centre-firecenter-fireadj.n.
/ˈsɛntəˌfʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈsɛn(t)ərˌfaɪ(ə)r/ A. adj. (chiefly attributive).
1. Firearms. Of a cartridge or (in early use) percussion cap: having the primer located in the centre of the base, as opposed to being distributed around its rim. Of a gun, magazine, etc.: designed or adapted to use cartridges of this kind. Contrasted with rimfire adj.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [adjective] > types of cartridge
central fire1841
centre-fire1855
Greener1856
pin-fire1867
rimfire1867
rim ignition1867
Flobert1890
belted1916
magnum1935
1855 Daily Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 30 Oct. 2/4 (advt.) Pistols, of all descriptions..Flasks, Dram Buttles, Winter Proof and Centre Fire Caps, [etc.].
1870 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 4 Feb. 219/1 Of foreign modified ammunition, I have three specimens here..namely, the ‘United States regulation centre-fire cartridge’, the Martin's centre-fire cartridge, and ‘The Powers' centre-fire cartridge’.
1913 Pop. Mech. Nov. 761/1 In making small switchboards, rheostats, and other electrical devices, I found a good use for old center-fire cartridge shells.
1958 J. E. Davis Introd. Tool Marks, Firearms, & Striagraph v. 78 In arms designed to fire center-fire cartridges, the end of this pin is rounded off so that it makes a generally hemispherical depression in the primer.
2003 F. de Haas & W. van Zwoll Bolt Action Rifles 455/2 The Fiberclass is a highly accurate centerfire rifle for the serious hunter.
2. U.S. Of a Western saddle: having a single cinch or girth, esp. one placed centrally between the pommel and cantle. Also applied to the cinch or girth of such a saddle.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [adjective] > types of saddle
chamberedc1540
upper-flapped1850
McClellan1864
centre-fire1904
poley1930
1904 McClure's Mag. Nov. 25/2 A side saddle had arrived from El Paso. It was ‘center fire’, which is to say it had but the single horsehair cinch.
1919 C. A. Siringo Lone Star Cowboy 114 While roping and tying down these wild steers we had great sport in seeing ‘Center-fire’ saddles jerked over sideways from the pony's back.
1936 R. F. Adams Cowboy Lingo xvi. 177 [He] was always preaching the principles of the center-fire saddle.
1969 La Cruces (New Mexico) Sun-News 13 July (CitiSun section) 5/2 One thing he [sc. George B. McClellan] incorporated into the new saddle was the center-fire cinch, originally from Baja California.
2001 J. Hoy in L. Clayton et al. Vaqueros, Cowboys, & Buckaroos 177 The center-fire rig with small round skirts would not tip up when a roped cow pulled against the horn.
B. n.
1. Firearms. A centre-fire gun; (also) a centre-fire cartridge. Cf. rimfire n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun]
gun1339
enginec1380
great gunc1430
ordnancec1450
cannona1460
piece1512
spitfire1611
tube1763
barker1815
by and by1857
big gun1886
centre-fire1889
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > cartridge > type of cartridge
ball cartridge1768
blank-cartridge1826
wire cartridge1829
Schultze cartridge1885
centre-fire1889
blank1896
1889 Southwestern Reporter 10 173 The gun had gone off accidentally two thousand times... It is a rim-fire... If it was a center-fire, it would not do that.
1902 Shooting & Fishing 16 Jan. 287/2 Allowing the use of any .22 cartridge, including the center fires.
1914 A. B. Reeve Guy Garrick xxiv. 304 He has shown that the hammer of a revolver, say a centre fire, strikes the cartridge at a point which is never the exact centre of the cartridge, but is always the same for the same weapon.
1972 Pop. Sci. May 73 (advt.) Ten years ago, a new era of rim fire power..started with the introduction of 22 Winchester Magnum Rim Fires, economical loads that fit between regular 22s and costly center fires.
2008 Laurel (Mississippi) Leader-Call 8 Oct. b8/1 Most of the centrefires available to Mississippi hunters since 2005 were the .45.70 guns, like H&R's Handi rifle.
2. U.S. A centre-fire saddle. rare.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > types of saddle
mail-saddle1360
trotter-saddle1381
panel1393
loadsaddle1397
packsaddle1398
limber-saddle1480
pillion1480
side-saddle1493
steel saddle1503
pilgate1511
mail pillowc1532
stock-saddle1537
pad1556
sunk1568
trunk-saddle1569
soda1586
mail pillion1586
running saddle1596
Scotch saddle1596
postilion saddle1621
pad-saddle1622
portmanteau-saddle1681
watering saddle1681
cart-saddle1692
demi-pique1695
crook-saddle1700
saddle pad1750
recado1825
aparejo1844
mountain saddle1849
somerset1851
pilch1863
cowboy saddle1880
sawbuck (pack)saddle1881
western saddle1883
cross-saddle1897
centre-fire1921
McClellan1940
poley1957
1921 Outing Mar. 247/1 Riders of the southern parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and California and some other sections of the West swear by the ‘center-fire’, but those of Texas and northern plains and mountains generally prefer the ‘rim fire’.
1958 F. E. Ward Cowboy at Work xxiii. 216 The cinch shown..is one designed for use on a single-rig saddle and is the type used on a center-fire too.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1855