Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse

Glossary

10/22: A semiautomatic .22-rimfire rifle made by Ruger.

1911: See M1911.

9/11: The terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, which took three thousand American lives.

AAA: American Automobile Association

ACP: Automatic Colt Pistol

ACU: Army Combat Uniform. The U.S. Army’s new “digital” pattern camouflage uniform that replaced the BDU.

AK: Avtomat Kalashnikov. The gas-operated weapons family invented by Mikhail Timofeyevitch Kalashnikov, a Red Army sergeant. AKs are known for their robustness and were made in huge numbers, so that they are ubiquitous in much of Asia and the Third World. The best of the Kalashnikov variants are the Valmets that were made in Finland, the Galils that were made in Israel, and the R4s that are made in South Africa.

AK-47: The early generation AK carbine that shoots the intermediate 7.62 x 39-mm cartridge.

AK-74: The later generation AK carbine that shoots the 5.45 x 39-mm cartridge.

AM: Amplitude Modulation

A.O.: Area of Operations

AP: Armor Piercing

APC: Armored Personnel Carrier

Apgar: A scoring system used to evaluate the health of newborn babies, typically taken at one minute and five minutes after delivery.

AR: Automatic Rifle. This is the generic term for semiauto variants of the Armalite family of rifles designed by Eugene Stoner (AR-10,AR-15,AR-180, et cetera).

AR-7: The .22 LR semiautomatic survival rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. It weighs just two pounds, and when disassembled, all of the parts fit in the buttstock. The stock is foam filled, so the rifle floats.

AR-10: The 7.62-mm NATO predecessor of the M16 rifle, designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-10s (mainly Portuguese, Sudanese, and Cuban contract, from the late 1950s and early 1960s) are not to be confused with the present-day semiauto only “AR-10” rifles that are more closely interchangeable with parts from the smaller caliber AR-15.

AR-15: Semiauto civilian variants of the U.S. Army M16 rifle.

AR-180: A low cost gas piston-operated .223 made primarily from stamped steel. Designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-180s (made in the U.S. and Japan) use a proprietary magazine, some of which do not interchange with AR-15 magazines, because their narrow magazine catch notches wee on the opposite side of the magazine. These are not to be confused with the present-day AR-180B rifles that can use standard AR-15 or M16 magazines.

ASAP: As Soon As Possible

ATF: See BATFE.

AUG: See Steyr AUG.

BATFE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (a U.S. Federal government taxing agency).

BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation.

BDU: Battle Dress Uniform. Also called “camouflage utilities” by the USMC.

BLM: Bureau of Land Management (a U.S. Federal government agency that administers public lands).

BMG: Browning machinegun. Usually refers to .50 BMG, the U.S. military’s standard heavy machinegun cartridge since the early twentieth century. This cartridge is now often used for long-range precision counter-sniper rifles.

BP: Blood Pressure.

C-4: Composition 4, a plastic explosive.

CAR-15: See M4.

CAS: Close Air Support

CB: Citizen’s Band Radio. AVHF broadcasting band. No license is required for operation in the United States. Some desirable CB transceivers are capable of SSB operation. Originally twenty-three channels, the Citizen’s Band was later expanded to forty channels during the golden age of CB, in the 1970s.

CLP: Cleaner, Lubricant, Protectant. A MIL-Spec lubricant, sold under the trade name “Break Free CLP.”

C.Q.: Charge of Quarters.

CUCV: Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle (1980’s vintage U.S. Army versions of diesel Chevy Blazers and Pickups, currently being sold off as surplus).

DF: Direction Finding.

D.I. A.S.: Drop-in Auto-sear.

DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles

DPM: Disruptive Pattern, Marine. The camouflage cloth pattern developed for the U.K. Royal Marines.

FAL: See FN/FAL.

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency (a U.S. Federal government agency). The acronym is also jokingly defined as “Foolishly Expecting Meaningful Aid.”

FFL: Federal Firearms License.

FN/FAL: A 7.62-mm NATO battle rifle made by the Belgian Company Fabrique Nationale (FN).

Fougasse: An improvised mine constructed by filling a pipe this with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles.

Frag: Short for fragmentation.

GCA: The Gun Control Act of 1968. The law that first created FFLs and banned interstate transfers of post-1898 firearms, except “to or through” FFL holders.

Glock: The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock of Austria. Also derisively known as “Combat Tupperware” by their detractors, because they were the first maker to ship their pistols in a plastic box with a snap lid. Glocks are a favorite of gun writer Boston T. Party.

Gold Cup: The target version of Colt’s M1911; has fully adjustable target sights, a tapered barrel, and a tighter barrel bushing than standard M1911s.

G.O.O.D.: Get Out of Dodge

GPS: Global Positioning System

GRFD: Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty

HK or H and K: Heckler und Koch, the German gun maker.

HK91: Heckler und Koch Model 91: The civilian (semiauto-only) variant of the 7.62-mm NATO G3 rifle.

IFV: Infantry Fighting Vehicle

IV: Intravenous

Kevlar: The material used in most body army and ballistic helmets. “Kevlar” is also the nickname for the standard U.S. Army helmet.

KJV: King James Version of The Bible

LAW: Light Anti-Tank Weapon

LC-1: Load Carrying, Type 1. (U.S. Army Load Bearing Equipment, circa 1970s to 1990s.)

