What does the B in BB, as in BB gun, stand for, if anything?
Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/
There ya’ go…
http://www.greenapple.com/~words1/back-t.html
It refers to the size of the shot. Shotgun shells can be loaded with different size shot depending on the use. One of the sizes is BB, which is .0176 inch in diameter, or .176 calibre. The original BB guns used a standard shotgun shot, eventually that was replaced with the steel BBs used today.
Crap, beat out again. Next time I’ll type faster.
I know the significance of BB, I am just wondering why the “B”? Why not A, AA, and AAA shot, or X, XX, and XXX? What’s “B”?
Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/
But this doesn’t explain the B in BB. Were the other sizes A, AA, B, etc.? I always assumed it stood for “ball bearing”, but that was just my ignorant assumption.
Well this doesn’t answer any questions but you may find it to be useful information.
Shot Size Table
In that table you will find some other odd sizes, like BBB, T and F.
If you want to know how shotgun gauge is determined, I can post that for you, too.
I presume the other lettered shot sizes are with the size A batteries . For shotguns, that’s just kind of the way the sizes worked out (although those more knowledgeable may have the whole history). Standard shot sizes run from F (.22" diameter) downward to T to BBB to BB and then from 1 to 9 (.08"). Then you get into buck shot, from 000 (.36") to 4 (.24").
Livin’ on Tums, vitamin E and Rogaine
Curses! Foiled by the faster typist (and not a bad linkfinder, either).
Naw, manny. The really impressive part is that the link actually works. I post a lot of the that generate the evil 404 error.
Well, I see I’m off by an order of magnitude in my inch measurement, that’s what comes of not checking your work. Those small shot sizes have me puzzled, they seem too small to be of much use. I know hunters used to go after smaller birds than they do today (though the doves they hunt here are pretty small), but it seems like those tiny pellets would slow down too fast to have any range.
I don’t know exactly when these letter indicators were first put in use but here is a WAG. If it was during muzzle-loader days than the guns had longer barrels, keeping the shot pattern tighter for further range. Also you could adjust the amount of black powder for more power.
For what it’s worth…
I’ve seen ammunition for .22 caliber handguns which is colloquially referred to as “snake loads”. I don’t know what the official name is.
However, these look more or less like regular .22 bullets, except that where the bullet part would usually be there’s a transparent plastic cover filled with what appears to be the metallic equivalent of Contac’s thousands of tiny time pills.
They’re not really INTENDED to travel very far. They’re intended to spread out and kill small things (like snakes) at fairly close range without requiring the shooter to aim carefully.
Hey Torg, thanks for the reminder. We called it birdshot. I was fixated on shotguns and forgot about those 22 shells. The kind we used were crimped on the end. I remember hearing someone call them snake bullets one time, I thought the guy was making the name up. Guess not.