![GP11 coupe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/GP11_coupe.JPG)
A bullet is a
kinetic projectile, a component of
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
that is
shot
Shot may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard
*''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck
*''Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy
* "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus
* ''Shot'' (2017 fi ...
from a
gun barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...
. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and constructions (depending on the intended applications), including specialized functions such as
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
,
target shooting
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms su ...
, training and combat. Bullets are often tapered, making them more
aerodynamic. Bullet sizes are expressed by their weights and diameters (referred to as "
caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
s") in both imperial
and metric measurement systems. For example: 55
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
.223 caliber bullets are of the same weight and caliber as 3.56 gram 5.56mm caliber bullets. Bullets do not normally contain
explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
s but strike or damage the intended target by transferring
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its accele ...
upon impact and
penetration. Bullets shot by firearms can be used for
target practice
In the military and in shooting, target practice are exercises in which weapons are shot at a target. The purpose of such exercises is to improve the aim or the weapons handling expertise of the person firing the weapon.
Targets being shot at ...
or
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
.
Description
The term ''bullet'' is from Middle French, originating as the
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
of the word ''boulle'' (''boullet''), which means "small ball". Bullets are available singly (as in
muzzle-loading and
cap and ball
The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...
firearms) but are more often packaged with propellant as a
cartridge ("round" of ammunition) consisting of the ''bullet'' (i.e., the projectile), the ''case'' (which holds everything together), the ''
propellant
A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...
'' (which provides the majority of the energy to launch the projectile), and the ''
primer
Primer may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth
* ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour
Literature
* Primer (textbook), a t ...
'' (which ignites the propellant). Cartridges, in turn, may be held in a
''magazine'' or a
''belt'' (for rapid-fire
automatic firearms). Although the word ''bullet'' is often used in colloquial language to refer to a cartridge round, a bullet is ''not'' a cartridge but rather a component of one. This use of the term ''bullet'' (when intending to describe a cartridge) often leads to confusion when a cartridge and all its components is specifically being referenced.
Bullets used in many cartridges are fired at
muzzle velocities faster than the
speed of sound
The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...
—about in dry air at —and thus can travel a substantial distance to a target before a nearby observer hears the sound of the shot. The sound of gunfire (i.e. the "muzzle report") is often accompanied with a loud
bullwhip-like crack as the
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
bullet pierces through the air, creating a
sonic boom. Bullet speeds at various stages of flight depend on intrinsic factors such as
sectional density, aerodynamic profile and
ballistic coefficient, as well as extrinsic factors such as
barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
, humidity, air temperature and wind speed.
Subsonic cartridges fire bullets slower than the speed of sound, so there are no sonic booms. This means that a subsonic cartridge, such as
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...
, can be substantially quieter than a supersonic cartridge, such as the
.223 Remington
The .223 Remington (designated as the 223 Remington by the SAAMI and 223 Rem by the CIP) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed in 1957 by Remington Arms and Fairchild Industries for the U.S. Continental Army Command ...
, even without the use of a
suppressor.
Bullets shot by firearms can be used for
target practice
In the military and in shooting, target practice are exercises in which weapons are shot at a target. The purpose of such exercises is to improve the aim or the weapons handling expertise of the person firing the weapon.
Targets being shot at ...
or to
injure
Major trauma is any injury that has the potential to cause prolonged disability or death. There are many causes of major trauma, blunt and penetrating, including falls, motor vehicle collisions, stabbing wounds, and gunshot wounds. Depending ...
or kill animals or people. Death can be by
blood loss
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
or damage to vital organs, or even
asphyxiation
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...
if blood enters the lungs. Bullets are not the only projectiles shot from firearm-like equipment: BBs are shot from
BB guns,
airsoft pellets are shot by
airsoft guns
Airsoft guns are replica toy guns used in airsoft sports. They are a special type of low-power smoothbore air guns designed to shoot airsoft pellets, non-metallic spherical projectiles (pb) often colloquially (but incorrectly) referred to as "B ...
,
paintballs are shot by
paintball markers
A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, paint gun, or simply marker, is an air gun used in the shooting sport of paintball, and the main piece of paintball equipment. Paintball markers use compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) ...
, and small rocks can be hurtled from
slingshots
A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the proj ...
. There are also
flare guns
A flare gun, also known as a Very pistol or signal pistol, is a large-bore handgun that discharges flares, blanks and smoke. The flare gun is typically used to produce a distress signal.
Types
The most common type of flare gun is a Very (som ...
,
potato guns (and
spud guns),
tasers
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
,
bean bag rounds,
grenade launchers,
flash bangs,
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
,
RPGs RPG may refer to:
Military
* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon
**''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade launc ...
, and
missile launchers
A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile.
History
The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...
.
Bullet sizes are expressed by their weights and diameters (referred to as "
caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
s") in both imperial
and metric measurement systems. For example: 55
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
.223 caliber bullets are of the same weight and caliber as 3.56 gram 5.56mm caliber bullets.
