Just Curious?

[alamogunr]

Not sure where to post something like this but it doesn't really fit in the strictly technical sections. I occasionally notice that posts include referring to boolits(bullets) as "heads". Is this a regional thing or just because of the way they were brought up(father's/mentor's terminology)?

[DocSavage]

Boolits slang everything else I would say unfamiliarity with the terminology.

[toallmy]

I think it's just the way people talk so I don't get to caught up in it , but come to think of it the case has a neck and shoulder so why not a head .

[rockrat]

Never heard the term till I moved to Colorado and a fellow from Chicago joined the gun club. When he used the term I just looked at him with a "what are you talking about" look, then it dawned on me what he meant.

[TyGuy]

I think it's just the way people talk so I don't get to caught up in it , but come to think of it the case has a neck and shoulder so why not a head .

But the case already has a head with a head stamp and primer pocket in it! I agree that when considering the anatomy of a cartridge one would think the head should be above the neck and shoulder as opposed to what is essentially the butt… haha

[Burnt Fingers]

IMHO it's an ignorant term used by those who either don't know better, or those who aren't smart enough to use correct terminology.

[pworley1]

I had never seen that term used before seeing it use here.

[farmbif]

don't know where it came from but sure isn't terminology I've seen in any reloading book, not even in the glossary section

[Walks]

I agree with Burnt Fingers

[farmbif]

such terminologies should be banned or at very least discouraged and corrected as soon as it shows up, there is proper terminology for reloading items and processes and it was standardized before I was born, there is no reason to change something that aint broke. I know that regionally there are differing terminologies from around the world. but there are glossaries in the back of most good reloading books and they have all the proper and correct names for things with definitions

[Bmi48219]

Calling a bullet or a projectile a ‘head’ shows a lack of familiarity with firearm terminology. Personally, I cringe when someone refers to a magazine as a ‘clip’.
I often heard it at the range as in:
“hey, can you get my clip, it fell on the floor beyond the firing line.”
I’d study the floor in detail for a while, play dumb and tell them I couldn’t see any clip. I’d search again with the same results until frustrated, they pointed it out to me.
“Oh, you mean that magazine? I thought you said your lost a clip.”
They usually understood the difference after that.
If you listen to interviews of anti-Assault Rifle proponents you’ll frequently hear mags referred to as ‘clips’. You’d think someone hell-bent on banning assault rifles (or as the say ‘ARs’), would at least want to sound halfway intelligent.

[abunaitoo]

I posted the same thing a while back.
Here people use different terms.
used to help at a friends gunshop.
Lots of confusion at times.
Most here say heads or bullets.
But some say bullets, when the want loaded rounds.
Doesn't really matter to me, as long as I know what they wanted.
It's kind of like soda and pop.
We don't use pop here, so sometimes we don't know what tourist want.
We call it shaved ice, states call it snow cones.
Who's correct????
Who cares, as long as both know what they want.

[rcslotcar]

If that is the "head", then what is the hole when the primer is removed?

[Gewehr-Guy]

Must be called the ash hole or vent

[smithnframe]

I agree with Burnt Fingers!

[toallmy]

I think I will start calling a mag a clip just to drive the know it all grammar police crazy at the gun shops . You know the guy that thinks a box of bullets means a box of loaded ammunition .

[Texas by God]

Loaded ammunition was called "shells" where I grew up. Example; .22 shells, rifle shells, shotgun shells. A bullet was the part that was sent towards the target when the trigger was pulled.
As far as the magazine/ clip thing, I do remember buying extra Remington 511 and 788 magazines and the factory labeled package said "Clip magazine" on the label.
It may be a regional thing. I've never heard anyone call bullets " heads" in person; but I've read it here more than once.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[blackthorn]

And then there are those who call bullets "pills", which leads me to a picture of a .38 suppository applicator!

[alamogunr]

I've also heard old timers refer to cartridges as "cat"ridges. In my opinion that is closer to descriptive than "heads" or "pills". I don't have a physical reaction(shiver) when I hear those terms. Not trying to influence anyone(be a grammar policeman) about the words they use to describe certain items, but also don't expect me to always understand what they are talking about.

[Buzz Krumhunger]

IMHO it's an ignorant term used by those who either don't know better, or those who aren't smart enough to use correct terminology.

Yes

[Burnt Fingers]

If you listen to interviews of anti-Assault Rifle proponents you’ll frequently hear mags referred to as ‘clips’. You’d think someone hell-bent on banning assault rifles (or as the say ‘ARs’), would at least want to sound halfway intelligent.

It's impossible for anyone who wants to ban guns to sound intelligent.

[Springfield]

If they at least called it a cartridge head, I might not hate it so much, but they don't. Just ignorance of proper terms.

[jsizemore]

If you go to a region that uses terminology different than yours, whose the ignorant one?

[Bmi48219]

Anecdotally, a few years back two young gentlemen showed up at the range. They were the kind of shooters you didn’t anticipate being problems. Ten minutes in to their session I noticed some baffled looks and quickly learned the cause. Shooter #2 had recently went into a sporting goods store to purchase 9 mm bullets. He had just opened a sealed black plastic box of 500 Berry’s 9 mm plated 124 HPs and was upset because the store clerk hadn’t told him he was buying real bullets..
Earlier that day a foreign customer had given me a couple boxes of Winchester 9 mm ammo he couldn’t take back to Europe. I traded the ammo to the kid for the Bullets. We were both happy (I’m not a fan of Winchester range ammo). I’m pretty sure the young man now has a firm grasp on difference between ammo and bullets.
Sometimes you learn the hard way, but then you don’t forget.

[Idaho45guy]

I've never heard of "heads" or knew anyone that used that term, and I've lived all over the US. Including Hawaii.

I was able to score a couple of boxes of Hornady .355 115 grain bullets a few months ago from a guy at work who sent his wife to buy ammo from the LGS and came back with two boxes of useless bullets.

[BJK]

I've heard at least one person speak of "heads". It didn't bother me. I knew he was knowledgeable and was just using slang. No big deal.

But it does bother me to hear someone call a cartridge a bullet.

[blackthorn]

In MY opinion, using cutesy words to describe something i.e. pills, heads etc. is indicative of one of two things. Either that individual is simple/ignorant or they are crying out for recognition as in "look at me, me, me----". In either instance that is so sad.

[Murphy]

Growing up in rural S.E. Oklahoma, the terms shells and bullets typically mean a loaded cartridge. I have heard the term 'head' used when referring to the actual bullet itself, as in...the bullet head jammed going in the barrel and now it's bent. I think it's a regional thing.

Murphy

[toallmy]

Here’s one that I have heard recently & it makes me cringe (freedom pills )

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I've heard tracer bullets called heads.

[jim147]

I've heard tracer bullets called heads.

This would be redheads.

[David2011]

Haven’t been there in a long time but used to see “pills” and “heads” on the AR15 site. ‘Nuff said.

[dverna]

About as "ignorant" as calling cast bullets.... boolits.

I know...it is the site name...but you guys who do it look none too bright to most non-members....and even to this member.

If Lyman ever puts out a Cast Boolit manual I will concede it is appropriate, but I will never use the word boolit in a post except to denigrate its usage.

BTW, recently wanted to purchase some ingot molds from a member here but all he had left were marked with that word so I passed. If the Redneck Gold ones are ever offered I will buy a few. Would never wear a T-shirt with that word on it. The logo of the shapely, scantily clad lady riding a cast bullet is a good one. That I would wear!!!