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Above is letters A-Z, a brief list of firearms products:

Firearms Terms
  

These firearms terms are only a partial list to help you with your firearms term search.

We are trying to get as many gun related products on one website to save you time, and help you locate just the item you are looking for.

Letter "D"

Decocker -- On double-action semi-automatic firearms, a lever which mechanically lowers the hammer without firing the gun. Like all mechanical safeties, it can fail. The decocker should never be pressed unless the gun is pointed in an absolutely safe direction.

Deringer or derringer -- A small, double-barreled handgun which can fire a single shot from each barrel before it needs to be reloaded. It is loaded by folding the barrels downward and away from the receiver, a process called breaking the action open. The spent cases are then removed, and one fresh round is placed in the base of each barrel before the barrels are snapped shut again. The design was first produced by Henry Deringer, under the brand name Deringer. When used to refer to any other brand of the same design, derringer is spelled with two r's and is not capitalized.

Double Action (DA) -- Originally used only for revolvers but now common in semi-autos as well, double action originally meant that the user had two choices for how to cock the hammer. The user could either cock the hammer by pulling it back with his thumb (thumb cocking), or by an extended, heavy trigger pull (trigger cocking). This reason for the use of the term has been widely forgotten. Now it generally means using the single motion of the trigger to both cock the hammer and to fire the shot. Double action firearms tend to have long, heavy trigger pulls.

Double Action / Single Action (DA/SA) -- DA/SA firearms are designed to operate in double action on the initial shot, and in single action on the second and subsequent shots. Consequently, these guns tend to have a long, heavy trigger pull for the first shot, and a relatively short and light trigger pull for subsequent shots. This is because the first trigger pull gets the internal parts into position, while the energy from the first shot is used to prep the mechanism for follow-up shots.

Double Action Only (DAO) -- Some pistols and revolvers can only be trigger cocked and are impossible to thumb cock. Even though it drives traditionalists nuts, these are called double-action-only firearms.

Double Barrel -- A shotgun with two barrels is called a double-barrelled shotgun. The barrels may be situated next to each other (side by side), or vertically aligned (over/under). Double-barrelled shotguns typically hold only two rounds at a time, and are designed to break open at the base of the barrel (the breech) for reloading.

Double Feed or Doublefeed --  A malfunction in which the spent case fails to eject from a semi-automatic firearm, so that when the fresh round is brought forward it cannot fit into the chamber because the other case is still in the way. It is cleared by stripping the magazine from the gun, racking the slide several times to eject the spent case, and then reloading.

Double Tap -- Two shots fired in rapid succession. Generally the second shot will be fired more quickly than a new sight picture can be established. If the second shot is fired after a second sight picture is established, a double tap may instead be called a controlled pair.

Drams -- A black powder weight measure. Although shotgun ammunition uses smokeless powder, in order to standardize measurements, shotgun ammunition manufacturers use dram equivalents to indicate how much power the load has. The quantity of smokeless powder in the load is compared to the amount of black powder it would require to produce the same velocity with the same projectile(s).

Drop Safety -- A mechanical safety which prevents the gun from firing when it is unintentionally dropped. Some state governments require drop-testing of all handgun designs sold within the state, a redundant law because there really aren't any modern firearms which aren't drop safe.

Dropped and Offset -- Two holster features often used in the same holster design. Dropped means the holster holds the gun below the belt line, while offset means the holster holds the grip of the gun away from the body rather than close against the body. This combination of features works well with female figure types, because it moves the gun away from the curviest part of the female body. Dropped and offset holsters are thus usually very comfortable for women on the range, but do not often conceal well for everyday carry. All dropped and offset holsters are, by definition, outside of waistband (OWB) designs.

Dry Fire -- Practicing gun manipulations, including sight alignment and trigger press, with an empty firearm. Dry fire can be very beneficial, but it is also very dangerous.

Dud -- A round of ammunition that does not fire when expected.

Dum Dum -- A somewhat obsolete term which refers to one of several different shapes of expanding bullets, especially when used by a soldier on the field of war. Most commonly, this term refers to a jacketed bullet illicitly or illegally modified by the user in order to create greater injury.

Dummy Round -- An inert ammunition-shaped object, used in practice to simulate misfeeds and other malfunctions. Some folks also use them in dry fire practice.