Acronyms - Used to Describe Bullet Shape and/or Construction
    
   Here's a list of the more traditional acronyms used to describe bullet
   shapes and/or construction:
   
      BBWC - Bevel-Base WadCutter
      
      BT - Boat-Tailed
      
      CB - Cast Bullet
      
      DEWC - Double Ended WadCutter
      
      FMJ - Full Metal Jacket
      
      FP - Flat Point
      
      HBWC - Hollow-Base WadCutter
      
      HP - Hollow Point
      
      JHP - Jacketed Hollow Point
      
      JSP - Jacketed Soft Point
      
      LHP - Lead Hollow Point
      
      LRN - Lead, Round Nose
      
      LSWC - Lead Semi-WadCutter
      
      MC - Metal Cased
      
      MRWC - Mid-Range WadCutter
      
      PB* - Lead Bullet
      
      PSP - Pointed Soft Point or Plated Soft Point
      
      RNL - Round Nosed Lead
      
      SJHP - Semi-Jacketed Hollow Point
      
      SJSP - Semi-Jacketed Soft Point
      
      SP - Soft Point or Spire Point
      
      SPTZ - Spitzer
      
      SWC - Semi-WadCutter
      
      TC - Truncated Cone
      
      TMJ - like _Totally_ Metal Jacketed, dude
      
      VLD - Very Low Drag
      
      WC - WadCutter
      
   * - Lead is abbreviated Pb from its latin name 'plumbum.'  Pb might also
   be  used (on cartridge cases rather than bullets) as an abbreviation for
   Parabellum.
   
   J is usually Jacketed.  P is usually Point. S might be Soft, Semi, Spire,
   or  Spitzer.
   
      This is not a complete list, but you get the idea.  From here you can
   cut and  paste your favorite bullet shape, like maybe SWCHP
   (Semi-WadCutter Hollow  Point) or JHPBTS (Jacketed Hollow Point
   Boat-Tailed Spitzer.)
   
   Bullet and cartridge companies have also introduced some creative new
   names  for bullets in an effort to distinguish their products from those
   of other  companies.  These are generally used to describe a particular
   product, rather  than the general bullet construction.  For example,
   Remington's Golden Sabre  bullets would rightly be described as JHP
   (Jacketed Hollow Point), however,  they have chosen to label them HPJ
   (High Performance Jacketed) instead.  A  partial listing of these fancy
   new acronyms includes:
   
      HPJ - Remington High Performance Jacketed (Golden Sabre)
      
      ACC - Remington ACCelerator
      
      CL or PL - Remington Core-Lokt or Power-Lokt
      
      XTP - Hornady eXtreme Terminal Performance
      
      L-C/T - Hornady Lead Combat/Target
      
      SX - Hornady Super eXplosive
      
      GDHP - Speer Gold Dot Hollow Point
      
      STHP - Winchester Silver Tip Hollow Point
      
      FST - Winchester Fail Safe Talon (Black Talon)
      
      SXT - Winchester Supreme eXpansion Talon (Black Talon)
      
   The last one here is also fondly known as:
   EBKDDERSFSCCFRTDACHSIBSDXTMELAWKITNBT
   
   which stands for:  Evil Baby-Killing Death-Dealing
   Emergency-Room-Surgeon-Finger-Shredding  Crime-Causing Flesh-Ripping
   Too-Dangerous-for-Average-Citizen Heat-Seeking
   Innocent-Bystander-Search-and-Destroy eXploding Tearing Maiming End-of-
   Life-As-We-Know-It Thermo-Nuclear Black Talon
   
   which, due to an unfortunate corporate decision, was the name that these
   particular bullets got instead of the name 'Winchester Safety Blossoms'
   suggested by Chris Luchini (rec.guns Tue Nov 23 1993).
   
   

   
   
    Acronyms - Used in Naming Cartridges
    
   Cartridge designs are typically given names that are a combination of
   numerical  designations and letters or words.  The numbers usually
   describe some dimension  of the bullet or case.  The letters and words
   usually but not always indicate  the person, persons, or company which
   developed the cartridge design.   This list decyphers some of the common
   abbreviations and acronyms involved.   A list of cartridges that are
   "commonly" available for revolvers is in Section III.B.1.  A list of
   "commonly" available  cartridges for semi-automatic pistols including
   synonymous cartridge names  can be found in Section III.C.1.  A list
   of available  cartridges for rifles will appear in Section III.D.1., but
   was not complete at the time of this writing.  Included here are one or
   two examples of  cartridges which use each abbreviation.
   
