long gun's stock to the shooter's shoulder in preparation of firing the gun.

A cartridge for a shotgun that is filled with birdshot or slugs, with some specific rounds made for handguns and smaller caliber rifles.

A type of long firearm that fires small groups of pellets or large slugs housed in a shell rather than a single bullet.

The multiple BB's or birdshot included in a shell when a shotgun is fired.

A trigger that doesn't have to travel very far before it reaches the break, such as in certain 1911 model semi-automatics.

When using a pump-action firearm, the shooter is too gentle with the fore-end and either not using enough force to pull it all the way back at the beginning of the stroke, or not shoving it all the way forward at the end of the motion.

A semi-automatic pistol has a short recoil when the barrel and the breechblock are locked together for only a short distance of rearward travel at the recoil, at which point the two are uncoupled and the barrel is stopped while the breechblock continues rearward, extracting the spent shell casing from the chamber.

Competitions and other shooting games which involve firearms that are all collectively referred to as the shooting sports.

This is a slang term for leftover round casings. However, it is also used to reference shotgun ammunition.