CHAPTER IV PROJECTILE

1. PROJECTILE

PROJECTILE

            A projectile is an object that is thrown, fired, or otherwise impelled toward a target.

Projectiles such stones, bullets, and cannon balls have no capacity for self-propulsions. Others,
such as rockets and modern missiles are self-propelling.

            The word projectile is a generic term used when referring to any metallic or non-metallic
ball that is propelled from a firearm. It may also be referred to as bullet, slug, shot, or missile.

BULLETS refers to metallic or non-metallic, cylindrical projectile propelled from a firearm by

means of expansive force of gases coming from burning powder. The word bullet was derived
from the French word Boullette which means a small ball. The layman’s term of a bullet is slug.

PARTS OF THE BULLET

1.    Base- the portion of the bullet that receives the thrust and heat from the burning powder.

2.    Bearing surface- the area of the bullet that contacts the barrel rifling. A tight fit is required
to prevent chamber pressure leaks and to provide good contact with the rifling grooves.

3.    Cannelure- a ring depression around the body of a bullet used to receive the case crimp.

4.    Core- The bulk of the mass in a bullet. Usually lead component but sometimes containing
other metals for special purposes such as penetration and tracing.

5.    Head height- length of the bullet from the shoulder to the tip

6.    Heal- the location on the bullet where the heel ends and the bearing surface begins

7.    Jacket-commonly used materials include copper,brass,steel, and aluminum.

8.    Meplat- the diameter of the flat or blunt end of the nose of a bullet.

9.    Ogive- The radius of curve between the bearing surface and the point usually stated with
respect to the caliber.

10.  Point- the most forward point of the ogive

11.  Shoulder- the place on the bullet where the parallel sides end and the ogive begins

                      
1.1. Classification of Bullets
Classification

A. Lead Bullets- is a type of a bullet that is basically composed of lead metal. It is primarily
for its density; having a good weight in a small size and easy for casting.

those which are made of lead or alloys of these metals (lead, tin and antimony) which is slightly
harder than the pure lead.

 Lead alloy with tin and/ or antimony with/without copper or copper alloy
gilding(less than0.0002 inches thick).
 Traditionally only for revolvers.

                          

B.  Jacketed Bullets- is a type of a bullet consisting of the regular lead core, coated with a
copper alloy in order to prevent lead fouling of the barrel and is generally used in pistols
and other high powered guns. Those with a core of lead covered by a jacket of harder
material such as gilding metal, a copper-alloy of approximately 90% and 10% zinc.

·         Metal jacketed with lead or steel core and jacket of cupro-znc, cupro-nickel or aluminum
(0.0165 to 0.03 inches thick).
·         Traditionally for semi-automatic pistols and high velocity rifles.

·         The purpose of the jacket is to keep the bullet intact and prevent from breaking up when
it strikes a target, prevent damage in the weapon and to control expansion.

      

2. TYPES OF BULLETS

TYPES OF BULLETS

1. Hard Ball (HB)- this is a type of bullet that is intended for anti-personnel and general
use. This style of bullet is a copper sheath, the jacket, over a core lead(full metal sheath)
it is standard projectile type, expanding very little, but very good penetration.
2. Armor Piercing Bullets (AP)-it is a type of military bullet designed to penetrate light
steel armor.  Jacketed designs where the core material is a very hard, high-density metal
such as tungsten, tungsten carbide, depleted uranium, or steel. A pointed tip is often
used, but a flat tip on the penetrator portion is generally more effective. It was first
patented in about 1903 by Roth of Vienna; although, it was largely introduced for snipers
countering the small armor shields in the first world war in 1914-1918.
3. Tracer Bullets- a type of military bullet capable of leaving visible marks or traces while in
flight giving the gunner the chance to observe the strike of the shot or make
adjustments in the event of a miss. These have a hollow back, filled with a flare material.
Usually this is a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, and strontium 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.
4. Incendiary Bullets- These bullets are made with an explosive or flammable mixture in
the tip that is 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 itself.
5. Exploding Bullet - 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.
    

