Okay, I've googled this, checked all kinds of sites, but never really got an answer to my dumb question: About when did revolvers cease being called pistols and semi-autos became pistols? I know a revolver is a pistol, etc, but when did the terms "pistol" and "revolver" become not so interchangeable?

From wiki...

"When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder".

I read that...but when did that become the definition? When I was a kid .38s were pistols, in real life and old movies. Revolvers were called pistols before semis existed.

I'm sure this question falls into one of two categories.
1) Predates me. I'm a 1970 model.
2) Is way above my pay grade.

Why do you assume that it changed, would it not be more reasonable to assume that you were using the word incorrectly? As far as I know, revolvers and pistols were around way before any of us were children, why assume that the use of the words changed?

All handguns are pistols, just another name. Single shot BP handguns were called pistols and derringers are also. Revolvers use the name to designate the cylinder that rotates. Semi Autos (autos for short) refer to the means in which the action uses recoil or gas to operate the mechinism. There are a few rare semi automatic revolvers also (British).

CD

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De Oppresso Liber

I first got caught up in this "word game" back in the mid 90s as an LEO where the range officer didn't want to hear any debate on the issue, you were simply told to refer to the wheel gun as a revolver, and the auto loader as a pistol.
He said, "Think of it like this, the cylinder on a 6-gun, revolves, and the slide on the auto works in a similar way as a piston in an engine moves back and forth."

That's "my" time-line on this subject.
Prior to that, they were ALL pistols, but I have now made the distinction in my own mind to refer to them as pistol (auto) and revolver (6-shooter).

I have 4 pistols, and one of them is a revolver.
There, how's that for confusing? LOL!!

Leon

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686, 4006, 5906

This makes me think of the movie Full Metal Jacket........ " This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting and this is for fun"

It depends on who your talking to I believe. But don't say the wrong thing in front of the wrong person. It's kinda like the silencer, suppressor thing. Which is right? Hiram Maxim invented them and he called it a silencer, but them tacti-cool dudes will try to correct you every time and say "It's a suppressor!".

I agree. It's ok to call revolvers pistols...really.

Review the contents of this link, scrolling down into the body of the page to discover both revolving pistols and revolving rifles in all their semantical glory, the term revolver and pistol being used interchangeably in descriptions, advertising, and letters.

Water Wheels II Readings

The original small-minded individual who first decided to argue that revolvers are not pistols and that it is incorrect usage to refer to them as such, the location where he first pontificated, and the exact hour and date are all unfortunately lost to history but he was a tiresome twerp of the highest order.

An extra link, just for fun.
DE

I'm inclined to agree with this sentiment. However, common usage today is that a pistol is a semi automatic handgun and a Revolver is the handgun of choice for someone who is an Informed and Intellegent handgunner. It's like the tag line to the old Packard advertizing, "Just ask a man who owns one". Yeah, I'm a Revolver Snob, they are more elegant than any semi and learning to use one well will make you become a much better shooter capable of shooting any type of handgun well.

I'll also note that the State of Michigan still considers a revolver as legally being a Pistol, which means that if I happen to choose to carry a revolver my Michigan Concealed Pistol License covers that use.

I am an NRA certified 'Pistol' instructor. The NRA uses the term to refer to both, and actually thinks I can teach folks to shoot revolvers.

It could be that I'm one of those "small minded twerps of the highest order", but I call pistols pistols and revolvers revolvers, and both of them handguns. I don't recall ever hearing anyone else call a revolver a pistol, maybe I'm surrounded by small minded twerps as well or not paying attention, but I'm sure I would just let it go if I did.

I always figured that words mean things, and you communocate different messages by using different words. Words like revolvers- pistols, knife- bayonet, clip- magazine, apple- orange, and so on. As an example; I know that all repeating semi- auto handguns have a magazine, some use a clip to fill the magazine, but most have detachable magazines that can be charged outside the pistol. I also know that not all pistols have a magazine, in the case of muzzle loading pistols and single-shot breech loading pistols like the Contenders.