LDS: The Latter Day Saints, commonly called The Mormons. (Flawed doctrine, great preparedness.)

LP: Liquid Propane

LP/OP: Listening Post/Observation Post.

LRRP: Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol

M1 Abrams tank: The United State’s current main battle tank, with a 120-mm cannon.

M1 Carbine: The U.S. Army semiauto carbine issued during WWII and the Korean conflict. Mainly issued to officers and second-echelon troops such as artillerymen, for self-defense. Uses ‘.30 U.S Carbine,’ an intermediate (pistol class) .30-caliber cartridge. More than six million were manufactured.

M1 Garand: The U.S. Army’s primary battle rifle of WWII and the Korean conflict. It is semiautomatic, chambered in .30-06, and uses a top-loading, eight-round en bloc clip that ejects after the last round is fired. This rifle is commonly called the Garand. (After the name of its inventor.) Not to be confused with the U.S. M1 Carbine, another semiauto of the same era, which shoots a far less powerful pistol-class cartridge.

M1A: The civilian (semiauto only) version of the U.S. Army M14 7.62-mm NATO rifle.

M1911: The Model 1911 Colt semiauto pistol (and clones thereof), usually chambered in .45 ACP.

M2 Bradley: The U.S. Army’s current tracked APC.

M4: U.S. Army-issue 5.56-mm NATO selective fire carbine. (A shorter version of the M16, with a 14.5" barrel and collapsing stock.) Earlier issue M16 carbine variants had designations such as XM177E2 and CAR-15. Civilian semiauto only variants often have the same designations, or are called “M4geries.”

M9: The U.S. Army-issue version of the Beretta M92 semiauto 9-mm pistol.

M14: The U.S. Army-issue 7.62-mm NATO selective-fire battle rifle. These are still issued in small numbers, primarily to designated marksmen.

M16: The U.S. Army-issue 5.56-mm NATO selective-fire battle rifle. The current standard variant is the M16A2 that has improved sight and three-shot burst control.

M60: The semi-obsolete U.S. Army-issue 7.62-mm NATO belt fed light machinegun that utilized some design elements of the German MG-42.

M240: The current U.S. Army-issue 7.62-mm NATO belt fed light machinegun.

MAC: Military Armament Corporation

MELIOS: Mini Eye-Safe Laser Infrared Observation Set (AN/PVS-6)

Mini-14: A 5.56-mm NATO semiauto carbine made by Ruger.

MOPP: Mission Oriented Protective Posture

MRE: Meal, Ready to Eat (U.S. Army field rations)

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer

NFA: The National Firearms Act of 1934. The law that first imposed a transfer tax on machineguns, suppressors (commonly called “silencers”), and short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

Ni-Cad: Nickel Cadmium (rechargeable battery).

Ni-MH: Nickel Metal Hydride (rechargeable battery) improvement of Ni-Cad. Does not develop a “memory,” shortening battery life due to recharging unexhausted batteries.

NRVC: Non-Resident Violator Compact, an agreement signed by more than thirty states, to share records of motor vehicle registrations and driving privilege suspensions in a computer database.

NWO: New World Order

PDW: Personal Defense Weapon

PETN: Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate; a stable, flexible high-order explosive. The filler used in primacord (detonating cord).

Pre-1899: Guns made before 1899—not classified as “firearms” under Federal law.

Pre-1965: 1964 or earlier mint date circulated U.S. silver coins with little or no numismatic value. These coins have a silver content of 90 percent.

PV: Photovoltaic (solar power conversion array). Used to convert solar power to DC electricity, typically for battery charging.

PVC: Poly-Vinyl Chloride (white plastic water pipe)

ROTC: Reserve Officer Training Corps

RPG: Rocket Propelled Grenade

RTV: Room Temperature Vulcanizing

SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon

SINCGARS: Single-Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System. The U.S. military’s current issue frequency-hopping VHF radio transceiver.

SIGINT: Signals Intelligence

SLAP: Saboted Light Armor Projectile

SOP: Standard Operating Procedure(s)

SSB: Single Sideband (an operating mode for CB and amateur radio gear).

Steyr AUG: The Austrian army’s 5.56-mm “bullpup” infantry carbine. Also issued by the Australian Army, as their replacement for the L1A1.

S&W: Smith and Wesson

SWAT: Special Weapons and Tactics. (SWAT originally stood for Special Weapons Assault Team until that was deemed politically incorrect.)

TA-1 & TA-312: U.S. military hard wire field telephones.

Thermite: A mixture of aluminum powder and iron rust, that when ignited, causes a vigorous exothermic reaction. Used primarily for welding. Also used by military units as an incendiary for destroying equipment.

T.K.: Tom Kennedy

TRC-500: A 500-milliwatt VHF FM transceiver formerly marketed by Radio Shack.

USC: University of Southern Colorado

VDC: Volts, Direct Current

VHF: Very High Frequency

VOX: Voice Activated

VW: Volkswagen

WD-1: U.S. military-issue two conductor insulated field telephone wire.

WWCR: World Wide Christian Radio, an international shortwave broadcast radio station.

Y2K: Year 2000 (Coined by David Eddy). The scare associated with the millennial (“Year 2000”) date change that took place at 0001/01/01/2000.