Here is a list of abbreviations commonly used by sellers in item listing titles. This list is provided as a courtesy. This is not a complete list, and may not necessarily reflect the seller's intention. It is the buyer's responsibility to read the full item description, and to ask the seller questions BEFORE placing a bid if anything is not clear.
| Abbreviation |
Description |
| 1C |
The starting bid is set at 1 cent ($0.01) |
| ACP |
Automatic Colt Pistol |
| ACR |
Advanced Combat Rifle |
| AE |
Action express |
| AE |
Action Express (.41 AE, .50 AE) |
| AF |
Air Force |
| AP |
Armor piercing |
| API |
Application programming interface (as in internet) |
| API |
Armor piercing, incendiary |
| APT |
Armor piercing, tracer |
| AR |
Assault rifle |
| AUTO |
Autographed |
| B&W, BW |
Black and white (also BW) |
| BAR |
Browning Automatic Rifle |
| Bbl |
Barrel |
| BBWC |
Bevel Base Wadcutter |
| BC |
ballistic coefficient |
| BFI |
Bushmaster Firearms |
| BL |
Barrell Length |
| BM |
Bushmaster |
| BMG |
Browning machine gun |
| BP |
black powder |
| BPCR |
black powder cartridge rifle |
| BR |
Bench Rest Remington |
| BT |
Boat-Tailed |
| C.A.R. |
Colt Automatic Rifle, also CAR |
| C&R |
Curios and Relics (firearms that are officially recognized as collectible due to some unique quality such as age. |
| C3 |
Refers to the Class III FFL required to deal in NFA items |
| Cal. |
Caliber |
| CAR |
Carbine |
| CB |
Cast Bullet |
| CC |
Concealed Carry |
| CCW |
Concealed Carry Weapon |
| CCW |
concealed carry weapon |
| Ch |
Chambering. Chamber |
| CIII |
Refers to the Class III FFL required to deal in NFA items |
| CLASS III, Class 3 |
Refers to the Class III FFL required to deal in NFA items |
| COA |
Certificate of Authenticity (also stands for Coat of Arms) |
| CUP |
copper units of pressure |
| DA |
double action, as opposed to single action (SA) |
| DAO |
Double Action Only |
| DEWC |
Double Ended WadCutter |
| DLX |
deluxe |
| EAA |
European American Arms |
| ED |
Edition |
| EUC |
Excellent used condition |
| EXC |
Excellent |
| FAQ |
Frequently Asked Questions |
| FAUX |
Not a genuine item (as in faux pearl) |
| FB |
Feedback |
| FC |
Fine condition |
| FCM |
First class mail |
| FFL |
Federal Firearms License/Licensee (a license that permits one to sell & transfer guns in interstate commerce, or the holder of that license) |
| FMJ |
Full Metal Jacket |
| FN |
National Factory |
| FP |
Flat Point |
| FS |
Factory sealed |
| FS |
Fixed sights |
| FTF |
Face to face |
| FTF |
Failure to feed/failure to fire |
| FYI |
For your information |
| G |
Good condition (also GC) |
| G&A |
Guns & Ammo Magazine |
| GA |
gauge (also ga.) |
| GC |
Good condition |
| GR |
Grain (also gr.) |
| GU |
Gently Used |
| H&H, HH |
Holland and Holland (manufacturer) |
| H&K, HK |
Heckler & Koch |
| H&R, HR |
Harrington & Richardson (manufacturer) |
| HBWC |
Hollow-Base WadCutter |
| HD |
Home Defense |
| HP |
Hollow Point |
| HS |
Home Security |
| HTF |
Hard to find |
| IMR |
Improved Military Rifle; formerly DuPont (modern gun powder manufacturer) |
| INIT |
Initials |
| JDJ |
J. D. Jones |
| JFP |
Jacketed flat point |
| JHC |
Jacketed hollow cavity |
| JHP |
Jacketed hollow point |
| JRS |
John R. Sundra |
| JSP |
Jacketed Soft Point |
| LC |
Long Colt |
| LE |
Limited edition |
| LHP |
Lead Hollow Point |
| LL |
Long Rifle |
| LN |
Like new |
| LOS |
Line of sight |
| LR |
Long rifle |
| LRN |
Lead round nose |
| LS |
Long sleeves (clothing) |
| LSWC |
Lead Semi-WadCutter |
| LTD |
Limited edition |
| LW |
Lightweight |
| LWC |
Lead wad cutter |
| M |
Medium (also used Md or Med) |
| M&P |
Military and Police |
| Mag |
Magnum |
| Mag. |
Magazine; magnum; also mag. |
| MC |
Metal Cased |
| MG |
Machine Gun |
| MIM |
Metal Injection Molding |
| mm |
Millimeter |
| MM |
