Tools · 02
French gun terms, translated by a gunsmith
If you collect French doubles or browse French auction listings, you have met the problem: no general dictionary knows that a bascule is an action body, or that the avantage of a stock is its cast. This glossary translates the working vocabulary of the French gun trade, the language of Saint-Étienne and Liège workshops, into English, term by term. It works in both directions.
In French gunmaking vocabulary, bascule means the action body of a break-action gun, longuesse the fore-end, pontet the trigger guard, quadrillage the checkering, and jaspage the colour case-hardening.
01 · Stock and woodwork
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| avantage | cast | Cast-off bends the stock away from a right-handed shooter's face; cast-on is the opposite. |
| bec (pointe de la crosse) | toe | |
| busc | comb | |
| capucine | lower barrel band | |
| col de crosse (poignée) | wrist (small of the stock) | |
| crosse | stock (buttstock) | On a revolver, French says plaques or plaquettes (grip panels), never crosse. |
| crosse anglaise | straight-hand stock (English stock) | |
| crosse col de cygne | swan-neck stock | |
| crosse demi-pistolet | Prince of Wales stock (semi-pistol grip) | |
| crosse pistolet | pistol-grip stock | |
| crosseur | stockmaker (stocker) | |
| devant bois | fore-end | |
| dévers | cant | Rotation of the stock about the sighting axis. |
| ébauche de crosse | stock blank | |
| embouchoir | nose cap (upper band) | |
| fer de longuesse | fore-end iron | The metal mechanism fitted inside the fore-end. |
| fût | forestock | On military long arms, the wood running under the barrel. |
| grenadière | middle barrel band (sling band) | |
| joue | cheekpiece | |
| longuesse | fore-end (forend) | The usual French word on break-action guns. |
| longuesse à auget | beavertail fore-end | |
| longuesse anglaise fine | splinter fore-end | |
| longueur de crosse | length of pull (LOP) | |
| mise à bois | stocking (stockmaking) | Fitting wood to metal: the stocker's core craft. |
| noyer | walnut | |
| pente de crosse | drop (at comb, at heel) | |
| plaque de couche | buttplate | |
| plaquettes | grips (grip panels) | |
| quadrillage | checkering | Spelt chequering in British usage. |
| ronce de noyer | burr walnut (burl walnut) | |
| sabot de recul | recoil pad | |
| talon | heel |
02 · Action and lockwork
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| arme à levier de sous-garde | lever-action firearm | |
| bascule | action body (break-action frame) | |
| bloc tombant | falling block | The Winchester M1885 action type. |
| boîtier de culasse | receiver | |
| carcasse | frame | |
| charnière (axe de bascule) | hinge pin (cross pin) | |
| chien | hammer | |
| clé d'ouverture | top lever | |
| contre-platine | sideplate | |
| culasse | breech (breechblock, bolt) | Umbrella term; a rifle's moving bolt is the culasse mobile. |
| détente | trigger | French distinguishes détente (the trigger blade) from gâchette (the sear). |
| double détente | double triggers | |
| éjecteur | ejector | |
| extracteur | extractor | |
| fusil à chiens extérieurs | hammer gun | |
| fusil à platines | sidelock shotgun | |
| gâchette | sear | In proper gunsmithing French, the gâchette is the internal sear, not the trigger. |
| grand ressort | mainspring | |
| levier de sous-garde | finger lever (underlever) | On lever-action arms such as Winchesters. |
| mono-détente sélective | selective single trigger | |
| percuteur | firing pin (striker) | |
| platine | lock (lockplate) | |
| pontet | trigger guard | |
| stecher | set trigger | |
| sûreté | safety (safety catch) | |
| système Anson & Deeley | boxlock action | |
| table de bascule | action flats (water table) | The flat bed of the action, visible with the gun open: where proof marks are read. |
| verrou | locking bolt | |
| verrouillage | lock-up |
03 · Barrels and proof
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| âme | bore | |
| âme lisse | smoothbore | |
| banc d'épreuve | proof house | |
| bande | rib | Bande ventilée is a ventilated rib. |
| bouche | muzzle | |
| calibre | gauge / caliber | Gauge for smoothbores (calibre 12 = 12-gauge), caliber for rifled barrels. |
| canon | barrel | |
| canon damas | damascus barrel | |
| canons juxtaposés | side-by-side barrels | |
| canons superposés | over-and-under barrels | |
| chambre | chamber | |
| choke (rétreint) | choke | |
| cône de raccordement | forcing cone | |
| cran de mire | sighting notch | |
| crochet de canon | lump (underlug) | |
| épreuve | proof (proofing) | |
| guidon | front sight (bead) | |
| hausse | rear sight | |
| œilleton | aperture sight (peep sight) | |
| organes de visée | sights | |
| pas des rayures | twist rate | |
| plats de canon | barrel flats | Under the chambers: the other home of proof marks. |
| poinçon d'épreuve | proof mark | |
| rayures | rifling | |
| tonnerre | breech end |
04 · Ammunition
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| amorce | primer | |
| balle | bullet | |
| bourrelet | rim | The R in European designations (9.3x74R) marks a rimmed case. |
| cartouche | cartridge (shotshell) | Shotshell for smoothbore ammunition. |
| culot | case head | |
| douille | case (hull) | |
| percussion à broche | pinfire | The Lefaucheux system. |
| percussion annulaire | rimfire | |
| percussion centrale | centerfire | |
| plombs | shot (pellets) | |
| poudre noire | black powder |
05 · Workshop and finishes
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| acier | steel | |
| ajustage | fitting | |
| armurier | gunsmith | |
| armurier d'art | artisan gunsmith (fine gunmaker) | No exact English equivalent; artisan gunsmith or fine gunmaker are the usual renderings. |
| arquebusier | gunmaker (historical) | Historical term still used in the French fine-gun trade. |
| bronzage | bluing | Bronzage à la rouille is rust bluing. |
| conservation | conservation | |
| finition à l'huile | hand-rubbed oil finish | |
| graveur | engraver | |
| gravure | engraving | |
| huile de lin | linseed oil | |
| incrustation | inlay | |
| jaspage | colour case-hardening | |
| laiton | brass | |
| patine | patina | |
| piqûres | pitting | |
| polissage | polishing | |
| restauration | restoration | |
| usinage | machining | |
| vernis au tampon | French polish | The traditional finish on fine gun stocks. |
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Method and sources
Terminology drawn from workshop usage and cross-checked against the reference compilations of the collector communities, consulted on 17 July 2026. Approximate equivalents are flagged in the notes. Spotted an error, or missing a term? Write to me: the glossary keeps growing.
- French-English gun terminology, DoubleGun BBS: the compilation built by American collectors of French doubles.
- Glossaire des termes anglais usités pour les armes à feu (A. J. Collard), TIR Collection.
- Termes d'armurerie anglais-français, collaborative glossary, Forum Airguns.
To see these words at work: the stocking of my Winchester M1885, and the stock dimensions explained in the length of pull tool.