Know what drives me crazy? When certain gun people get all cranky and attitudinal about new(er) shooters using the wrong word to describe some piece, part, or technique. If you’ve visited enough gun stores, you might have been the victim of this type of snobbery:
Joe or Jane Customer: “Hi! I need to buy a clip for my Glock!”
Cranky and attitudinal gun store clerk: “Sorry, we don’t have any Glock clips.”
Of course, the cranky and attitudinal gun store clerk knows the gun part the customer wants—a device that holds ammo in a Glock pistol—but because it wasn’t properly referred to as a magazine, he’s too snobbish to overlook the incorrect use of gun terminology.
The same thing happens with ammunition. Some people talk about buying or shooting “bullets,” while others use bigger words like “cartridge.”
The short explanation is that a bullet is just one part of a cartridge, so they’re not technically the same.
Personally, I don’t care if you call the stuff you load into your gun bullets or cartridges—I’m just happy you’re out shooting!—but in the interest of education and accuracy, it seems like a good idea to explore the whole topic and get really clear on what’s what.
And while we’re clarifying these terms, we can go a bit deeper and discuss exactly how a cartridge works and its exact relationship to a bullet.
Thank you for being here and helping educate the public and new to the Gun and shooting world
Thanks so much for the kind words! That’s exactly why I do what I do – to help others get into the sport / activity / responsibility that I love. There was a time that I knew even less than I know now, which ain’t sayin’ much, and I really appreciated finding resources to help learn 🙂
Nicely done and well written. I liked the illustrations; they probably make it easier for Journalists to understand what you’re saying.
Not that they will TRY … but I’ve bookmarked this article under my “Journalists Guide To Firearms” tag for future reference. Just in case.
Well we can hope, right? That a journalist will actually research a story before publishing something. Wait, that’s crazy talk 🙂
Good work Tom!
I’ll send this off to MDA right away!!
I’m still working on my morning coffee… What’s MDA again?