"Lock and Load" -- meaning?

[muzzleloader]

I think it's more properly Load and Lock. To me, just means make ready to fire. Going from a cold range to a hot range. Although as always, this does NOT overide the 4 rules.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[razor02097]

Only after the ram is clear of the barrel do you lock the hammer back.

before loading priming powder and closing the pan cover right?

[gtv]

In a musket you wouldn't lock the hammer back while loading the weapon. The hammer would then be in a position to be released, not very good safety.

The barrel is loaded with powder, then the ball is rammed down against the load. Only after the ram is clear of the barrel do you lock the hammer back.

It is my understanding that the phrase did arise in the muzzleloader period for this reason. The soldiers were trained to check the "lock", or sidelock mechanism, to ensure it was fully forward (and thus not in a position to accidentally fire), and only then continue to "load".

[Tom357]

I'd know that someone meant to prepare for a fight.

@# years ago, I was on a rifle team and the coach was a crusty, retired Army artillery Staff Sergeant. On our first day on the team, he introduced himself and said "I will tell you what to load, when to load, when to fire, and when to cease fire. I am not John Wayne! You will never hear me say 'lock and load'!" Then he proceeded to familiarize us with his range commands. He also told us his understanding of the informal phrase or command, "load and lock", which he said went back to 19th century breech-loaded artillery pieces, and continued to be used into the modern Army for artillery and small arms. Of course, the formal crew commands were different.

Whenever I go to the range and smell powder, I can't help but hear him in the back of my mind, "One round ball, load! Ready on the right! Ready on the left! Ready on the firing line! Close your bolts! Five rounds, fire at will!"

[DaveH]

I thought it went back to the muzzle loading days when army issue was a musket. The term came into use when the hammer was locked back and the musket loaded. Thus lock and load.

My understanding (and I no expert) also goes back to flintlock days. However, it was that the flash pan of the lock was charged & the barrel had a load (charged).

It wasn't so much the transient verbs (lock, locking, locked & load, loading, loaded) for specific actions but a statement of status -- that you had your lock and your load ready or that you were or needed to be ready.

[LeChuck]

I thought the phrase was a variation of "load and lock". A phrase coined back to the beginning of world war II.

Load referred to the loading of the rifle's clip into the internal magazine and lock didn't mean locked back but the bolt locking into battery after it strips off a round. I don't remember if it was for the bolt action rifles or the semi auto... maybe both.

I don't remember the story of how the phrase was reversed but I would imagine it was something to do with the use of bottom feeding guns that referred to the bolt being locked back first and magazine inserted. It would be more like lock, load, release or something?

It was for the M1 Garand if I remember correctly.

[DaveH]

It was for the M1 Garand if I remember correctly.

If it started with a M1 Garand, I would have expected "Thumb Clear."



Guess I'm showing my age, here.

[ScubaDuba]

lock action to rear, insert magazine

[highvoltage]

Here's a previous discussion on this board:

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...lock-load.html

[reinhold]

The origin of the phrase "lock and load" is not entirely clear, as there are two similar, yet distinct, explanations for its origin. Regardless of its exact origin, the phrase has come to relate to any activity in which preparations have to be made for an immediate action.

One explanation of the phrase comes from the actions needed to prepare a flint lock rifle for firing. In order to safely load a rifle of this type it was necessary to position the firing mechanism in a locked position, after which the gun powder and ball could be safely loaded into the rifle barrel without any chance of the rifle misfiring.

The second explanation is that the phrase (as "load and lock") originated during World War II to describe the preparations required to fire an M1 Garand rifle. After an ammunition clip was loaded into the rifle the bolt automatically moved forward in order to "lock" a round into the chamber

[billfromtx]

Lock the safety , load the gun , be ready to go.

Exactly!


In the Marine Corps when we heard Lock and Load it meant the feces was fixin to make contact with the rotating oscillator!

[ccw9mm]

My impression: used in prep for battle, though so vaguely as to hide the meaning.

I grew up hearing the typical "Hollywood" (film/book) meaning, in which the phrase was spoken as people were preparing to go into battle, as people were starting to run toward the enemy, or similar situations. Following the howling call to "lock-and-load," invariably the sound of racking slides would follow.

Of course, I figured that was all baloney. It was too vague to reflect the origins of the phrase.

I think it's more properly Load and Lock.

With the current firearms and rules, I always assumed this, that load-and-lock would make the most sense. Which further strengthens the idea that the phrase didn't come from the use of 20th Century arms.

Lock the safety , load the gun , be ready to go.

With current arms, load-and-lock always made much more sense to me. No arms I knew would first require locking of a safety followed by loading. But then, growing up, I was fairly unaware of much beyond the basic mechanics of small arms.

I thought it went back to the muzzle loading days when army issue was a musket. The term came into use when the hammer was locked back and the musket loaded. Thus lock and load.

It is my understanding that the phrase did arise in the muzzleloader period for this reason. The soldiers were trained to check the "lock", or sidelock mechanism, to ensure it was fully forward (and thus not in a position to accidentally fire), and only then continue to "load".

This has always been my feeling, that the origins came from earlier arms usage. To "check the lock / check the load" (lock-and-load) seems infinitely more purposeful and correct when going back to a prior era and its arms. Much more correct to check something, than to do it (ie, check the lock, as opposed to lock it).

Though, I still don't know. People's understanding varies so widely on the question. I figure it has to be from a bygone era. Muzzleloading days, perhaps. Like as not.

[Tom357]

...I don't remember the story of how the phrase was reversed but I would imagine it was something to do with the use of bottom feeding guns that referred to the bolt being locked back first and magazine inserted. It would be more like lock, load, release or something?

The common story is that John Wayne reversed the phrase in the movie "Sands of Iwo Jima". It was also used, reversed, in "Saving Private Ryan".

There is a citation of a military communique in 1899 confirming that an instruction had gone out to load and lock all [artillery] pieces, in preparation for an attack. This aligns with what my old coach told us about 'load and lock' referring to loading the guns, and closing and locking the breechblocks. It seems clear that the phrase was used for guns of all sizes, and we may never really know how far back its use goes.

[Eagleks]

it's "lock" the safety, so there would be no AD's when the gun is loaded.

[SIGguy229]

I believe it was an old military term meaning "lock the bolt to the rear and load a magazine".

This is how it is used today...although "Lock the bolt to the rear, and insert a loaded magazine[, and release the bolt]" is how it was described to me.