"Wheelgun" and "wheelie" - Is it just me?

The Gila Bender

The Gila Bender

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Maybe I'm just getting old and crusty, and there are a lot more important things in this world to be bothered with, but the terms "wheelgun" and especially "wheelie" make me bristle especially when used by people who should know better -- usually those who shoot autoloaders almost exclusively -- and Fudds. The same bristly-ness occurs to a lesser degree when I hear "shottie, "winnie," and "clip". It just smacks of ignorance.

I'm curious, do any S&W's have nicknames other than those given by the factory ("Hand Ejector," "Distinguished Combat Magnum," "Highway Patrolman" etc?) I've heard "Big Iron" but that's about it.

An interesting characteristic of machine gunners in general is that they do not use lame-sounding Fudd names ending in "...ie" to describe their guns. Browning 1917's and 1919's are "Brownings," the M2 .50 caliber heavy barrel is "Ma Duece," the M60 is "The Pig," the AR15/M16 is "Mousegun" and my favorite pet name: "Poodle shooter." "Greasegun" is an appropriate nickname to describe the M3/M3A1, as is "Potato Digger" to the M1895. Have you ever heard an owner of a real honest-to-goodness Thompson (21, 21AC, 28, 28A1, or M1, M1A1) submachine gun utter the phrase, "Tommy gun?" Probably not.

Thanks for allowing me to get this off my chest. I'm off to clean my 03-A3 and M1 "Garand" now....
 
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My favorite is "vintage" guns, folks we aren't talking about wine here. Guns have no vintage. That crappy word got started in Antique stores.
 
I don't mind wheelgun when referring to revolvers, but I bristle at the term "holy black" when referring to black powder.
 
Clint Smith often says about his penchant for revolvers, "Wheel guns are real guns." Okay for Clint Smith, okay for me.

Wheelies are what you do with bicycles and dirt bikes.

Add "minty" to the list of contrived colloquialisms and annoying adjectives.
 
ralph7 said:
"BOOLITS"
does it to me.
Click to expand...

This. Can't stand it. Intentionally misspelling something in an attempt to be cool.
The last few years have seen casings almost replace cases, in the media and with people who ought to know better. I will maintain, casings are for sausages. Cases are part of a cartridge.
But I know I'm in a losing battle.
 
I've always liked and often used the term wheelgun as well as sixgun.

Never used or even heard one called a wheelie till now.

But yeah , it sounds silly , like calling a shotgun a shottie!
 
feralmerril said:
What does seem wrong to me is people calling revolvers pistols. I was brought up being taught a pistol is a semi auto. Whatever. I dont stress over it. I have real bigger things to worry about.
Click to expand...

I've always considered Semi autos and Revolvers both to be "pistols" what always bothered me was my Brother in law referring to his firearms only by their calibers instead of their names. my Browning hi Power was so much more than just another "9 mil":mad:
 
I find it irritating when any word used in reference to a fire arm ends in "ie". It also bugs me when a gun is referred to as a "my new toy" or by a feminine pronoun or proper name.

I have never NAMED a firearm but if I ever do it will be a masculine name. And it will never be referred to as her or she it will be a he or a him if it just has to be referred to using a personal pronoun.

There now! I've been wanting to get that off my chest for years..... :D
 
A couple years ago I saw a post that was titled something about hunting revos. I finally figured out what was meant (I'll not explain and ruin the mystery). That one always bothers me.

The rest of my list would be too long to show here so I'll leave it at that.
 
I never really liked hearing people refer to dogs as either a "girl" dog or a "boy" dog. I always thought that girl or boy was a human term. That being said, I do feel like my dog is part of the family...just not human.
I think they should be refered to as male or female. I realize I'm being too trivial though.

Roger
 
Treating people beat up and torn apart in motor vehicle accidents or dying of some crazy disease on a daily basis bothers me lately but I could care less what term people use to refer to a gun. To each their own!
 
There actually was a gun called a "Brownie"! I used to own one! It was the 1st firearm Mosburg made. Its a 4 barrel pocket .22lr

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
I often use Wheelgun when referring to a 6 shot revolver so
guess i'm to blame. Now "wheelie" is not used by me nor do
i name any of my guns like an old girlfriend or child. They are
guns not people. And they are manufactured and not "born"
like Old Bear has stated. All in all i don't fret over trivial stuff
like this. But i do steer clear of someone who wants to go
shooting with me who has a pet name for his or her gun.
Creeps me out i guess.

Chuck
 
I have to go along with the OP and several others. Wheelie, winnie, shottie and boolit drive me nuts. These and similar terms are often used by those who have little experience with the subject being discussed but wish to sound knowledgible by the use of words which they believe will tend to indicate familiarity.

Just for clarity, I have been casting bullets for well over 50 years and find the term "boolits" to be an abomination!
 
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