History
![MaryRose-round shot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/MaryRose-round_shot.JPG)
The first true gun evolved in China from the fire lance (a bamboo tube that fired porcelain shrapnel) with the invention of the metal hand cannon sometime around 1288, which the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
used to win a decisive victory against Mongolian rebels. The artillery
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
appeared in 1326 and the European
hand cannon in 1364. Early projectiles were made of stone. Eventually it was discovered that stone would not penetrate stone fortifications, which led to the use of denser materials as projectiles. Hand cannon projectiles developed in a similar manner. The first recorded instance of a metal ball from a hand cannon penetrating armor was in 1425. Shot retrieved from the wreck of the ''
Mary Rose
The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her l ...
'' (sunk in 1545, raised in 1982) are of different sizes, and some are stone while others are cast iron.
The development of the hand
culverin and
matchlock arquebus brought about the use of
cast
Cast may refer to:
Music
* Cast (band), an English alternative rock band
* Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band
* The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis
* ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William
* ...
lead balls as projectiles. The original round
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
ball was smaller than the bore of the barrel. At first it was loaded into the barrel just resting upon the powder. Later, some sort of material was used as a
wadding between the ball and the powder as well as over the ball to keep it in place, it held the bullet firmly in the barrel and against the powder. (Bullets not firmly set on the powder risked exploding the barrel, with the condition known as a "short start".)
The loading of muskets was therefore easy with the old smooth-bore
Brown Bess and similar military muskets. The original muzzle-loading
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
, however, was loaded with a piece of leather or cloth wrapped around the ball, to allow the ball to engage the grooves in the barrel. Loading was a bit more difficult, particularly when the bore of the barrel was fouled from previous firings. For this reason, and because rifles were not often fitted for
bayonets, early rifles were rarely used for military purposes, compared to muskets.
![Naseby musket balls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Naseby_musket_balls.jpg)
There was a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet during the first half of the 19th century. In 1826,
Henri-Gustave Delvigne
Henri-Gustave Delvigne (April 10, 1800 in Hamburg – October 18, 1876 in Toulon) was a French soldier and inventor. He became a captain in the French infantry service, from which he resigned on the outbreak of the 1830 July Revolution. Delvig ...
, a French
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the
rifling
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...
grooves. Delvigne's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate. In 1855 a detachment of
1st U.S. Dragoons
The 1st Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army regiment that has its antecedents in the early 19th century in the formation of the United States Regiment of Dragoons. To this day, the unit's special designation is "First Regiment of Dragoons ...
, while on patrol, traded lead for gold bullets with
Pima Indians
Pima or PIMA may refer to:
People
* Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico)
Places
* Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County
* Pima County, Arizona
* Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains
...
along the California–Arizona border. "The use of gold bullets by Indians is confirmed by Aubry in a journey across central Arizona. ''"The Indians use gold bullets for their guns. They are of different sizes and each Indian has a pouch of them. We saw an Indian load his gun with one large and three small gold bullets to shoot a rabbit."''
Square bullets have origins that almost pre-date civilization and were used in slings. They were typically made out of copper or lead. The most notable use of square bullet designs was by
James Puckle and Kyle Tunis who patented them, where they were briefly used in one version of the
Puckle gun
The Puckle gun (also known as the defence gun) was a primitive crew-served, manually-operated flintlock revolver patented in 1718 by James Puckle (1667–1724), a British inventor, lawyer and writer. It was one of the earliest weapons to be ref ...
. The early use of these in the
black-powder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
era was soon discontinued because of the irregular and unpredictable flight patterns.
Pointed bullets
Delvigne continued to develop bullet design and by 1830 had started to develop cylindro-conical bullets. His bullet designs were improved by
Francois Tamisier with the addition of "ball grooves" which are known as "
cannelure
A cannelure is a groove or channel around ammunition, either bullets or cartridge cases. The cannelure may be pressed into or cast with the bullet or case.
Function
In the Minié ball the purpose of the cannelure is to hold a lubricant. Cannelu ...
s", which moved the resistance of air behind the center of gravity of the bullet. Tamisier also developed progressive rifling: the rifle grooves were deeper toward the breech, becoming shallower as they progressed toward the muzzle. This causes the bullet to be progressively molded into the grooves which increases range and accuracy.
Among the first pointed or "conical" bullets were those designed by Captain John Norton of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in 1832. Norton's bullet had a hollow base made of
lotus
Lotus may refer to:
Plants
*Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly:
** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae
**Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
pith that on firing expanded under pressure to engage with a barrel's rifling. The British Board of Ordnance rejected it because spherical bullets had been in use for the previous 300 years. Renowned English gunsmith
William Greener
William Greener (1806–1869) was an English inventor and gunmaker. He developed a self-expanding bullet in 1835, an electric lamp in 1846 (patent specification 11076 of that year) some 33 years before Thomas Edison's patent in 1879. William Gree ...
invented the Greener bullet in 1836. Greener fitted the
hollow base of an oval bullet with a wooden plug that more reliably forced the base of the bullet to expand and catch the rifling. Tests proved that Greener's bullet was effective, but the military rejected it because, being two parts, they judged it as too complicated to produce.
![Minie Balls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Minie_Balls.jpg)
The
carabine à tige
The carabine à tige (sometimes called a "stem rifle") was a type of black-powder, muzzle-loading rifle invented by Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin. The method was an improvement of the invention of another Frenchman, Henri-Gustave Delvigne. Delvig ...
, developed by
Louis-Étienne de Thouvenin
Louis-Étienne de Thouvenin (1791–1882) was a French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government ...
in 1844, was an improvement of Delvigne's design. The rifle barrel has a forcing plug in the breech of the barrel to mold the bullet into the rifling with the use of a special
ramrod
A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was usually held i ...