Anyway, that's my opinion. It's 7:00am already, and I haven't had coffee yet, and Mrs. Hotlead says it's too early for an online semantical debate......

Think about it this way:

There was a period of time during the 19th century of roughly 50 years when the ONLY handguns in (common) use were revolvers.

Did the word "pistol" cease being used then? I don't know but I suspect that it would be understood to apply to any handgun. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that revolver remained the preferred term (eg, commercial cartridge boxes almost always referred to "revolver cartridges")

"Pistol" probably changed back to being a more specific term once autoloading handguns became feasible (ca 1900).

Still, I don't begrudge anyone from using the term pistol to refer to a revolver.

Etymology

Pistol Probably from Middle French pistole, plausibly from German Pistole, from Czech pistole "firearm", literally "tube, pipe", from pisteti "to whistle", of imitative origin, related to Russian (pischal) "shepherd's pipe; harquebus". Perhaps however from Middle English pistolet, from Middle French 'small firearm or small dagger', which may be from Italian pistolese 'from Pistoia (a city in Tuscany)'.

So if you look at the origin of the word Pistol then most any handgun is considered to be a Pistol, whereas not every Pistol is a Revolver. Revolver describes a certain sub set of pistols. Sort of like all Cognac is Brandy but not all Brandy is Cognac.

When I'm talking or writing about a handgun I'm very specific about the handgun in question, if it has a revolving cylinder I call it a revolver or wheel gun, if it is a semi automatic handgun I call it a bottom feeder.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

When I was younger it was common for revolvers to be called pistols and on occation they were also referred to as revolvers. 1911s and Ruger .22s were about the only autoloaders common then and they were often referred to as automatics or a 45 as that meant a 1911.
It was later when I started getting around gun forums that I started hearing revolvers and pistols meaning different things. Gun boards were also the first place I saw magazines referred to as such and not clips any longer.
I remember the day too when S&W meant a revolver too as they made few autoloaders back then. Colt meant a 1911 too and if it was a Python they were called that.
Terms change and I think gun boards have had a lot to do with that.

I would have thought they'd have moved this word game to the lounge by now.

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Pete.

More than once, I have called my auto-loaders, "automatics" and been corrected by others gun owners saying, "You mean "semi" automatic, right?"

I just roll my eyes, and say, "Riiight!"

Like Jack Nicholsons role as Jimmy Hoffa in the movie "Hoffa",, "Are we using words, here?"

Leon

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686, 4006, 5906

Agree that revolver is a more specific name for this kind of pistol.

I feel that the more appropriate debate would be Pistol or Handgun, I consider Semi-autos and Revolvers to be sub categories adding more specifics to a description of a particular gun.

It all boils down to location, some areas call a Coke a pop and others a soda. It all depends on your background. Variety, it is what makes this country such an interesting place.

Now I'll go shoot my "assault rifle" that isn't fully automatic, and put on a Band-Aid that is made by Curad after poking my finger on a thorn from a rose that smells as sweet by any other name.

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Jon

I'm 55 (for one more day!) and called 'em pistols my whole life. Are we "Pistoleros" or "Revolvereros" ???

From my 1984 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary:
"pis-tol: A small firearm having a stock to fit the hand, and a short barrel, and fired from one hand."

"Re-volv-er: A type of pistol having a revolving cylinder in the breech chambered to hold several cartridges that may be fired in succession without reloading."

From Merriam-Webster's On-Line:

"Pistol: A small gun made to be aimed and fired with one hand."

"Revolver: A small gun with a container for bullets that turns after the gun is fired and puts another bullet into position to be fired next."


I don't ever count Wikipedia as a viable source. It's the encyclopedia of public opinion, subject to no scrutiny and answerable to no one.

As the young folks say... This.

