Here is a list of abbreviations commonly used by sellers in item listing titles. It is not a complete list, and abbreviations may not necessarily reflect the seller's intention. Please read the full item description, and if anything is not clear, please ask the seller questions before placing a bid.
| Abbreviation | Description |
| 1C | The starting bid is set at 1 cent ($0.01) |
| ACP | Automatic Colt Pistol |
| ACR | Advanced Combat Rifle |
| AE | Action Express |
| AF | Air Force |
| AP | Armor Piercing |
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| API | Armor Piercing, Incendiary |
| APT | Armor Piercing, Tracer |
| AR | Assault Rifle |
| AUTO | Autographed |
| B&W or BW | Black and White |
| BAR | Browning Automatic Rifle |
| Bbl | Barrel |
| BBWC | Bevel Base Wadcutter |
| BC | Ballistic Coefficient |
| BFI | Bushmaster Firearms |
| BL | Barrel 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. or CAR | Colt Automatic Rifle |
| 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 |
| Ch | Chambering, or Chamber |
| CLASS III or Class 3 | Refers to the Class III FFL required to deal in NFA items |
| COA | Certificate of Authenticity (also 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 |
| FAUX | Not a genuine item |
| FB | Feedback |
| FC | Fine Condition |
| FCM | First Class Mail |
| FFL | Federal Firearms License/Licensee (a license that permits one to sell and 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 |
| G&A | Guns & Ammo Magazine |
| GA or ga. | Gauge |
| GC | Good Condition |
| GR or gr. | Grain |
| GU | Gently Used |
| H&H or HH | Holland and Holland (manufacturer) |
| H&K or HK | Heckler & Koch |
| H&R or 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 WadCutter |
| M or Md or Med | Medium |
| M&P | Military and Police |
| Mag | Magnum |
| Mag. | Magazine; Magnum |
| MC | Metal Cased |
| MG | Machine Gun |
| MIM | Metal Injection Molding |
| MM or mm | Millimeters |
| MNT | Mint condition; In perfect condition (subjective term) |
| MOP | Mother-of-Pearl |
| MRWC | Mid-Range WadCutter |
| NAA | North American Arms (manufacturer) |
| NEF | New England Firearms |
| NFA | National Firearms Act |
| NIB | New In Box (a gun that is still in the original box, unfired after it left the factory) |
| NIW | New In Wrapper (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 or 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. or Pb | Parabellum |
| PB | Lead Bullet |
| PBR | Point Blank Range |
| PDW | Personal Defense Weapon |
| PMO | Postal Money Order |
| PPC | Pindell-Palmisano Cartridge |
| PSI or psi. | Pounds per Square Inch |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point or Plated Soft Point |
| QCB | Quick Change Barrel |
| QD | Quick Detach |
| RA | Remington Arms (manufacturer) |
| Rd or Rds | Round or 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 or Sm pr Sml | Small |
| S/H or SH or S&H | Shipping and Handling |
| S&H | Sharpe & Hart |
| S&W or SW or 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. or SA | Springfield Armory |
| 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/ or 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 |
Legal Disclaimer
The list of abbreviations 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.
Last Updated 07/12/24