Millimeters; also mm |
| MNT |
Mint. In perfect condition (subjective term) |
| MOP |
Mother-of-Pearl |
| MRWC |
Mid-Range WadCutter |
| NAA |
North American Arms (manufacturer) |
| NEF |
New England Firearms |
| NIB |
New In Box (a gun that is still in the original box, unfired after it left the factory) |
| NIW |
New In Wrapper (typ. in reference to magazines, which come from the factory wrapped in protective paper or plastic) |
| No. |
Number |
| NOS |
New Old Stock (an item that can no longer be manufactured new, but that can be sold from existing stock: chronologically old, but that has been sitting in storage and was never sold at retail before) |
| NR |
No reserve price for an auction-style listing |
| NWT |
New with tags |
| O/U |
Over/under (shotgun) |
| O&U |
Over/under (shotgun) |
| OAI |
Olympic Arms, Inc. (manufacturer) |
| OAL |
Overall length |
| OD |
Olive Drab |
| OD |
Outside Diameter |
| OL |
Overall length |
| OR |
Optics Ready |
| Para. |
(sometimes Pb) Parabellum |
| PB* |
Lead Bullet |
| PBR |
Point blank range |
| PDW |
Personal Defense Weapon |
| PMO |
Postal Money Order |
| PPC |
Pindell-Palmisano Cartridge |
| PSI |
Pounds per square inch; also: psi. |
| PSP |
Pointed Soft Point or Plated Soft Point |
| QCB |
Quick Change Barrel |
| QD |
Quick Detach |
| RA |
Remington Arms (manufacturer) |
| Rd, Rds |
Round, rounds |
| Rem |
Remington |
| Ren |
Charles Rensing & Jim Rock |
| RET |
Reticle, as in optics |
| RF |
RimFire |
| RN |
round nose |
| RNL |
Round Nosed Lead |
| RTF |
Rough Textured Frame, Ready to Fire |
| S |
Small (also used, Sm or Sml) |
| S/H; SH, S&H |
Shipping and handling |
| S&H |
Sharpe & Hart |
| S&W, SW, sw |
Smith & Wesson |
| SA |
Springfield Armory |
| SA |
single action, as opposed to double action (DA), |
| SAA |
Single Action Army; a famous design of revolver by Colt used in early America. |
| SAIS |
Sold As Is |
| SAK |
Swiss Army Knife |
| SAM |
Squad Advanced Marksman Rifle (20" match barrel upper with Leupold scope, used by the Marines) |
| SBR |
Short Barreled Rifle (a rifle whose barrel is less than 16" long as defined by the NFA) |
| SBS |
Side by Side (shotgun) |
| SCR |
Scratch |
| SJHP |
Semi-Jacketed Hollow Point |
| SJSP |
Semi-Jacketed Soft Point |
| SLR |
Self Loading Rifle |
| SMG |
Sub Machine Gun |
| SN |
Serial number |
| SP |
Soft Point or Spire Point |
| Spl. |
Special |
| SPR |
Special Purpose Rifle |
| Sprg. |
Springfield Armory, (also SA) |
| SPTZ |
Spitzer |
| SRC |
Sturm, Ruger & Company |
| SS |
Short sleeves (in clothing) |
| SS |
Sweet Sixteen |
| SS |
Stainless Steel |
| SS or 925 |
Sterling Silver |
| Sts |
Sights |
| SW |
Smith & Wesson |
| SWC |
Semi-WadCutter |
| SZ |
Size |
| TC |
Truncated Cone |
| TCH |
Tactical Carry Handle |
| TCU |
Thompson/Center and (Wes) Ugalde |
| TM |
Technical Manual |
| TMJ |
Total Metal Jacket |
| TSW |
Team Smith & Wesson |
| USPS |
United States Postal Service |
| USRAC |
US Repeating Arms Company |
| VFG |
Vertical Fore/Forward/Front Grip |
| VLD |
Very Low Drag |
| VR |
Very rare |
| W/, w |
With |
| WBY |
Weatherby |
| WC |
WadCutter |
| WCF |
Winchester Center Fire |
| Win |
Winchester |
| WMR |
Winchester Magnum Rimfire |
| WSSM |
Winchester Super Short Magnum |
| WWB |
Winchester White Box (ammunition) |
| WYSIWYG |
What you see is what you get |
| XCR |
eXchangeable Caliber Rifle |
| XL |
Extra large |
| XS |
Extra small |
| XXL or 2XL |
Extra extra large |
| XXXL or 3XL |
Extra extra extra large |
The information provided herein is intended merely as a guide for users. GunBroker.com does not make, and nothing in this list is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the use and/or accuracy of the information in item listings. Trademarks and brands referred to and contained in this list are the property of their respective owners.