OK, I told you all one time that I had this all figgerd out. I was out shooting my semi-automatic handgun and it jammed a few times, stove piped, FTF, and FTE, and it made me pistol I went in and grabbed my revolver. I was pistol I sold it. Therefore they are called pistols.
See, when you are a Hillbilly you just know these things, or you might be pistol you find out.
Peace,
gordon

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better have that checked

Pop comes from a capped bottle or a sealed can that "pops" when opened, soda comes out of a fountain or seltzer bottle with a valve.

Just stirring up the pot

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Is it pot or kettle?

Well, from my days in the Cadet Corp in Britain. Pistol refers to both revolvers and semiautos. In fact, "Pistol No2 Mk 1" can refer to the Enfield revolver in 380/200 or the Browning (Inglis) HP35 in 9 x 17, So the term covers both (in English!). Dave_n

Think of it this way: The term pistol includes all types of handguns. Sam Colt called his invention a "revolving pistol."

Some pistols are revolvers. Other pistols are semi-autos or self-loaders (they reload a round into the firing chamber after each discharge, assuming more rounds remain in the magazine).

That is the classic definition.

The more modern usage, although not technically or historically correct, is that handguns with a revolving cylinder are never to be called pistols, as it is thought that term applies only to semi-autos or self-loaders.

This probably did not become an issue until civilian police started adopting semi-autos or self-loaders in the 1980s.

The danger here, is in the belief that civilian police have a proper grasp of the English language. In my job I have read several hundred or maybe thousand police reports in the last almost three decades. I can attest to the fact that an unusually high number of such police do not seem to have a good handle on ordinary reading and writing of the English language.

Well, count me amongst the "small-minded twerps" as well. I believe that the word "pistol" should mean either a semi-automatic, or a single shot handgun; and "revolver" should mean what it says. Calling a revolver a "pistol" causes confusion, and usually leads to having to use more words than necessary to fully describe the object. This sort of thing gives the lawyers of the world more leverage than warranted in most circumstances, and I say: **** that!

Now, having said all that, personally I much prefer the more descriptive monikers for revolvers such as: "glistening black, steel contraption of death", or "seven black stones hiding in her silk purse" sort of thing. There's no mistaking the artistry of such words!

Pistols, on the other hand, suffer tragically from a lack of elocution. Try: "bottom-feeding mechanism of destruction". See...it just doesn't place a concise picture in one's mind. With names like "Glock" and "1911" (...not that there's anything wrong with being of that hasty persuasion) they just seem to lack the semantic panache and romance of the revolver. As Dr.Hillbilly so eloquently observed in his earlier post: it's better to be pistolled-off than pistolled-on. Indeed, a fitting epitaph for these things. In my opinion, fine S&W revolvers should therefore not be referred to as "pistols". -S2

Count me amongst the small minded. Contenders, 1911s, Glocks, Howdah pistols and Deringers of all kinds are pistols, revolvers are revolvers IMHO.

Not prepared to burn anyone at the stake over it though.

August 12, 1420 according to my grandad. He was a small boy back then, during the Hussite Wars.

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A real sucker for the J-frames

well...someone needs to tell the PPC!!

The twain never met for me until my first partner and mentor referred to our trusty M&P Smiths as 'pistols'. Coming from him it sounded right, and my impression was that it was a holdover from earlier times in his native Texas. He had started out in the Border Patrol, and in those days they had quite a few capable pistoleros on board.

I kind of like the sound of it...kind of like 'republic'...

I know the difference well but

Quote from Tombstone- "Jerk that pistol and go to work, boy!" referring to Billy Bob Thornton's 1873 Colt Model P.

I don't interchange them, it's just easier for me......I have pistols, and I have revolvers. My Glocks are pistols, my S&W Model 10's are revolvers.

It's like the sticklers who correct me when I call one of my pistols an "auto" or "automatic"......I have always called stuff like 1911's or my CZ75 one of my "automatics". There's always ONE guy who's like "it's semi-auto" and them I'm like "It's not called .45 SACP, it's .45 ACP".......