. While successful in increasing accuracy, it was difficult to clean.
The soft lead
Minié ball
The Minié ball or Minie ball, is a type of hollow-based bullet designed by Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the French Minié rifle, for muzzle-loading rifled muskets. It was invented in 1847 and came to prominence in the Crimean War and ...
was first introduced in 1847 by
Claude-Étienne Minié
Claude-Etienne Minié (13 February 1804 – 14 December 1879) was a French military instructor and inventor famous for solving the problem of designing a reliable muzzle-loading rifle by inventing the Minié ball in 1846, and the Minié rifle in 1 ...
, a captain in the French Army. It was another improvement of the work done by Delvigne. The bullet was conical in shape with a hollow cavity in the rear, which was fitted with a small iron cap instead of a wooden plug. When fired, the iron cap forced itself into the hollow cavity at the rear of the bullet, thus expanding the sides of the bullet to grip and engage the rifling. In 1851, the British adopted the Minié ball for their
702-inch Pattern 1851 Minié rifle. In 1855, James Burton, a machinist at the U.S. Armory at
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, improved the Minié ball further by eliminating the metal cup in the bottom of the bullet. The Minié ball first saw widespread use in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
(1853-1856). Roughly 90% of the battlefield casualties in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(1861-1865) were caused by Minié balls fired from rifled muskets. A similar bullet called the
Nessler ball
The Nessler ball -- or balle Nessler -- is a type of muzzle-loading musket bullet. It was developed to increase the accuracy and range of smoothbore muskets and was used in the Crimean War. It featured a short conical-cylindrical soft lead bul ...
was also developed for
smoothbore muskets.
Between 1854 and 1857, Sir
Joseph Whitworth
Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scr ...
conducted a long series of rifle experiments and proved, among other points, the advantages of a smaller
bore
Bore or Bores often refer to:
*Boredom
* Drill
Relating to holes
* Boring (manufacturing), a machining process that enlarges a hole
** Bore (engine), the diameter of a cylinder in a piston engine or a steam locomotive
** Bore (wind instruments), ...
and, in particular, of an elongated bullet. The Whitworth bullet was made to fit the grooves of the rifle mechanically. The Whitworth rifle was never adopted by the government, although it was used extensively for match purposes and target practice between 1857 and 1866. In 1861 W.B. Chace approached President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
with an improved ball design for muskets. In firing over the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
where the Chace ball and the round ball were alternated, Lincoln observed that the Chace design carried a third or more farther fired at the same elevation. Although Lincoln recommended testing, it never took place.
Around 1862,
W. E. Metford carried out an exhaustive series of experiments on bullets and rifling, and he invented the important system of light rifling with increasing spiral and a hardened bullet. The combined result was that, in December 1888, the
Lee–Metford
The Lee–Metford rifle (a.k.a. ''Magazine Lee–Metford'', abbreviated ''MLM'') was a bolt-action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and detachable magazine with an innovative seven groove rifled ba ...
small-bore (
.303 .303 may refer to:
* .303 British, a rifle cartridge
* .303 Savage, a rifle cartridge
* Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the B ...
", 7.70 mm) rifle, Mark I, was adopted for the British army. The Lee–Metford was the predecessor of the
Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's st ...
.
Modern bullets
![Bullet types on](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Bullet_types_on_.270_ammunition.jpg)
The next important change in the history of the rifle bullet occurred in 1882, when Lieutenant Colonel
Eduard Rubin
Eduard Alexander Rubin (17 July 1846 – 6 July 1920) was a Swiss mechanical engineer who is most notable for having invented the full metal jacket bullet in 1882. His most famous cartridge was the 7.5×55mm Swiss which was the standard ammu ...
, director of the Swiss Army Laboratory at Thun, invented the
copper-jacketed bullet — an elongated bullet with a lead core in a copper jacket. It was also small bore (7.5mm and 8mm) and it is the precursor of the 8mm ''Lebel bullet'' adopted for the
smokeless powder
Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to a ...
ammunition of the
Lebel Model 1886 rifle
The Lebel Model 1886 rifle (French: ''Fusil Modèle 1886 dit "Fusil Lebel"'') also known as the ''"Fusil Mle 1886 M93"'', after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Ar ...
. The surface of lead bullets fired at high velocity may melt from the hot gases behind and friction within the bore. Because copper has a higher
melting point
The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends ...
, and greater
specific heat capacity
In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol ) of a substance is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the mass of the sample, also sometimes referred to as massic heat capacity. Informally, it is the amount of heat t ...
, and higher
hardness
In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation or abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardness; for example hard ...
, copper-jacketed bullets allow greater muzzle velocities.
European advances in aerodynamics led to the pointed
spitzer bullet
The spitzer bullet (or spire point) is a pointed projectile that is primarily used in small-arms. The pointed nose shape, which was developed for military purposes in the late 19th and early 20th century, was a major design improvement compared ...
. By the beginning of the 20th century, most world armies had begun the transition to spitzer bullets. These bullets flew for greater distances more accurately and transferred more
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its accele ...
. Spitzer bullets combined with
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s greatly increased lethality on the battlefield.
