Here is a basic overview of ammunition with an emphasis on handgun ammunition.
Basic Anatomy of a Cartridge
A cartridge or a round is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition consisting of four primary parts:
bullet (projectile), powder (propellent), primer, case
The bullet is the projectile component of a cartridge which is expelled forward from the gun barrel when shooting. Bullets are made from different materials and come in various shapes and sizes. Most handgun bullets have a copper exterior (called the jacket) that surrounds a lead core. However, some bullets are made entirely from lead, while others might be made entirely from copper.
Common bullet types include:
Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) - Bullets with a lead core encased with a metal coating (often copper) that covers all of, or all but the base of, a bullet.
Lead Round Nose (LRN) - Lead round nose bullets are composed entirely of lead with a rounded nose.
Wadcutter (WC) - A wadcutter bullet is essentially just a lead cylinder with a flat top. Generally used in target shooting competitions.
Ammo to go article here.
Semi-Wadcutter (SWC) - Semi-wadcutters are a cross between traditional lead round nose and the full wadcutter.
Hollow Point (HP) - Hollow point bullets have a concave shaped tip that facilitates rapid expansion of the round upon impact. Some HPs are made with a tough copper jacket over a soft lead core (jacketed hollow points or JHPs). Others are made of a solid material like copper.
Soft Point (SP or JSP) - Soft point (aka jacketed soft point) bullets have a soft metal core (usually lead) encased by a stronger metal jacket (usually copper) but with the lead tip exposed at the tip.
2. Powder/Propellant
The propellant is a chemical or mixture of chemicals which, when ignited, produces a very large quantity of gas. This gas, when confined within a barrel and behind a missile, provides the propulsion to drive the missile down the bore and out of the barrel.
3. Primer
The primer is a chemical compound that explodes when struck sending a flame into the propellant (powder) thus igniting it. Ammunition can be categorized by the arrangement of the primer as either rimfire or centerfire.
Rimfire - Refers to cartridges that have a priming compound located in the rim of the base. The gun's firing pin strikes the rim, crushing a portion of the case, causing the primer to explode. Rimfire cartridges include the .22 Short, .17 HMR, .22 Long Rifle, .22 Winchester Automatic.
Centerfire - Refers to cartridges that have a priming compound located at the center of the base. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the centerfire primer is typically a separate component seated into a recessed cavity (known as the primer pocket) in the base of the case. There are two types of centerfire primers.
1) Boxer Primer - Has a single flash hole.
2) Berdan Primer - Has two flash holes.
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| Image credit: Gun University |
Bullet Size & Caliber
Caliber refers to the diameter of the gun barrel bore as well as the size of the bullet Firearm calibers are usually measured in millimeters, hundredths of an inch or thousandths of an inch.
Though there are
hundreds of different handgun cartridges that have been used in the past and continue to be used presently, the most common are:
https://thewellarmedwoman.com/about-guns/ammunition-demystifier-overview/
https://www.cheapammo.com/bullet-types
https://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/bullet-types/
https://concealednation.org/2015/07/the-differences-between-jhp-swc-fmj-p-and-others-what-do-these-ammo-types-mean/
https://www.pistolbasics101.com/calibers--bullets-101.html
https://www.corneredcat.com/article/ammunition/caliber-confusion/
https://gearzo.com/handgun-calibers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartridge_(firearms)
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/bullet-sizes-calibers-and-types/
https://thegunzone.com/bullet-sizes-calibers-and-types/
https://aliengearholsters.com/blog/guide-to-ammunition/
https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bullets.html
