doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Seeking help on proper terms and definitions.

It has always been my understanding that the term "Furniture" describes the accessory or accoutrement items on a firearm. According to, http://www.hallowellco.com/abbrevia.htm, Furniture includes items such as the buttplate, trigger guard, barrel bands, etc., but not the stock proper. Cyber media seems to use the term interchangeably with the stock. This always comes off to me the same as using the term clip in place of magazine. Can someone point me to a reference, that clearly defines the proper usage.
Thank you.

Just a slang word like 'loaded' is for cars. I'd forget it.
Corruption of the word 'vintage' has always bothered me.

Furniture is used regularly on line to describe the wood. It�s used that way by people who don�t know the correct definition as developed by the British Trade and who make the assumption that �furniture� has something to do with �wood� the way a table and chairs have something to do with wood.

Hallowell�s definition is as close to correct as it needs to be.

I understand it is being used as slang. But it was an established term in the industry and has been, as stated, corrupted. I find use of a verb in slang is common and tolerable. But it seems outright contemptuous when a noun.

http://www.jacobsburghistory.com/news/glossary/muzzle-loader-terms-glossary/

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/page/category/category_id/359/category_chain/350,359/name/Furniture/


Clip is not Magazine.
Extractor is not Ejector.
Furniture is not Stock

I may need to turn down my cringe meter.

Thanks,

John

John, up here it�s not used as slang. They don�t know the correct usage, get offended and obstinate when gently corrected and prefer to continue to propagate ignorance.

I find those with an interest in doubles are generally happy to know the correct usage and those who shoot pumps and semis prefer to persist. I try to ignore it now unless the poster�s previous comments suggest an interest and willingness to learn.

Yes, that is what I have found also. No one seems to care about formal, proper, or correct; and they seem more than ready to shoot the messenger.

John

Over here in Blighty, door handles, hinges, numbers and letter boxes (slots for mail) etc is known as 'door furniture' .
It's also sometimes known as 'knobs and knockers' ;-)
The door is still called the door tho.

Gee, seems horribly logical, no???

Like all terms in the British gun trade they have been used and misused over the years so that the original meaning is not always exactly correct .
An example is that of "tail pipe" .Originally this was the metal escutcheon at the front end of the stock on a muzzle loading gun into which the ram rod was entered . The term has continued in use to mean virtually any forend tip .
Furniture is a general term that encompasses all the parts that are not directly part of the working mechanism of the gun ,BUT , the trigger guard ,trigger plate and triggers are also commonly called "the furniture" , these were usualy made up by "furniture filers" who also filed up other small parts such as tail pipes and heel plates .
I assume the term would have been coined in the early days of gun making where the "furniture " would have been something that fastened onto the wood of a muzzle loading gun , probably taken from the furniture's that would have been fitted to doors etc .
The trade was never one for not reusing a perfectly good existing term .

I seem to recall that Greener defines the parts encompassed by the word "Furniture" - in The Gun and ...