Spitzer bullets were streamlined at the base with the
boat tail. In the trajectory of a bullet, as air passes over a bullet at high speed, a vacuum is created at the end of the bullet, slowing the projectile. The streamlined boat tail design reduces this
form drag by allowing the air to flow along the surface of the tapering end. The resulting aerodynamic advantage is currently seen as the optimum shape for rifle technology. The first combination spitzer and boat-tail bullet, named ''balle'' D by its inventor Captain Georges Desaleux, was introduced as standard military ammunition in 1901, for the French
Lebel Model 1886 rifle
The Lebel Model 1886 rifle (French: ''Fusil Modèle 1886 dit "Fusil Lebel"'') also known as the ''"Fusil Mle 1886 M93"'', after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Ar ...
.
A
ballistic tip bullet is a
hollow-point rifle bullet that has a plastic tip on the end of the bullet. This improves
external ballistics by streamlining the bullet, allowing it to cut through the air more easily, and improves
terminal ballistics by allowing the bullet to act as a jacketed hollow point. As a side effect, it also feeds better in weapons that have trouble feeding rounds that are not full metal jacket rounds.
Design
![Bullet exit wound of a lung shot Dama dama Sweden 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Bullet_exit_wound_of_a_lung_shot_Dama_dama_Sweden_01.png)
Bullet designs have to solve two primary problems. In the barrel, they must first form a seal with the gun's bore. If a strong seal is not achieved, gas from the propellant charge leaks past the bullet, thus reducing efficiency and possibly accuracy. The bullet must also engage the rifling without damaging or excessively fouling the gun's bore and without distorting the bullet, which will also reduce accuracy. Bullets must have a surface that forms this seal without excessive friction. These interactions between bullet and bore are termed
internal ballistics. Bullets must be produced to a high standard, as surface imperfections can affect firing accuracy.
The physics affecting the bullet once it leaves the barrel is termed
external ballistics. The primary factors affecting the aerodynamics of a bullet in flight are the bullet's shape and the rotation imparted by the rifling of the gun barrel. Rotational forces stabilize the bullet gyroscopically as well as aerodynamically. Any asymmetry in the bullet is largely canceled as it spins. However, a spin rate greater than the optimum value adds more trouble than good, by magnifying the smaller asymmetries or sometimes resulting in the bullet breaking apart in flight. With smooth-bore firearms, a spherical shape is optimal because no matter how the bullet is oriented, its aerodynamics are similar. These unstable bullets tumble erratically and provide only moderate accuracy; however, the aerodynamic shape changed little for centuries. Generally, bullet shapes are a compromise between aerodynamics, interior ballistic necessities, and
terminal ballistics requirements.
Terminal ballistics and
stopping power
Stopping power is the ability of a weapon – typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm – to cause a target (human or animal) to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon's ...
are aspects of bullet design that affect what happens when a bullet impacts with an object. The outcome of the impact is determined by the composition and density of the target material, the
angle of incidence, and the velocity and physical characteristics of the bullet. Bullets are generally designed to penetrate, deform, or break apart. For a given material and bullet, the strike velocity is the primary factor that determines which outcome is achieved.
Bullet shapes are many and varied. With a mold, bullets can be made at home for reloading ammunition, where local laws allow. Hand-casting, however, is only time- and cost-effective for solid lead bullets. Cast and jacketed bullets are also commercially available from numerous manufacturers for
handloading
Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by assembling the individual components (case, primer, propellant, and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded ammunition.
The term ''hand ...
and are most often more convenient than casting bullets from bulk or scrap lead.
Propulsion
Propulsion of the ball can happen via several methods:
* by using only gunpowder (as in
flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...
weapons)
* by using a
percussion cap and gunpowder (as in percussion weapons)
* by using a
cartridge
Materials
Bullets for black powder, or muzzle-loading firearms, were classically molded from pure
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
. This worked well for low-speed bullets, fired at velocities of less than 450 m/s (1,475 ft/s). For slightly higher-speed bullets fired in modern firearms, a harder
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
of lead and tin or typesetter's lead (used to mold
linotype) works very well. For even higher-speed bullet use, jacketed lead bullets are used. The common element in all of these, lead, is widely used because it is very dense, thereby providing a high amount of mass—and thus, kinetic energy—for a given volume. Lead is also cheap, easy to obtain, easy to work, and melts at a low temperature, which results in comparatively easy fabrication of bullets.
* Lead: simple
cast
Cast may refer to:
Music
* Cast (band), an English alternative rock band
* Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band
* The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis
* ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William
* ...
, extruded,
swaged
Swaging () is a forging process in which the dimensions of an item are altered using dies into which the item is forced. Swaging is usually a cold working process, but also may be hot worked.
The term swage may apply to the process (verb) or ...
, or otherwise fabricated lead
slugs
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...
are the simplest form of bullets. At speeds of greater than 300
m/s (1,000 ft/s) (common in most
handguns
A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...
), lead is deposited in rifled bores at an ever-increasing rate. Alloying the lead with a small percentage of
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
and/or
antimony
Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...
serves to reduce this effect but grows less effective as velocities are increased. A cup made of harder metal, such as copper, placed at the base of the bullet and called a
gas check
A gas check is a gasket type component of firearms ammunition. Gas checks are used when non- jacketed bullets are used in high pressure cartridges. The use of a gas check inhibits the buildup of lead in the barrel and improves accuracy.
Constr ...
