Firearms Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Citations in the Category Firearms

Guns, rifles, pistols, machine guns, automatic weapons, hunting weapons, handguns, bullets, ammunition, etc. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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push someone’s wig back v. phr. Revisiting the crime scene, Mr. Roe said the most terrifying moment that night was not when a gang member pointed a gun at his head and threatened to “push his wig back,” slang for shooting him in the head. [English Crime & Prisons Firearms Slang] [full cite] (Jul. 28, 2007)

R2-D2 n. Since laser defenses are still quite a way off, the Army has looked to an existing system to fill the need. The Navy’s Phalanx CIWS system, an autonomous 20mm gatling gun capable of firing up to 4,500 rounds per minute, has been modified to defend ground units. Known as “R2-D2” to Navy personnel, the Army is hoping to use these droids to defend bases. The program is called C-RAM, short for “counter rocket artillery mortar” system, and two test units arrived in Iraq last month. R2-D2 is merely part of an integrated system. The previously-mentioned LCMR and the AN/TPQ-36 Target Acquisition Radar, the AN/TPQ-37’s shorter-range brother, feed information on incoming rounds into R2-D2 and it opens up in an attempt to shoot them down. [English Firearms Military Slang] [full cite] (May. 4, 2007)

ratchet n. As another employee approached with the bat, the man left and said, “I’ll be back before you close and next time I’m coming through with the ratchet,” which the employees understood as slang for a handgun, according to the report. [English Firearms Slang] [full cite] (Dec. 5, 2007)

skittle n. Our guys usually dump 200 rounds of “Skittles” onto the target. I did not know what Skittles were for a long time. Back in Hawaii, I came upon two crew chiefs arguing loudly. One of them was very upset about the other guy giving away his Skittles.…AP-I’s machine gun rounds are pieces of ultra-dense tungsten, wrapped in a substance that burns/explodes upon contacting the target. They are referred to as “Skittles” because the tips are painted purple, green, red, or yellow, depending on when they were manufactured. “Skittles,” when fired at night, make beautiful showers of burning metal upon contact with the target. At night, they are a beautiful sight. They were rare, if not impossible to find in Hawaii. In Iraq, they are abundant. [English Firearms Military Slang] [full cite] (Jun. 25, 2007)

soap bullet n. In addition to the two decade old laser tag systems, the more expensive Simunitions are also being used. These are low powered, paintball bullets. Users often refer to them as “soap bullets.” [English Firearms Slang] [full cite] (Nov. 29, 2007)

sponge gun n. The officers used something that is commonly called a sponge gun it’s a less than lethal weapon that we have. The weapon was deployed in an effort to avoid having to shoot this man. [English Firearms Police] [full cite] (Apr. 25, 2007)

stove-pipe n. Soldiers call it a “stove-pipe.” It happens rarely, and usually in the very worst of combat circumstances: the soldier is fatally hit just as he is firing his handgun. In the split second when his weapon fires, the wounded soldier suddenly loosens his hold on the gun, what’s known as a “dead man’s grip.” Instead of a rigid hand taking the recoil, the handgun absorbs all the force, and the extraction and ejection mechanism fails. The spent bullet cartridge will jam—or “stovepipe”—upright, partially ejected from the pistol’s breach. [English Firearms Military] [full cite] (Sep. 27, 2006)

stovepipe v. “They got him on the ground and he was still pulling the trigger, but the gun had stovepiped,” Werner said, using a term for when pistol jams and does not retract into the firing position. [English Firearms Slang] [full cite] (Jan. 25, 2007)

strap n. A high-ranking gang member who was on life support after being shot, and whose sister was overheard talking on her cellphone in the hospital, urging someone to “get those straps together. Get loaded.” [English Firearms Slang] [full cite] (May. 5, 2008)

throw-down gun n. When McCord realized his mistake, Kallinen contends the deputy may have planted an untraceable “throw-down gun” and emptied Romero’s pockets of other items, including his cell phone. [English Crime & Prisons Firearms Police] [full cite] (Mar. 7, 2005)

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