6. Fragmentation-The bullet splits into fragments when hitting soft tissue, creating a
bigger wound, but tends to retain its form when penetrating armor.
7. Pointed Bullets- Is more effective ballistically than the round ball.

·         The first pointed or "conical" bullets were those designed by Captain John Norton of
the British Army in 1823.

8. Dumdum bullet-

·         A kind of man-stopping bullet, designed to fragment inside the body and thus inflict a
severed and painful wound; - so named from Dumdum, in India, where bullets are manufactured
for the Indian army.

·         a soft-nosed small-arms bullet that expands when it hits a target and causes a gaping
wound.

9.    Soft point or mushroom bullet- is a bullet that will expand on striking an object and
therefore produces much more serious shock and has correspondingly greater stopping power.
 

10. Hollow point bullet- is a bullet with a cavity in the nose designed to increase the
expansion when it hits the target.(sometimes called “express bullet”).

11. Steel jacketed Bullet- is a bullet having soft steal jacket, often clad or plated with
gilding metal to prevent rusting and reduce frictional resistance in the bore.
12. X-Bullet- is solid copper projectile, heat treated for extra toughness with no separate
jacket and no lead core.  The bullets hold together for deep dependable penetration. A
deep forward cavity causes the nose to peel back into four razor-edge petals. Viewed
head-on, the appearance these four petals gives the x-bullet its name.

13. Baton Round (Rubber Bullet)- are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired

from either standard firearms or dedicated riot guns. They are intended to be a non-
lethal alternative to metal projectiles.
   

14.  Glaser Safety Slug was designed in 1974 in response to the possibility of having to use a
handgun on an airplane by the Sky Marshals . The concerns at that time were over penetration
on soft tissue and ricochets on hard surfaces and possible excess penetration.

     

3. BULLET ACRONYMS

BULLET ACRONYMS

Acronyms are everywhere in the gun and ammunition industry, and when reading through
descriptions it is enormously helpful to know just what those acronyms stand for.

FMJ: Full Metal Jacket Metal cased and full metal jacket both refer to bullets with a metal
coating that covers all of, or all but the base of, a bullet.

MC: Metal Cased This is a term used by Remington to refer to their full metal jacketed bullets.

HP: Hollow Point Hollow point bullets have a concave shaped tip that facilitates rapid
expansion of the round upon impact.

BT: Boat Tail Boat tail bullets have a streamlined base to facilitate better aerodynamics.

FMJBT: Full Metal Jacketed Boat Tail

 
JHP: Jacketed Hollow Point Jacketed Hollow Point bullets are similar in design to regular
hollow point bullets, but have a copper jacket that normally covers everything but the hollowed
portion of the round.

JFP: Jacketed Flat Point Jacketed flat point rounds have a flat area of exposed lead at the tip.

JSP: Jacketed Soft Point Jacketed soft point bullets usually have a spire pointed tip of exposed
lead. JSP can also refer to a Jacketed spitzer point; spitzer meaning a sharply pointed bullet.

JRN: Jacketed Round Nose Jacketed round nose bullets split the difference between JFP and
JSP bullets and have a rounded tip of exposed lead.

BTHP: Boat Tail Hollow Point

BTSP: Boat Tail Soft Point Sometimes the letters in the acronyms are switched, so boat tail soft
point may also be abbreviated as soft point boat tail or SPBT.

EFMJ: Expanding Full Metal Jacket Expanding full metal jacketed rounds appear as and feed
like a regular full metal jacket bullet, but have a construction that allows the case to collapse and
the bullet to flatten upon impact.

WC: Wad Cutter Wad cutter designs often appear to be nothing more than a cylinder, usually
with a hollow base. This design is used in target practice to punch neat holes in the paper, rather
than the ragged holes produced by more rounded designs.

SWC: Semi Wad Cutter Semi Wad Cutter bullets have a rounded nose that comes down to a
cylinder that is slightly larger than the rounded section, giving the bullet a more aerodynamic
shape while allowing it to punch clean holes in paper targets.

RFP: Rounded Flat Point Rounded flat point bullets have a flat tip that is smaller than the bullet
diameter and rounded shoulders.
 