, is often used to decrease lead deposits by protecting the rear of the bullet against melting when fired at higher pressures, but this does not solve the problem at higher velocities. A modern solution is to
powder coat
Powder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. Unlike conventional liquid paint which is delivered via an evaporating solvent, powder coating is typically applied electrostatically and then cured under heat or ...
the lead projectile, encasing it in a protective skin, allowing higher velocities to be achieved without lead deposits.
* Jacketed lead: bullets intended for even higher-velocity applications generally have a lead core that is jacketed or plated with
gilding metal,
cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
alloys, or
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
; a thin layer of harder metal protects the softer lead core when the bullet is passing through the barrel and during flight, which allows delivering the bullet intact to the target. There, the heavy lead core delivers its kinetic energy to the target. Full metal jacket or "ball" bullets (cartridges with ball bullets, which despite the name are not spherical, are called ball ammunition) are completely encased in the harder metal jacket, except for the base. Some bullet jackets do not extend to the front of the bullet, to aid expansion and increase lethality; these are called soft point (if the exposed lead tip is solid) or hollow point bullets (if a cavity or hole is present). Steel bullets are often plated with copper or other metals for corrosion resistance during long periods of storage. Synthetic jacket materials such as
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
and
Teflon
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. It is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemou ...
have been used, with limited success, especially in rifles; however, hollow point bullets with plastic aerodynamic tips have been very successful at both improving accuracy and enhancing expansion. Newer plastic coatings for handgun bullets, such as
Teflon-coated bullets, are making their way into the market.
![Cartridge cross section](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Cartridge_cross_section.svg)
* Solid or ''
monolithic solid'': mono-metal bullets intended for deep penetration in big game animals and slender shaped very-low-drag projectiles for long range shooting are produced out of metals like oxygen-free copper and alloys like
cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...
,
tellurium copper and
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
(e.g., highly machinable UNS C36000 free-cutting brass). Often these projectiles are turned on precision
CNC lathes. In the case of solids, and the ruggedness of the game animals on which they are used, e.g., the African buffalo or elephant, expansion is almost entirely relinquished for the necessary penetration. In shotgunning, "slug" loads are often solid large single lead projectiles, sometimes with a hollow point, used for deer or wild pig hunting in jurisdictions that do not allow hunting with rifles (because a missed slug shot will travel considerably less far than a rifle bullet).
**Fluted: in appearance, these are solid bullets with scalloped sides (missing material). The theory is that the flutes produce hydraulic jetting when passing through tissue, creating a wound channel larger than that made by conventional
expanding ammunition
Expanding bullets, also known colloquially as dumdum bullets, are projectiles designed to expand on impact. This causes the bullet to increase in diameter, to combat over-penetration and produce a larger wound, thus dealing more damage to a liv ...
such as hollow point bullets.
**Hard cast: a hard lead alloy intended to reduce fouling of rifling grooves (especially of the
polygonal rifling
Polygonal rifling ( ) is a type of gun barrel rifling where the traditional sharp-edged "lands and grooves" are replaced by less pronounced "hills and valleys", so the barrel bore has a polygonal (usually hexagonal or octagonal) cross-sectional p ...
used in some popular pistols). Benefits include simpler manufacture than jacketed bullets and good performance against hard targets; limitations are an inability to
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
and subsequent over-penetration of soft targets.
*
Blank: wax, paper, plastic, and other materials are used to simulate live gunfire and are intended only to hold the powder in a blank cartridge and to produce noise, flame and smoke. The "bullet" may be captured in a purpose-designed device or it may be allowed to expend what little energy it has in the air. Some blank cartridges are crimped or closed at the end and do not contain any bullet; some are fully loaded cartridges (without bullets) designed to propel rifle grenades. The force of the expanding gas from blank cartridges can be lethal at short range; numerous tragic accidents have occurred with blank cartridges (e.g., the death of actor
Jon-Erik Hexum).
* Practice: made from lightweight materials like rubber,
wax
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...
, wood, plastic, or lightweight metal, practice bullets are intended for short-range target work only. Because of their weight and low velocity, they have limited range.
* Polymer: these are metal-polymer composites, generally lighter and having higher velocities than pure metal bullets of the same dimensions. They permit unusual designs that are difficult with conventional casting or lathing.
* Less lethal, or ''less than lethal'':
Rubber bullets,
plastic bullet
A plastic bullet or plastic baton round (PBR) is a non-lethal projectile fired from a specialised gun. Although designed as a non-lethal weapon, they have caused a number of deaths when used incorrectly.
Plastic bullets are generally used for ...
s, and
beanbags
A bean bag (also beanbag) is a sealed bag containing dried beans, Polyvinyl chloride, PVC pellets, expanded polystyrene, or expanded polypropylene. The bags are commonly used for throwing games, but they have various other applications.
Furniture ...
are designed to be
non-lethal, e.g., for use in
riot control. They are generally low velocity and are fired from shotguns, grenade launchers, paint ball guns, or specially designed firearms and air gun devices.
*
Incendiary: these bullets are made with explosive or flammable mixtures in the tips that are designed to ignite on contact with a target. The intent is to ignite fuel or munitions in the target area, thereby adding to the destructive power of the bullet.
*
Exploding
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...
