Gun terminology and the meaning or history behind it.

[OldBroad44]

"Rifle" vs "gun"

Good to remember. If the authorities ever come after my guns I can honestly say I don't have any.

 

[OldBroad44]

A "Saturday Night Special" was an inexpensive handgun, usually imported, that was bought just before you needed it. The sarcastic term suggested that you went out Friday night and got drunk and in a fight. Then went out and bought a handgun Saturday, and went back to the bar to finish the fight.

I bought a Saturday night special in about 1966, A Gilessie .22semiauto after I experienced an attempted home invasion of the rooms I rented in a student ghetto next to U of Florida. Cost me $50 dollars, all I had then. Took it to the dump and familiarized myself with it. Worked flawlessly. A week or ten days later I used the gun to chase off a guy who decided to try coming in through the window. Gun had no sights. Just the outline of a groove.

Subsequently A federal law was passed outlawing the importing of inexpensive guns. I've heard the laws were passed at the behest of American gun manufacturers who did not want competition from cheaper imports. I've also heard the laws cutting off imports of inexpensive guns were passed to try to keep guns out of the hands of blacks and/or poor people. I suspect all three factors contributed. The official reason given was the cheap guns were unsafe, but I never saw any data supporting that claim.

 

[OldBroad44]

"Call your shots" is a gun term that has got into non gun life in a misunderstood form. Among shooters, to "call your shots means to state or notice where you think the bullet went for each shot as or immediately after you shoot. A training tool. calling your shots helps you notice what you are doing wrong on any given shot. And if someone is sitting next to you with a spotting scope calling your shots, it means he's telling you where the bullets landed, allowing you to compare with self called shots or make scope adjustments or corrections for distance or wind.


But when a civilian non shooter says " You gotta call your shots" it actually means you need to make the decisions. And my understanding is the "shot caller" in a gang of prison inmates is the boss of the gang, the guy who makes decisions.

 

[RVTECH]

"Call your shots" is a gun term that has got into non gun life in a misunderstood form.

Don't forget about shooting pool !

 

[Kruel J]

Reminds me of Babe Ruth.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Shotty isn't old. Scattergun is old. Fowler is really old.

Then a fowling piece is really, really, really old.

 

[edzz]

Don't forget about shooting pool !

A good pool shot, a sign of an ill spent youth....

 

[CLT65]

Cost me $50 dollars, all I had then.

$50 in 1966 was a lot of money!

Speaking of "Saturday Night Specials" being banned from import, I've read that one of the prime examples used was the Rohm RG10. Having tinkered with a few of them over the years, I'd have to agree that they really are a terrible gun, but the law made no distinction between the RG10 and a Baby Browning, a quality made gun that was far from cheap.

 

[RVTECH]

I'd have to agree that they really are a terrible gun,

Oh man! I once knew a guy who had one and I had the opportunity to look it over and have to agree with terrible - straight up POS!

 

[CLT65]

Speaking of really cheap guns, I noticed yesterday that Bimart has Rough Rider revolvers on sale for $99.

They're a cheap gun but at least they're functional (most of the time). When you figure inflation, they're probably just about the cheapest functional gun ever.

 

[Member 34319]

"Plinking"

Toepperwein, Elizabeth Servaty [Plinky]

The Handbook of Texas is your number one authoritative source for Texas history. Read this entry and thousands more like it on our site.

www.tshaonline.org

Ok that one is a really cool bit of information. Thank you for posting this! I've always referred to target shooting as plinking!

 

[RVTECH]

This part is almost hard to imagine:

'Within a short time, as part of his act, she was shooting one-inch pieces of chalk from between his fingers and empty shells off his fingertips.'

 

[GripItAndRipIt]

Good to remember. If the authorities ever come after my guns I can honestly say I don't have any.

Reminds me of a favorite aviation joke...

A female pilot is cleared to land her airliner at LAX. On short final approach, the tower unexpectedly waves her off as a sudden crosswind hits the runway. "Delta heavy, LAX center. Abort! Abort! Full throttle! Balls out! Over." they yell into the coms. She replies "LAX center, Delta heavy, negative, negative. Cannot go balls out. Can only go wide open. Over." As she pushes the throttles all the way and saves a planeload of people.

 

[Member 34319]

Was super curious about why it's called a 1913 rail. Turns out it was just a number assigned by the military. This video though, goes in much better detail and I have to say I'm impressed by the gentleman's knowledge.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

The good ole extendo clip mag thingy !