Firearm Ammunition

Firearm Ammunition Ammunition (Ammo) Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any weapon. The purpose of ammunition is to project a force against a selected target to have an effect (usually, but not always, lethal). The most iconic example of ammunition is the firearm cartridge, which includes all components required to deliver the weapon effect in a single package. Cartridge A modern cartridge consists of the following: 1. Bullet: the projectile 2. Case: holds all parts together 3. Propellant: example gunpowder or cordite 4. Rim: provides the extractor on the firearm a place to grip the casing to remove it from the chamber once fired; 5. Primer: ignites the propellant Bullet The term "bullet" is often used to refer to a complete cartridge, however this is inaccurate The actual bullet portion is limited to only the projectile. Case Holds all the parts of a cartridge together A cartridge without a projectile is called a blank. One that is completely inert (contains no active primer and no propellant) is called a dummy. One that failed to ignite and shoot off the projectile is called a dud One that ignited but failed to sufficiently push the projectile out of the barrel is called a squib. Rim The Rim provides the extractor on the firearm a place to grip the casing to remove it from the chamber once fired. Centerfire and Rimfire A centerfire cartridge has a centrally located primer held within a recess in the case head. Often have about 65,000psi max pressure Rimfire priming was a popular solution before centerfire priming was perfected. Only have a maximum chamber pressure of 40,000 psi Primer When hit with the firearms hammer the primer will rapidly burn. The burning gas from the primer will ignite the propellant. is explosion lights propellant creating a large explosion (propels bullet) Propellent These propellant gases push on the bullet base causing it to move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. Modern propellants are smokeless powders composed of nitrocellulose Some contain nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin Caliber Caliber is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether or not the finished bore matches that specification. It is measured in inches to an accuracy of hundredths or thousandths of an inch or in millimeters. For example, a ".45 caliber" firearm has a barrel diameter of roughly 0.45 inches (11 mm). Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions. For example, a "9 mm pistol" has a barrel diameter of about 9 millimeters. Shotgun Shell A shotgun shell or shotshell is a self-contained cartridge often loaded with either… Multiple metallic "shot", which are small, generally spherical projectiles. Or a single slug (large single projectile) The shells consist of a paper or plastic tube mounted on a brass base holding a primer. The shot is typically contained in a small container inside the shell casing. Link to Lecture Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10RqP0P1vz_LgtyOTr5YNaNubOB_E99UO/view?usp=sharing *Due to the description character limit the full work cited for "Firearm Ammunition" can be viewed at... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xVgw8FibyQjNbVWKt6Dt8UMEnOHyrFik/view?usp=sharing