: similar to the incendiary bullet, this type of projectile is designed to explode upon hitting a hard surface, preferably the bone of the intended target. Not to be mistaken for cannon shells or grenades with fuse devices, these bullets have only cavities filled with a small amount of high explosive depending on the velocity and deformation upon impact to detonate. Exploding bullets have been used in various
heavy machine guns and in
anti-materiel rifles.
*
Tracer
Tracer may refer to:
Science
* Flow tracer, any fluid property used to track fluid motion
* Fluorescent tracer, a substance such as 2-NBDG containing a fluorophore that is used for tracking purposes
* Histochemical tracer, a substance used for tr ...
: these have hollow backs, filled with a
flare material. Usually this is a mixture of
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
, a
perchlorate
A perchlorate is a chemical compound containing the perchlorate ion, . The majority of perchlorates are commercially produced salts. They are mainly used as oxidizers for pyrotechnic devices and to control static electricity in food packaging. Per ...
, and
strontium
Strontium is the chemical element with the symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is ex ...
salts to yield a bright red color, although other materials providing other colors have also sometimes been used. Tracer material burns out after a certain amount of time. This allows the shooter to visually trace the flight path of the projectile and thus make necessary ballistic corrections, without having to confirm projectile impacts and without even using the
sights
A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...
of the weapon. This type of round is also used by all branches of the
United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
in combat environments as a signaling device to friendly forces. Normally it is loaded at a four to one ratio with ball ammunition.
*
Armor-piercing
Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour.
From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many warsh ...
: jacketed designs where the core material is a very hard, high-density metal such as
tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
,
tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: WC) is a chemical compound (specifically, a carbide) containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into ...
,
depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
, or
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
. A pointed tip is often used, but a flat tip on the penetrator portion is generally more effective.
* Nontoxic shot: steel,
bismuth, tungsten, and other alloys prevent release of toxic lead into the environment. Regulations in several countries mandate the use of nontoxic projectiles especially when
waterfowl hunting
Waterfowl hunting (also called wildfowling or waterfowl shooting in the UK) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport.
Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hunt ...
. It has been found that birds swallow small lead shot for their
gizzards to grind food (as they would swallow pebbles of similar size), and the effects of
lead poisoning
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...
by grinding of lead pellets against food means lead poisoning effects are magnified. Such concerns apply primarily to shotguns firing pellets (
shot
Shot may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard
*''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck
*''Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy
* "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus
* ''Shot'' (2017 fi ...
) and not bullets, but there is evidence suggesting that consumption of spent rifle and pistol ammunition is also hazardous to wildlife. Reduction of hazardous substances legislation has also been applied to bullets on occasion to reduce the impact of lead on the environment at
shooting range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...
s.
*
Blended-metal: bullets made using cores from powdered metals other than lead with binder or sometimes
sintered
Clinker nodules produced by sintering
Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction.
Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing ...
.
*
Frangible: designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impact to minimize their penetration for reasons of range safety, to limit environmental impact, or to limit the shoot-through danger behind the intended target. An example is the
Glaser Safety Slug
Glaser Safety Slug is a frangible bullet made by Cor-Bon/Glaser, a subsidiary of Dakota Ammo, an American ammunition company based in Sturgis, South Dakota. The Glaser Safety Slug was developed by Jack Canon in 1975, the same year the company was ...
, usually a pistol caliber bullet made from an amalgam of lead shot and a hard (and thus frangible) plastic binder designed to penetrate a human target and release its component shot pellets without exiting the target.
*
Multiple projectile: bullets that are made of separate slugs that fit together inside the cartridge and act as a single projectile inside the barrel as they are fired. The projectiles part in flight but are held in formation by tethers that keep the individual parts of the "bullet" from flying too far away from each other. The intention of such ammo is to increase hit chance by giving a shot-like spread to rifled slug firing guns, while maintaining a consistency in shot groupings. Multiple impact bullets may be less stable in flight than conventional solid bullets because of the added
drag from the tether line holding the pieces in formation, and each projectile affects the flight of all the others. This may limit the benefit provided by the spread of each bullet at longer ranges.
Treaties and prohibitions
Poisonous bullets were a subject to an international agreement as early as the
Strasbourg Agreement (1675)
The Strasbourg Agreement of 27 August 1675 is the first international agreement banning the use of chemical weapons. The treaty was signed between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and was created in response to the use of poisoned bullets. The us ...
. The
Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 prohibited the use of explosive projectiles weighing less than 400 grams; it was reasoned that more deadly bullets would lead to less suffering. The
Hague Convention prohibits certain kinds of ammunition for use by uniformed military personnel against the uniformed military personnel of opposing forces. These include projectiles that explode within an individual, poisoned and expanding bullets. Protocol III of the 1983
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are consid ...
, an annexed protocol to the
Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
, prohibits the use of incendiary ammunitions against civilians.
In December 2014, a federal appeals court denied a lawsuit by environmental groups that the EPA must use the Toxic Substances Control Act to regulate lead in shells and cartridges. The groups sought to regulate "spent lead", yet EPA could not regulate spent lead without also regulating cartridges and shells, per the court.
The
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
announced that the agency does not have the legal authority to regulate this type of product (lead bullets) under the
Toxic Substances Control Act nor is the agency seeking such authority. With some nontoxic shot, e.g., steel shot, care must be taken to shoot only in shotguns (and with
chokes
Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen depr ...
