UPDATE 5/29/20:
I contacted the President of the AAFTA more than a year ago and pointed out the inappropriate use of ft/lbs in various tables in their rules handbook. I received a very civil reply and admission to the mistake and a commitment to correct the units in the next revision. Last week, I submitted a notice to Pyramyd Air of the many instances they incorrectly use ft/lbs on their website. Yesterday, I received notice they agree and will have their IT group attempt a global replace to correct the situation. BTW, this earned me a 5% discount coupon on my next purchase from Pyramyd Air. I'll next approach Stephan Archer to suggest similar corrections on his HardAir reviews. In the age of anti-intellectualism and uncivil discourse, a persistent person with a valid point can still make a positive difference.
I don't want to create a stir of controversy for my very first post on this forum, but I'm curious why so many reviewers and vendor websites misuse ft/lbs to state muzzle energy specifications. I even noted a recent version of the AAFTA rules contained instances of the ft/lbs false units. I contacted the organization president and he graciously admitted the mistake and corrected the units in a revision. When I read reviews from authors who can't get the basic units for muzzle velocity correct, it diminishes their credibility. Please let's raise the intellectual bar in shooting sports (I've seen powder-burner reviews make the same error) and agree to use ft-lb or Joule (J) units to represent muzzle energy. This isn't a matter of being politically correct. It's a matter of being correct, period. Maybe this has been discussed before, but the prevalence of ft/lbs in common use demonstrates it bears repeating.
If ft/lbs ft-lb troubles you I heartily recommend Elmer Keith's pounds feet formula as a way to destroy all peace and tranquility.
Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it.
To bandg: Energy in English units is denoted as ft-lb. One ft-lb is the energy needed to lift one pound one foot. Two ft-lb energy could be either the energy needed to lift two pounds one foot, or one pound two feet. That's all there is to it. In the same system of units torque is denoted as lb-ft, to distinguish it from energy. One lb-ft is the torque created by applying a one pound load at the end of a one foot socket handle. So very easy to get the idea without having to know how to perform any complicated calculations.
The OP was pointing out the problem with denoting energy as ft/lb, which could mean ft per lb, as in how many feet of wire of certain gage could be produced from a pound of copper. But it was always clear from the context what was meant.
...One ft-lb is the energy needed to lift one pound one foot. Two ft-lb energy could be either the energy needed to lift two pounds one foot, or one pound two feet. That's all there is to it. ...