That post was not about typos, it was about Fighting Ignorance, hence the words “for the uninitiated”, which could be read “for the uninformed”, or “for those who were unaware”.
Either. It’s either ammo or rounds, depending on the situation. It’s “an ammo can” or an “ammo belt” (for gunners) or an “ammo pouch”. But it’s a “20-round magazine”. It’s not that cartridge or bullet would necessarily be incorrect; it’s just that you are indoctrinated with a certain jargon from day one, and anything else just doesn’t sound right.
Uncle Bill: We had a lot of respect for the Jarheads, and always extended a handshake when you guys finally arrived at the LZ we built for you.
ZING!
That one had to hurt.
Deleted.
This is what I love about the military. There’s only one way. Everybody is on the same page. I routinely use the phonetic alphabet and people are always bitching about it. Up thier’s. Who ever heard of nora? That’s somebodys grandmas name.:rolleyes:
Don’t I know it!
Your comment about my shift key made me think otherwise.
The standard issue British Army rifle is now the SA80 A2. It’s called your rifle or weapon, both are yelled at you at various times. The official designation for the weapon system is IW which stands for Individual Weapon, but I’ve only heard that used in speech a couple of times.
The LSW (Light Support Weapon, or Long, Silly Weapon) isn’t in service with regular units any more (I’m fairly sure), and even most of the territorial units have switched over to the minimi which is often referred to as the LMG.
You hear anyone talking about ‘guns’, and they’re likely referring to the GPMG (confusingly pronounced gympie), Artillery or usually mediocre biceps.
What I’ve always wondered is what “ball ammo” is exactly. It’s not ball shaped.
That term is a carry-over from the day when muzzleloading weapons did fire round lead balls.
That’s just annoying then! Time to update the nomenclature.
Nowadays, machine guns come with a variety of ammo.
Incendiary, tracer, armor piercing, and so on. “Ball” is plain old fasioned lead slug. Why change the name? It works, don’t it?
So the upshot is that the language isn’t OMG pr3c1se! The little metal bits you stick in your boom stick to make it go boom go by a variety of names depending on the context, and within that context the terminology is flexible. The place where you need to be precise is when you go to the supply sergeant or quartermaster or whomever and ask for more little metal bits. You can’t just walk in and say “I would like 500 bullets, if you please, kind sir, so that I may reload my gun several more times” because that could mean anything. Similarly, carpenters may hammer nails into boards all day long, but they do not go to the hardware store and ask for “one thousand of your finest nails and fifty boards to pound them into for I am a carpenter building a house!”
UncleBill, the AP style also dictates that titles of books should be in quotation marks and not underlined; commas and periods always go inside quotation marks; and the serial comma is contraindicated (“x,” “y” or “z” and not “x”, “y”, or “z”). I cannot imagine a style guide which does not require commas after Stylebook and airman in the following sentence.
I thought, since it was like the Bible and all, we ought to be precise.
Just a little smiling cheek among friends.
But spitzer sound even more silly.
Some of us just can’t forget the words that came out of the loud speakers on the firing ranges:
With eight rounds ball ammunition, lock and load. Ready on the right? Ready on the left? Ready on the firing line. Commence firing.
Tells you all you need to know.
Yes events have overtaken me now,I am so old I used to use the SLR at one time and actually remember the introduction of ths sa80/a1.(How do you field strip it?Drop it and it will fall to bits)
But to reiterate the GUN was your MG which was the jimpy or your LMG.the Biceps thing is new to me.
Regula Guadere!
I see what you did there. 
Question: What is a “spent round”? Is it:
a) An empty brass cartridge casing?*
b) A bullet that has travelled to the end of its range and will impact nearly harmlessly?
c) Both?
*Do they ever call them “shells”? Obviously that’s to be confused with explosive artillery projectiles.
a)
“Shell” can refer to an unused cartridge as well as a used one. Used ones are often called brass. Since this is the most expensive part of the cartridge, many shooters save these (assuming they are not rimfire, steel, aluminum, or Berdan-primed) in order to reload them.
FWIW,
Rob