Favorite slang gun terms?

C

Carmike

New member
Hello all,

Every once in a while, as I peruse this forum, I encounter a slang term for "gun" or "firearm" that I find eminently amusing. Unfortunately, I haven't collected them or written them down anywhere, so I keep forgetting them.

What's your favorite slang term for a gun?

Of the ones I can remember, I think "front-stuffer" is my favorite (for a muzzleloader).


Carmike
 
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Seems like there was a thread on this a while back, but I can't find it now. I've heard "ratchet" for a revolver. I've seen "biscuit" in old fiction (think Dashiel Hammet) used for any handgun.
 
When speaking to my wife when others are present that don't need to know I'm carrying I'll sometimes refer to a gun as a nug. Gun spelled backwards.

Picked that up from an old episode of M*A*S*H when Frank Burns is armed when he isn't supposed to be and he used the term to inform Margret. It started as a joke, but has become a useful technique for us to communicate around grandkids and others.
 
I did look for any old threads, but I couldn't find one. I just discovered this "general" forum (I usually get stuck at the top in the revolver and lever forums), so I'm not surprised I missed it.

And jmr40, be careful when referring to 'nug.' Where I come from, that's marijuana...."Well, yes, officer, I do have nug in my pocket, but I'm licensed to carry it." :)
 
When speaking to my wife when others are present that don't need to know I'm carrying I'll sometimes refer to a gun as a nug. Gun spelled backwards.
Click to expand...

That could also imply that you are carrying marijuana. Might be a regional or generational slang. I do appreciate the reference though, My mother is still mad at me for arriving on this planet during the final episode of M*A*S*H, she missed it, but her doctors didn't.
 
It surprises me that no one has yet said..

"Hawgleg" = SA revolver

Just what are you kids reading/watching these days,that you missed that one??? :D

some of the slang terms are historical, some are amusingly descriptive, some are even sarcastic. And some are just juvenile. Sometimes we know pretty well where the term originates, sometimes, we can only guess.

Two terms I put in the juvenile class are "shotty" - referring to any shotgun, and "Deagle" - referring to the Desert Eagle pistol. I'm unsure where "shotty" originated, but "DEagle" came from a video game which didn't have enough characters in its weapon name slot to write Desert Eagle, so the wrote DEagle.

Gat - probably comes from Gatling gun, and meant revolvers, due to the similarity of revolving parts. Also became used at a time when semi autos were not very common civilian guns, so by extension, used for all handguns.

Roscoe, and Heater are, like Gat, terms from the 20s/30s or possibly earlier.

Ma Deuce is the M2 .50 cal machine gun (not Duce)

And tis "combat Tupperware" a sarcastic reference to polymer frame pistols. Tupperware, (only) is something I use in my kitchen

"Bottom feeder" refers to semi auto pistols (where the magazine goes in from the bottom).

Wheelgun - revolver.."wheelies" -from the same kids who say "shotty".. :rolleyes:

"the Mighty Mattel" - Vietnam era slang for the M16

Crank and Yank - SA revolver shooting
Spray and pray - unaimed rapid fire

"piece" most likely, originally comes from "piece of ordnance"

"mousegun" - small size, small caliber pistol

Racegun - heavily customized pistol used for competition shooting where speed is a factor.

"Bellygun" - short barrel pistol (usually revolver) meant for close range defense (belly to belly distance, etc.)

there are lots of them, most I can't think of, right now...

and then there are personal names for guns...
My first deer rifle, I nicknamed "Killdeer" after Hawkeye's gun in Last of the Mohicans... because, well, it DID! ;)

Back in 1980, I got a Browning BDA .45. One of my friends took to calling it "Alice". Said the initials BDA stood for "Big Dirty Alice". I wasn't thrilled, but my wife found the name amusing, and ever since, that gun has been "Alice".

Works very well when needing to refer to the gun without others knowing. "have you seen Alice lately?" is our "code" for if I am carrying...
 
"Hitler's buzzsaw"

"Hitler's buzzsaw" - "Giving rise to the MG 42's nickname, with the distinctive sound caused by the high cyclic firing rate."

"Spandau" - "By British troops, a traditional generic term for all German machine guns, where the majority were made in Spandau, Germany."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_42
 
My favorite is "Nasal Decongestant from Hell" about the NAA mini revolver, printed in a Guns & Ammo magazine.

I called the weapon "The Loud Knife" as you almost had to touch someone to hit them.

"Artillery" = pistol

I had a supervisor ask me once if I was "packing heat." I had never been in that motel when I wasn't armed, including when I was delivering pizzas 25 years before. LOL
 
Shootin' iron. Geezuz, ya'll are young. snicker.
"Shotty" originated on internet forums.
Mattel, in the late 50's/early 60's, was probably the biggest and most experienced plastics extrusion companies on the planet.
And it's 'A Chopper', not 'The Chopper'.
"...there was a thread on this a while back..." At least once per annum on every forum.
 
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