I find it ironic

The .45 Colt cartridge was standard issue in the army for many years. The army also adoptred and used the Smith and Wesson Shofield pistol, which was chambered for the .45 S&W, a shorter cartridge. Soldiers, mostly officers and senior NCOs who were purchasing ammunition for their Colt revolvers specified "Long Colt" to assure that they would not receive the shorter S&W round. Quite simple really.

Since the majority of Americans think of the magazine in a pistol as a "clip" I find it distressing that some continuie to make such an issu te of it.

Ignorant redneck? Indeed, I have a bit of formal education, I know the technical terminology quite well, and the uise of clip disturbs me not at all.

In my military days, I was told that my personal weapon was a "sidearm." I would endure a bit of abuse if I called it a gun. Guns have wheels on them!

And what exactly is a shot? Something that comes from a weapon, a drink of spirits, or an injection??

I won't belabor the point further, but why get upset about sometghing so utterly trivial?
 
I've really enjoyed this thread. Such passion and intellect.

What it tells me is we seem to have way too much time on our hands.
 
Ben Dover posted
why get upset about something so utterly trivial?
To me, using "clip" to mean "magazine" represents ignorance about firearms, and it's ignorance about firearms that drives so many of the ridiculous gun laws in this country.

My aversion to the term being misused has become worse in recent months, as we constantly hear politicians and the media use terms like "high-capacity clip" and "magazine clip" while they discuss banning things they know absolutely nothing about.

Maybe I'm being a little ridiculous, but that's how I feel on the subject.
 
Theo,

When the entire country understands a term, where is the problem?

After WW2 and the Korean conflict, most veterans referred to the magazines in their pistols as clips.

I knew several senior NCOs that called their M-16 magaxzines clips. I never found it necessary to reprimand them.

There are so many issues of importance facing us today, that I find minor distractions like this distasteful. I know whaty they mean. That's adequate for me.
 
When the entire country understands a term, where is the problem?
Much of the country also confuses "assault weapons" with machine guns and assault rifles; if it were put to a popular vote vote many firearms would be banned in this country due to popular ignorance regarding them. The misuse of the word "clip", to me, is a symptom of popular ignorance about firearms, and therefore it bothers me.

(On a side note: It was also drummed into me in the Marine Corps that it was a "magazine", not a "clip". In four years on active duty I never once heard a Marine use the term incorrectly.)

Ben, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just explaining why I have a negative response to the misuse of the term. I see public education regarding firearms as very important, and we all know how lacking that education is at the moment.
 
I've been using the terms "clip" and "magazine" mostly interchangeably for over 30 years now. TBH, it wasn't until I started browsing gun websites that I realized that anyone objected to doing so. I've met hundreds of shooters that used the terms interchangeably. I see no problem with doing so and I have better things to do with my time than police other shooters' vocabularies.
 
To me, using "clip" to mean "magazine" represents ignorance about firearms

100% agree. What it comes down to is clips and magazines are just not the same thing. It's not like going to a car guy and saying driving stick instead of manual, because they are talking about the EXACT same thing. Clips and magazines are not the same, therefore calling a magazine a clip is just outright incorrect. I feel it is the responsibility of gun owners and enthusiasts to correct people who don't know any better.
 
You mean "misunderstands?"

Whatever. They still know what you're talking about. I grew up with them being called clips by everybody. The first reference I saw calling them magazines was in gun.....well, magazines:D. I thought it was funny then and I think the politically correct term Nazis are funny now the way they get bent about it. I sometimes do call them magazines but sometimes I just gotta torque the Nazis shorts.:D:D:D
 
irregardless

irregardless of what you call it, it is a device that holds ammo for a weapon.
The use of words is how our language is developed. We use cell phone is place of cellular. Shears and called clippers. Refrigerators are called fridges, vacumn cleaners are called hoovers(in some countries), elevators are called lifts and some some uptight people just like to correct others. And you are right, if people use the word that word becomes "correct"....irregarrdless of what some may say.
What people should be more concerned with is the improper use of the word decimate.
 
We use cell phone is place of cellular. Shears and called clippers. Refrigerators are called fridges, vacumn cleaners are called hoovers(in some countries), elevators are called lifts and some some uptight people just like to correct others.

Yeah but all those things you listed are just different words for the exact same thing. Magazines and clips are not the same. If people are too lazy to say the big old world magazine, why not just call them mags and still be correct.

irregardless of what you call it, it is a device that holds ammo for a weapon.

Should I start calling the tube on my lever action or shotgun a clip too, I mean regardless of what I call it it's a device that holds ammo for a weapon, right?
 
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Not that it bothers me but I will usually correct a person misusing "clip" or "magazine" just on general principles. Right is right, wrong is wrong. The same for "bullet" and "cartridge". A little education never hurts.
 
If we are going to complain about words...

irregardless

You mean regardless, right? The prefix "ir" and the suffix "less" both mean without. Irregarless is a double negative. So, if you are going to complain about proper use of language, perhaps you should use proper language.

:D
 
You can call a magazine or a .45 Colt cartridge anything you want to, who cares. But when you call shotgun a shotty, a Remington a remmy or a brass frame gun a brassie, well that just shows poor breeding and upbringing and is just rude and crude :cool:
 
Which action type has exclusive claim to the term "pistol"?

The term "pistol" was around in the muzzle loading days. It's what gentlemen used to fight duels. Also, they used "gunpowder", not "black powder" in those days.
 
I believe that when a handgun's chamber is part of the barrel, you have a pistol.

Semi-autos, Derringers, muzzle loaders, Pepperbox (revolver/pistol, or pistol/revolver), and single shots.

I find it ironic that many people call it a "hot water heater." If the water's hot, you don't need to heat it.
 
"The .45 Colt cartridge was standard issue in the army for many years."

Nope. The Army used the .45 Colt (by whatever name) for only about a year. They adopted the short cartridge (.45 S&W/.45 Army/.45 Schofield) c. 1874 and never issued anything else for the rest of the Model 1873's service life.

ALL army issue ammunition was made at Frankford Arsenal. After the S&W revolvers were sold off, commercial versions of the Schofield cartridge were made by several companies and, yes, some were headstamped ".45 COLT".

Jim
 
I find it ironic that some people get all weepy and apoplectic when they hear Long Colt, and yet they'll natter on all day long about their favorite .30-30 Winchester, when any marginally educated and proper thinking individual KNOWS that the proper, and ONLY name for the cartridge is .30 Winchester Center Fire.

.30-30 was a term derived by louts and imbeciles, and yet that incorrect name, the use of which holds us up to the ridicule of anti-gunners the world over, is embraced... no... glorified from the lips of those who should know better.

:rolleyes:
 
IIRC the "louts and imbeciles" were mainly competitors like Marlin who chambered guns for the cartridge but didn't want to put a competitor's name on their guns. ;)

Jim
 
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