Pistol- Bottom feeder, auto chucker, auto, automatic, autoloader

Revolver- Wheelgun, round gun, six-shooter, five-shot(for snubs)

I got it from different books I've read. I refer to a semi-auto as a pistol, and a revolver as a revolver. They are all handguns, I just do it to differentiate between the two.

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"I'm your huckleberry."

A great post, extra link, etc. I'm enjoying this!

One is also not required to abide insufferable "sticklers" who incorrectly "correct" the use of the term automatic for the common self-loading pistol.

Colt was the first U.S. company to successfully manufacture and market automatics and the term has been in general use for years. It hasn't been that long since the term "automatic" became passé. I was well into adulthood before I first suffered "correction" for my use of the term "automatic."

Just who is it that decrees that these terms suddenly are no longer correct?

More links:

Colt

Historic Firearm of the Month, June 2001

old colt automatic pistol box 1933 rimless smokeless 32 for Sale - World War Museum Artificats

Colt 45 Auto Box for sale - New and Used - Collectibles-Articles.com

Sweeney's Emporium (the 6th, 9th, and 10th items may be enlarged to find that ammunition manufacturers understood the term)

Browning

http://www.cornellpubs.com/old-guns/...p?item_id=1051

Commemorative Arms Company - Browning Factory Manuals

Our own Smith & Wesson

Excellent Smith & Wesson Model of 1913 Semi-Automatic Pistol with Box (enlarge for detail)

1915 Ad Revolver Smith & Wesson Automatic Gun Pistol - Hunting & Guns - Subject (Advertising Art) - Period Paper

http://www.rtgammo.com/images/35S&Ww17532s.jpg

@bmcgilvray, very interesting.

so very many companies referring to "automatic pistols"

and to "revolving pistols".

almost as if "pistol" can mean either one!!

On a pistol, one loads the bullets in the clip and then loads the clip into the handle.

HTH

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NRA - All Day

You meant magazine right?

haha

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While I eschew obfuscation, equally to I decry the corruption of our native idiom.

Precise diction in written and spoken communication is essential in a culturally and technologically sophisticated society.

It is to be presumed that the less refined among us will always revert to the imprecise terms appropriate to a lesser station, but this lackadaisical disregard for terminology should not be overlooked by the erudite.

We must stand firm against those who would dilute the value of our words. Twerps unite!

No, he was not using the word incorrectly, and Yes it has changed (in some people's minds). Readers of Civil War history see constant references to "pistols", which were predominately revolvers, so the proof is there that it has changed. At least it changed for those who who claim revolvers are not pistols.

If a revolver is called a revolver, lets start calling semi auto's slides. Ok bad joke!

Thank you, ExMachina1, for answering the actual question fairly early, thus saving me from banging my head against the wall. This would ordinarily present no problem, since my head is fairly hard, particularly when compared to the wall, but in my present circumstances, it would have necessitated putting down my beer. That is uncalled for.

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Formerly Model520Fan

Just got done looking at my copy of McGivern's "Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting."

The master clearly made a distinction between revolvers and pistols in his first chapter sub-titled Pistols, Revolvers, and the Law. For a time reference his work was done in the 1930s.

I think it's regional, or depends on who you ask. People in some parts of the country call soda "pop" but I have never once used the word "pop" when I asked for a soda.

The Italian city of Pistoia is usually credited with being the source of the word "pistol" but there are other theories.

Some people will always call revolvers "pistols" and it's never gonna change.

I will still call my pistols "automatics", people can correct me all day, I will still do it

I think that may answer the question as to when "pistols" and "revolvers" became seperate......in the 1900's when all the Browning and Colt pistols were coming out, you had .25 ACP, .32 ACP, .380 ACP, .38 ACP, of course .45 ACP, these were all "Automatic Pistol" rounds and not for "revolvers". You had .38's in two calibers, ACP and Special.....If you said you had a pistol in .38 back in 1908, it could have been a Colt 1900 .38 ACP or a .38 Special revolver.....things get confusing....

If Glock can have a round called the "Glock Automatic Pistol" aka .45 GAP, then I think it's OK to use "automatic".