bullpup

See also: bull-pup

English

The Steyr AUG is an example of a bullpup configuration, and was one of the first such configurations to enter widespread use.

Alternative forms

• bull pup
• bull-pup

Etymology

bull +‎ pup. The firearms sense originated in the 1930s in US firearms jargon, from an analogy of bullpup rifles to bulldog puppies, which were considered "squat, ugly, but still aggressive and powerful".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʊlpʌp/

Noun

bullpup (plural bullpups)

1. (dated) A bullpuppy, a bulldog puppy (of either sex).
   • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan: A Tale of the Revolution:

     He sees thou art the best man for the swamp; that thy scent is keen with the bloodhound, thine eye like the hawk's, and thou art quick for fight as the colonel's bullpup.

2. (US, obsolete) A handgun smaller than a bulldog.
   • 1855, William Gilmore Simms, The Forayers:

     He brought with him the holsters of his young master, wrapped up in the fragment of a blanket. “I tink, Mass Willie,” said he, “dat you better hab dese little bullpups yer, onder you own han'. Dere's no telling how soon you may want 'em. De swode is good 'nough, when you hab dem tory in chopping reach, but de pups kin keep guard on door and winder.”

   • 1875, Joaquin Miller, First Fam’lies in the Sierras:

     "Gone for his two little bull-pups," said Stubbs. That was what the Parson called his silver-mounted derringers.

   • 1889, Logansport Pharos Tribune:

     In an Iowa murder case two witnesses swore to seeing the defendant forty rods off draw his revolver, when it was proven that they were so near-sighted that they could not tell a pistol from a bull-pup fifteen rods away.

   • 1895, "Seven-up" Blaine's Conversion:

     'Bust me, Blaine! you ain't a-goin' to murder this-yer young innercent ez mebbe never toted a derringer in his life, an don't know the difference atween a bowie-knife an' a bull-pup, air you?' interposed Colonel Jefferson.

3. (firearms) A firearm configuration in which both the action and magazine are located behind the trigger and alongside the shooter's face, so there is no wasted space for the buttstock as in conventional designs.