   Acronym or abbreviation                            (Examples)
   
      ACP - Automatic Colt Pistol                    (.45 ACP, .32 ACP)
      
      AE - Action Express                            (.41 AE, .50 AE)
      
      BR - Bench Rest Remington                      (6mm BR, 7mm BR)
      
      B&D - Bain and Davis                           (.357/44 B&D)
      
      G&A - Guns & Ammo Magazine                     (.40 G&A, .460 G&A)
      
      H&H - Holland & Holland                        (.375 H&H)
      
      H&R - Harrington & Richardson                  (.32 H&R Mag.)
      
      IHMSA - International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Assoc.(7mm IHMSA)
      
      JDJ - J. D. Jones                              (.375 JDJ)
      
      JRS - John R. Sundra                           (7mm JRS)
      
      LC - Long Colt                                 (.38 LC)
      
      LR - Long Rifle                                (.22 LR)
      
      Mag - Magnum                                   (.357 Mag, .44 Mag)
      
      mm - millimeter                                (10mm, 7mm Mag)
      
      NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization      (7.62 NATO, 5.56
      NATO)
      
      Para. (sometimes Pb) - Parabellum           (9mm Para.)
      
      PPC - Pindell-Palmisano Cartridge              (.22 PPC, 6mm PPC)
      
      Rem - Remington                                (.223 Rem, .35 Rem)
      
      Ren - Charles Rensing & Jim Rock               (.270 Ren)
      
      RF - RimFire                                   (.22 RF)
      
      Spl. - Special                                 (.38 Spl. .32 Win Spl.)
      
      
      Sprg. - Springfield Armory                     (.30-06 Sprg.)
      
      S&H - Sharpe & Hart                            (7x61 S&H)
      
      S&W - Smith & Wesson                           (.40 S&W, .32 S&W)
      
      STA - Shooting Times Alaskan
      
      STE - Shooting Times Easterner
      
      STW - Shooting Times Westerner              (7mm STW)
      
      TCU - Thompson/Center and (Wes) Ugalde         (7mm TCU, 6mm TCU)
      
      TSW - Team Smith & Wesson                      (.356 TSW)
      
      WCF - Winchester Center Fire                   (.25-20 WCF, .32-20
      WCF)
      
      Win - Winchester                               (.308 Win, .32 Win
      Spl.)
      
      WMR - Winchester Magnum Rimfire                (.22 WMR)
      
      NOTES
      
       - 7.62 NATO and .308 Win are equivalent.
      
       - 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington are equivalent.
      
       - From a latin expression "si vis pacem, para bellum," meaning,
           "if you would have peace, prepare for war."
      
       - 9mm Para., 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, and 9x19mm all use equivalent
      cases,          however, 9mm NATO military ammunition is loaded to
      substantially higher         pressures than most commercial varieties.
      
      
       - .22 RF usually refers to one or more of: .22 Short, .22 Long,
      and        .22 LR.
      
       - Wildcat cartridges developed by Shooting Times Magazine/Layne
          Simpson.
      
   
   T
   
   
    +P and +P+ Used in Cartridge Names
    
   Each cartridge for which firearms are chambered has a standard working
   pressure.  Firearms chambered for a given cartridge must be able to
   withstand  the pressure that that cartridge produces.  Some modern
   firearms are  significantly "over built", and can tolerate pressures
   higher than those  generated by the cartridge for which they are
   chambered.  The +P and +P+  ratings were developed to take advantage of
   the greater strength built into  these guns.
   
   WARNING! - Ammunition designated as +P or +P+ should not be fired in a
   gun  without the approval of the manufacturer of the gun.
   
   +P appended to a cartridge name, indicates that the loaded cartridge will
    generate pressures higher than the industry standard for that cartridge
   when it is fired.
   
   +P+ appended to a cartridge name, indicates pressures even greater than
   those generated by +P designated ammunition will occur when fired.
   
   +P and +P+ loads for .38 Spl. produce pressures that fall between those
   of  standard .38 Spl and .357 Magnum, therefore, .38 Spl. ammunition
   designated +P  and +P+ can be fired in .357 Magnum revolvers.
   
   

   
   
    Some Other Acronyms
    
   Here are some other acronyms that may be encountered:
   
      DCM - Director of Civilian Marksmanship, see info. in  Section
      X.A.
      
      GSSF - Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (for Glock owners who don't
      want          to compete with, and risk being beaten by, owners of
      another brand          of gun.  :-) chuckle...
      
      IBS - International Benchrest Shooters
      
      IMR - Improved Military Rifle (Originally, DuPont's name for some of
      its           canister powders.)
      
      IPSC - International Practical Shooting Confederation, see info. in
      Section IX.B.
      
      NBRSA - National Bench Rest Shooters Association
      
      NRA - National Rifle Association, read about why you            should
      join the NRA.
      
      NRMA - National Reloading Manufacturers Association
      
      NSSF - National Shooting Sports Foundation
      
      SAAMI - Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute
      
      USPSA - United States Practical Shooting Association