) specifically designed and designated for steel shot; for other, particularly older, shotguns, serious damage to the barrel and chokes can occur. And because steel is lighter and less dense than lead, larger sized pellets must be used, thus reducing the number of pellets in a given charge of shot and possibly limiting patterns on the target; other formulations do not present typically this disability.
Abbreviations
:2F – Two-part controlled fragmenting
:ACC –
Remington Accelerator (see
sabot
Sabot may refer to:
* Sabot (firearms), disposable supportive device used in gunpowder ammunitions to fit/patch around a sub-caliber projectile
* Sabot (shoe), a type of wooden shoe
People
* Dick Sabot (1944–2005), American economist and busi ...
)
:ACP –
Automatic Colt Pistol
Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) denotes various John Moses Browning cartridge designs primarily used in Colt and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal semi-automatic pistols. All of these cartridges are straight-sided and appear similar. The .32 ACP, .38 ACP, ...
:AE – Action express
:AGS – African Grand Slam (Speer)
:AP –
Armor piercing (has a depleted uranium or other hard metal core)
:APT – Armor-piercing tracer
:API – Armor-piercing incendiary
:API-T – Armor-piercing incendiary tracer
:APFSDS –
Armor-piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot round
:B – Ball
:B2F – Brass two-part fragmenting
:BBWC – Bevel base
wadcutter
A wadcutter is a special-purpose flat-fronted bullet specifically designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under approximately 900 ft/s (274 m/s). Wadcutters have also found favor ...
:BEB – Brass enclosed base
:BJHP – Brass jacketed
hollow point
:Blitz –
Sierra
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...
BlitzKing
:BMG –
Browning Machine Gun
:BrPT – Bronze point
:Bt –
Boat-tail
:BtHP – Boat-tail
hollow point
:C2F – Civilian two-part fragmenting
:CB –
Cast bullet
A cast bullet is made by allowing molten metal to solidify in a Molding (process), mold. Most cast bullets are made of lead alloyed with tin and antimony; but zinc alloys have been used when lead is scarce, and may be used again in response to conc ...
:CL, C-L –
Remington Core-Lokt
:CMJ – Complete metal jacket, electroplated, not truly jacketed
:CN – Cupronicknel
:CNCS – Cupronickel-clad steel
:CTFB – Closed tip flat Bbse
:DBBWC – Double bevel based wadcutter
:DEWC – Double ended
wadcutter
A wadcutter is a special-purpose flat-fronted bullet specifically designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under approximately 900 ft/s (274 m/s). Wadcutters have also found favor ...
:DGS – Dangerous game solid (Hornady)
:DGX – Dangerous game expanding (Hornady)
:DU –
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
:EFMJ – Expanding full metal jacket
:EVO, FTX –
Hornady
Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipments, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.
History
The company is currently run by Joyce Hornady's son, Steve Hornady, who took over ...
Leverevolution flex tip expanding
:EVO –
RWS Evolution bullet
:FMC – Full metal case
:FMJ –
Full metal jacket
''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel ''The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew M ...
:FMJBT – Full metal jacket boat-tail
:FN – Dangerous game solid flat nose
:FNEB – Flat nose enclosed base
:FP – Flat point
:FP – Full patch
:FST –
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
Fail Safe
Talon
Talon or talons may refer to:
Science and technology
* Talon (anatomy), the claw of a bird of prey
* Brodifacoum, a rodenticide, also known as the brand Talon
* TALON (database), a database maintained by the US Air Force
* Talon, an anti-vehicle- ...
:GAP (G.A.P.) –
Glock Automatic Pistol
:GC – Gas check
:GD – Speer Gold Dot
:GDHP – Speer Gold Dot
hollow point
:GM – Gilding metal
:GMCS – Gilding metal-clad steel
:GS –
Remington Golden Saber
:GSC – GS Custom turned copper bullet
:HAP – Hornady Action Pistol
:HBWC – Hollow base wadcutter
:HC – Hard cast
:HE-IT – High explosive incendiary tracer
:HFN – Hard cast flat nose
:HP –
Hollow point
:HPBT – Hollow point boat tail
:HPCB – Heavy plate concave base
:HPJ – High performance jacketed
:HS –
Federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
Hydra-Shok
Hydra-Shok is a type of hollow-point projectile made by Federal Premium Ammunition. It was originally patented by ammunition designer Tom Burczynski. Hydra-Shok was released in 1988 after the FBI requested a bullet with better terminal ballisti ...
:HST – Federal Hi-Shok Two
:HV – Low friction drive band high velocity
:ID-Classic –
RWS fragmentation bullet, ex-''TIG'' after
Brenneke
Brenneke GmbH is a German manufacturer of ammunition and bullets, based in Langenhagen, Lower Saxony.
The company was founded by Wilhelm Brenneke in 1895 and is currently owned and run by his great-grandson, Dr. Peter Mank.
Brenneke makes shotgu ...
-license was not renewed
:I-T – Incendiary tracer
:IB – Interbond (Hornady)
:J – Jacketed
:JAP – Jacketed aluminium point
:JFP – Jacketed flat point
:JHC – Jacketed hollow cavity
:
JHP – Jacketed hollow point
:JHP/sabot – Jacketed hollow point/
sabot
Sabot may refer to:
* Sabot (firearms), disposable supportive device used in gunpowder ammunitions to fit/patch around a sub-caliber projectile
* Sabot (shoe), a type of wooden shoe
People
* Dick Sabot (1944–2005), American economist and busi ...