AP: Armor Piercing Armor piercing ammunition can have bullets with a variety of shapes,
though in general they are spire pointed and full metal jacketed rounds that have a strong core
designed to penetrate armor.

API: Armor Piercing Incendiary Armor piercing incendiary ammunition has the same
penetrating abilities of armor piercing bullets, but with the added function of bursting into an
intense flame upon impact.

Frangible Frangible ammunition is available under a number of trademarks; notably MagSafe,

Glaser, and SinterFire. All of these rounds are characterized by a design that facilitates the rapid
breakup of the bullet upon impact, thus reducing the chances of over-penetration or a ricochet.

What do the various bullet tip colors on military ammo mean?

4. BULLET ABBREVIATIONS

ACC – Remington Accelerator HV – Low friction Drive Band RN – Round Nose

Bullets High Velocity
AP – Armor Piercing (has a steel RNFP – Round Nose Flat
or other hard metal core) J – Jacketed Point

APFSDS – Armor-piercing Fin JFP – Jacketed Flat Point RNL – Round Nosed Lead
Stabilized Discarding Sabot round
JHC – Jacketed Hollow CavitySJ – Semi-Jacketed
BBWC – Bevel Base Wadcutter JHP – Jacketed Hollow Point SJHP – Semi-Jacketed Hollow
Point
BEB – Brass Enclosed Base JHP/sabot – Jacketed Hollow
Point/sabot SJSP – Semi-Jacketed Soft
BJHP – Brass Jacketed Hollow Point
Point JSP – Jacketed Soft Point
SP – Soft Point
Blitz – Sierra BlitzKing L – Lead
SP – Spire Point
Bt – Boat-tail L-C – Lead Combat
Sp,SPTZ – Spitzer
BtHP – Boat-tail Hollow Point L-T – Lead Target
SpHP – Spitzer Hollow Point
CB – Cast Bullet LFN – Long Flat Nose
SST – Hornady Super Shock
CL, C-L – Remington Core-Lokt LFP – Lead Flat Point Tip

DEWC – Double LHP – Lead Hollow Point SSp – Semi-Spitzer

Ended Wadcutter
LRN – Lead Round Nose ST – Silver Tip
DU – Depleted Uranium
LSWC – Lead Semiwadcutter STHP – Silver Tip Hollow
EVO, Point
FTX – Hornady LEVERevolutionLSWC-GC –
Flex Tip eXpanding Lead Semiwadcutter Gas SWC – Semiwadcutter
Checked
FMJ – Full Metal Jacket SX – Super Explosive
LWC – Lead Wadcutter
FMC – Full Metal Case SXT – Winchester Ranger
LTC – Lead Truncated Cone Supreme Expansion
FN – Dangerous Game Solid Technology
Bullets Flat Nose MC – Metal Cased
TC – Truncated Cone
FP – Flat Point MHP – Match Hollow Point
TMJ – Total Metal Jacket
FST – Winchester Fail MK – Sierra MatchKing
Safe Talon TNT – Speer TNT
MRWC – Mid-
GC – Gas Check Range Wadcutter VMAX – Hornady V-Max Bal
listic tip
GD – Speer Gold Dot NP – Nosler Partition
VLD – Very Low Drag
GDHP – Speer Gold Dot Hollow OTM – Open Tip Match
Point WC – Wadcutter
OWC – Ogival Wadcutter [5]
GS – Remington Golden Saber PB – Lead Bullet WFN – Wide Flat Nose

GSC – GS Custom Turned PB – Parabellum WFNGC – Wide Flat Nose

Copper Bullets Gas Check
PL – Remington Power-Lokt
HBWC – Hollow Base WLN – Wide Long Nose
Wadcutter PSP – Plated Soft Point
X – Barnes X-Bullet
HC – Hard Cast PSP, PTDSP – Pointed Soft
Point XTP – Hornady Extreme
HP – Hollow Point Terminal Performance

HPJ – High Performance

Jacketed

HS – Federal Hydra-Shok

HST – Federal Hi-Shok Two