Basic Terminology Explained

Purists may bristle at this over simplification, but you don’t need to be a gun expert to understand the basic components of a shotgun and how it works.  The above photo is of a Remington 870 Tactical Express shotgun which has 96 parts, but there are only six pieces of the gun that you need to know about to get started.  (And you don’t need to ever learn about more than a few of those additional 90 parts). 

Stock: The portion of the gun designed for holding the gun against the shoulder, or in the hand, is the stock.  Historically made from wood, stocks are sometimes referred to as “furniture.” Most modern tactical shotguns utilize a stock made of durable synthetic materials.  See the chapter “Gun Configurations” for an explanation of the various types of stocks used on home-defense shotguns.

Receiver / Action:  The “receiver” is the portion of the gun which receives and loads a shell into the chamber of the gun, makes it ready to fire, and ejects the empty shell casing after the gun has been shot.  The receiver houses the primary operating parts of the gun, including the mechanism for reloading, and this is what tends to jam on poorly made guns.  (Or, poorly cleaned and inadequately lubricated guns).  The chamber is inside the receiver, just behind the barrel, and it holds the shell when it is fired.  Activated by the trigger, the firing pin hits the shell and fires the gunThese are the key components which are housed inside the receiver.

The “action” is the moving parts inside the receiver which facilitate this loading, firing, and ejection process.  This mechanical action can be of a type which is manually operated by the user, or it can be a semiautomatic action which is reactivated simply by another pull of the trigger. 

Most tactical shotguns use either a pump-action or semiautomatic action to operate the gun.  A pump-action shotgun uses a manual process, activated by pulling the forearm of the gun rearward to draw a shell from the magazine, and then forearm of the gun is pumped forward again to load that shell into the chamber and cock the gun for firing.  The other popular type of action is semiautomatic.  A semiautomatic shotgun is manually operated with a lever the first time, and then the gun auto-loads thereafter with each pull of the trigger.

Forend or Pump:  On a semiautomatic shotgun the forend is simply for holding the gun, but on a pump-action shotgun the forend is also a handle which is pumped to operate the action.

Barrel:  Home Defense shotguns either utilize two side-by-side barrels (see the chapter on “Coach Guns”) or a single barrel.  Double-barrel shotguns are generally a very simple design, and hold one shell behind each barrel.  Therefore a double-barrel shotgun must be manually reloaded after the second shot.  Though a single-barrel shotgun can be of a single-shot style, when it comes to Home Defense shotguns, the single barrel is attached to a mechanical device which reloads the chamber after the gun has been fired. This mechanical device is called the action (see above).

Magazine:  Although there are a few tactical shotguns which utilize a detachable magazine (incorrectly referred to as a ‘clip’), most use a tubular magazine.  When ammunition is loaded into the tube it compresses a spring, and this spring is what pushes shells into the receiver to facilitate the reloading process.  Some people mistake the magazine for a second barrel, because it is similar in size and appearance, and it is attached to the underside of the barrel.  (See the above photo).

Metal Finish:  Since firearms are made predominantly of metal parts which can corrode, rust prevention is a very real concern.  Historically, guns were subjected to a process called “bluing,” an electrochemical process which helps control rust.  But though this process is better than leaving the metal of the gun exposed, it still requires frequent oiling to inhibit the development of damaging rust.  Guns made of stainless steel are more durable than those made from steel alloys, but guns made from stainless steel still require lubrication and the periodic application of a metal preservative made for firearms.

During World War II, the U.S. military refined a metal preservation process called Parkerizing to protect the guns used by soldiers.  Since that time there have been hundreds of processes and high-tech materials developed to protect the metal parts of guns. 

Today, virtually all of the metal coating materials used by major firearms manufacturers are a dramatic improvement over bluing.  However, these modern metal finishes don’t eliminate the need to apply metal preservatives; they just require it less frequently.  A few of the modern finishes also reduce friction, so the metal finish has a dual purpose.

In regard to maintenance, there are many rust inhibiting lubricants which can be applied to a clean gun.  My personal favorites are Militec-1 and Royal Purple, but these are hard to find unless you are shopping online.  Break-Free and Shooters Choice FP-10 have their devotees, and products such as OTIS oil, Rem Oil and Hoppes gun oil have been in widespread use for many years. Just don’t use WD-40 or another substance which attracts moisture-holding dust and lint.