:JSP – Jacketed
soft point
A soft-point bullet (SP), also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a jacketed expanding bullet with a soft metal core enclosed by a stronger metal jacket left open at the forward tip. A soft-point bullet is intended to expand upon striking flesh to ...
:L – Lead
:L-C – Lead combat
:L-T – Lead target
:LF – Lead free
:LFN – Long flat nose
:LFP – Lead flat point
:LHP – Lead hollow point
:LR – Long Rifle
:LRN – Lead round nose
:LSWC – Lead semiwadcutter
:LSWC-GC – Lead semiwadcutter gas checked
:LWC – Lead wadcutter
:LTC – Lead truncated cone
:MC – Metal cased
:MHP – Match hollow point
:MK –
Sierra
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...
MatchKing
:MRWC – Mid-range wadcutter
:MP – Metal point
:NP –
Nosler partition
Nosler, Inc. is an American manufacturing company based in Bend, Oregon, known for producing ammunition and handloading components and specializing in high performance hollow point and soft point hunting bullets. The current companies also ...
:OTM – Open tip match
:OWC –
Ogival
An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking.
Etymology
The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...
wadcutter
:P – Practice, proof
:PB – Lead bullet
:PB –
Parabellum
:PL – Remington Power-Lokt
:PnPT – Pneumatic point
:PPL – Paper patched lead
:PSP – Plated
soft point
A soft-point bullet (SP), also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a jacketed expanding bullet with a soft metal core enclosed by a stronger metal jacket left open at the forward tip. A soft-point bullet is intended to expand upon striking flesh to ...
:PSP, PTDSP – Pointed
soft point
A soft-point bullet (SP), also known as a soft-nosed bullet, is a jacketed expanding bullet with a soft metal core enclosed by a stronger metal jacket left open at the forward tip. A soft-point bullet is intended to expand upon striking flesh to ...
:PRN – Plated round nose
:RBT – Rebated boat tail
:RN – Round nose
:RNFP – Round nose flat point
:RNL – Round nose lead
:SCHP – Solid copper hollow point
:SJ – Semi-jacketed
:SJHP – Semi-jacketed hollow point
:SJSP – Semi-jacketed soft point
:SLAP –
Saboted light armor penetrator
:SP – Soft point
:SP – Spire point
:Sp, SPTZ –
Spitzer
Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre
* Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
:SPC – Special purpose cartridge
:SpHP – Spitzer hollow point
:SST –
Hornady
Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipments, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.
History
The company is currently run by Joyce Hornady's son, Steve Hornady, who took over ...
Super shock tip
:SSp – Semi-spitzer
:ST – Silver tip
:STHP – Silver tip hollow point
:SWC – Semiwadcutter
:SX – Super explosive
:SXT –
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
Ranger supreme expansion technology
:T – Tracer
:TAG – Brenneke lead-free bullet (german: Torpedo Alternativ-Geschoß)
:TBBC – Carter/Speer Trophy Bonded Bear Claw soft point
:TBSS – Carter/Speer Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solid
:TC – Truncated cone
:THV – Terminal high velocity
:TIG – Brenneke fragmentation bullet (german: Torpedo Ideal-Geschoß)
:TMJ – Total metal jacket
:TNT – Speer TNT
:TUG – Brenneke deformation bullet (german: Torpedo Universal-Geschoß)
:TOG – Brenneke deformation bullet (german: Torpedo Optimal-Geschoß)
:UmbPT – Umbrella point
:UNI-Classic –
RWS deformation bullet, ex-''TUG'' after Brenneke-license was not renewed.
:VMAX – Hornady V-Max
:WMR – Winchester Magnum Rimfire
:VLD –
Very low drag
A very-low-drag bullet (VLD) is primarily a small arms ballistics development of the 1980s–1990s, driven by the design objective of bullets with higher degrees of accuracy and kinetic efficiency, especially at extended ranges. To achieve this, ...
:WC – Wadcutter
:WFN – Wide flat nose
:WFNGC – Wide flat nose
gas check
A gas check is a gasket type component of firearms ammunition. Gas checks are used when non- jacketed bullets are used in high pressure cartridges. The use of a gas check inhibits the buildup of lead in the barrel and improves accuracy.
Constr ...
:WLN – Wide long nose
:X – Barnes X-bullet
:XTP – Hornady Extreme Terminal Performance
See also
*
Flechette
A flechette ( ) is a pointed steel projectile with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French , "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette. They have been used as ballistic weapons sinc ...
*
List of handgun cartridges
*
List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 HM2,2 .17 HMR, 2.5 .17 wsm, 3 .22LR, 4 .22 WMR, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm/35 SMc, 7 .22 Hornet, 8 .223 Remington, 9 .223 WSSM ...
*
Meplat
*
Smart bullet
*
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the same ...
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The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
References
External links
High speed imaging of in flight bullet transition ballistics
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ttps://archive.today/20130101212928/http://arizonagunlist.com/ammunition_types.html Arizona Gun List – ammunition typesbr>
Bullets for BeginnersRemington Core-Lokt, Bronze Point & Power-Lokt Centerfire AmmunitionHow To Make GUN BULLET , How To Machines
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Projectiles
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Articles containing video clips