James Rawles - Patriots

1911:See M1911.

9/11:The terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, which took three thousand American lives.

AAA:American Automobile Association

ACP:Automatic Colt Pistol

ACU:Army Combat Uniform. The U.S. Army’s new “digital” pattern camouflage uniform that replaced the BDU.

AK: Avtomat Kalashnikov. The gas-operated weapons family invented by Mikhail Timofeyevitch Kalashnikov, a Red Army sergeant. AKs are known for their robustness and were made in huge numbers, so that they are ubiquitous in much of Asia and the Third World. The best of the Kalashnikov variants are the Valmets that were made in Finland, the Galils that were made in Israel, and the R4s that are made in South Africa.

AK-47:The early generation AK carbine that shoots the intermediate 7.62 x 39-mm cartridge.

AK-74:The later generation AK carbine that shoots the 5.45 x 39-mm cartridge.

AM:Amplitude Modulation

A.O.:Area of Operations

AP:Armor Piercing

APC:Armored Personnel Carrier

Apgar:A scoring system used to evaluate the health of newborn babies, typically taken at one minute and five minutes after delivery.

AR:Automatic Rifle. This is the generic term for semiauto variants of the Armalite family of rifles designed by Eugene Stoner (AR-10,AR-15,AR-180, et cetera).

AR-7:The .22 LR semiautomatic survival rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. It weighs just two pounds, and when disassembled, all of the parts fit in the buttstock. The stock is foam filled, so the rifle floats.

AR-10:The 7.62-mm NATO predecessor of the M16 rifle, designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-10s (mainly Portuguese, Sudanese, and Cuban contract, from the late 1950s and early 1960s) are not to be confused with the present-day semiauto only “AR-10” rifles that are more closely interchangeable with parts from the smaller caliber AR-15.

AR-15:Semiauto civilian variants of the U.S. Army M16 rifle.

AR-180:A low cost gas piston-operated .223 made primarily from stamped steel. Designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-180s (made in the U.S. and Japan) use a proprietary magazine, some of which do not interchange with AR-15 magazines, because their narrow magazine catch notches wee on the opposite side of the magazine. These are not to be confused with the present-day AR-180B rifles that can use standard AR-15 or M16 magazines.

ASAP:As Soon As Possible

ATF:See BATFE.

AUG:See Steyr AUG.

BATFE:Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (a U.S. Federal government taxing agency).

BBC:British Broadcasting Corporation.

BDU:Battle Dress Uniform. Also called “camouflage utilities” by the USMC.

BLM:Bureau of Land Management (a U.S. Federal government agency that administers public lands).

BMG:Browning machinegun. Usually refers to .50 BMG, the U.S. military’s standard heavy machinegun cartridge since the early twentieth century. This cartridge is now often used for long-range precision counter-sniper rifles.

BP:Blood Pressure.

C-4:Composition 4, a plastic explosive.

CAR-15:See M4.

CAS:Close Air Support

CB:Citizen’s Band Radio. AVHF broadcasting band. No license is required for operation in the United States. Some desirable CB transceivers are capable of SSB operation. Originally twenty-three channels, the Citizen’s Band was later expanded to forty channels during the golden age of CB, in the 1970s.

CLP:Cleaner, Lubricant, Protectant. A MIL-Spec lubricant, sold under the trade name “Break Free CLP.”

C.Q.: Charge of Quarters.

CUCV:Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle (1980’s vintage U.S. Army versions of diesel Chevy Blazers and Pickups, currently being sold off as surplus).

DF:Direction Finding.

D.I. A.S.:Drop-in Auto-sear.

DMV:Department of Motor Vehicles

DPM:Disruptive Pattern, Marine. The camouflage cloth pattern developed for the U.K. Royal Marines.

FAL:See FN/FAL.

FEMA:Federal Emergency Management Agency (a U.S. Federal government agency). The acronym is also jokingly defined as “Foolishly Expecting Meaningful Aid.”

FFL:Federal Firearms License.

FN/FAL:A 7.62-mm NATO battle rifle made by the Belgian Company Fabrique Nationale (FN).

Fougasse:An improvised mine constructed by filling a pipe this with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles.

Frag:Short for fragmentation.

GCA:The Gun Control Act of 1968. The law that first created FFLs and banned interstate transfers of post-1898 firearms, except “to or through” FFL holders.

Glock:The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock of Austria. Also derisively known as “Combat Tupperware” by their detractors, because they were the first maker to ship their pistols in a plastic box with a snap lid. Glocks are a favorite of gun writer Boston T. Party.

Gold Cup:The target version of Colt’s M1911; has fully adjustable target sights, a tapered barrel, and a tighter barrel bushing than standard M1911s.

G.O.O.D.:Get Out of Dodge

GPS:Global Positioning System

GRFD:Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty

HK or H and K:Heckler und Koch, the German gun maker.

HK91: Heckler und Koch Model 91:The civilian (semiauto-only) variant of the 7.62-mm NATO G3 rifle.

IFV:Infantry Fighting Vehicle

IV:Intravenous

Kevlar:The material used in most body army and ballistic helmets. “Kevlar” is also the nickname for the standard U.S. Army helmet.

KJV:King James Version of The Bible

LAW:Light Anti-Tank Weapon

LC-1:Load Carrying, Type 1. (U.S. Army Load Bearing Equipment, circa 1970s to 1990s.)

LDS:The Latter Day Saints, commonly called The Mormons. (Flawed doctrine, great preparedness.)

LP:Liquid Propane

LP/OP:Listening Post/Observation Post.

LRRP:Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol

M1 Abrams tank:The United State’s current main battle tank, with a 120-mm cannon.

M1 Carbine:The U.S. Army semiauto carbine issued during WWII and the Korean conflict. Mainly issued to officers and second-echelon troops such as artillerymen, for self-defense. Uses ‘.30 U.S Carbine,’ an intermediate (pistol class) .30-caliber cartridge. More than six million were manufactured.

M1 Garand:The U.S. Army’s primary battle rifle of WWII and the Korean conflict. It is semiautomatic, chambered in .30-06, and uses a top-loading, eight-round en bloc clip that ejects after the last round is fired. This rifle is commonly called the Garand. (After the name of its inventor.) Not to be confused with the U.S. M1 Carbine, another semiauto of the same era, which shoots a far less powerful pistol-class cartridge.

M1A:The civilian (semiauto only) version of the U.S. Army M14 7.62-mm NATO rifle.

M1911:The Model 1911 Colt semiauto pistol (and clones thereof), usually chambered in .45 ACP.