Ammunition, Part 1

Ammunitions/Cartridges

Legal Definition

As defined in Paragraph (b), Section 3, Article I of Republic Act No. 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, an ammunition is "a complete unfixed unit consisting of a bullet, gunpowder, cartridge case and primer or loaded shell for use in any firearm."

Technical Definition

In the dictionary, you will find that ammunitions are defined as "the projectiles with their fuses, propelling charges, or primers fired from guns."

Origin

The term evolved around the turn of the 16^th century. The term "cartridge" is derived from the words "charta" (Latin, paper) and "cartouche" (French, roll of paper) which indicates that the term originally described something other than the cartridges with which we are familiar today.

As we can guess from the source words, cartridges were initially made by wrapping powder in paper. In a later edition of Webster's Dictionary, a cartridge came to be defined as a "case capsule, shell or bag of metal, pasteboard, of the like, containing the explosive charge and in small arms and some cannon, the projectile to be fired."

This method of preparing the powder increased loading speeds, saved the powder from spillage, provided a uniform charge, and helped decrease accidental ignition.

Cartridges and ammunitions continued to evolved from then until the form that we now see today.

Basic Parts

In general, the basic parts of an ammunition are the case, primer, powder, and projectile. Depending on the type of ammunition, additional components may be found. For example, shotgun shells have a wad.

General Types of Ammunition

Classifications of Cartridges

According to the Location of the Primer

According to Rim Diameter

• belted It has a pronounced raised belt encircling the base of the cartridge, the belt is for additional strength in high pressure cartridge.

• rebated It has an extractor flange which is less than the diameter of the cartridge case.

According to Caliber

Cal. .22 about 5.59 mm used in revolver, pistol and rifles

Cal. .25 about 6.35 mm used in pistols and rifles.

Cal. .30 about 7.63 mm (mauser) for carbines and other rifles

Cal. .30 about 7.63 mm (luger)

Cal. .32 about 7.65 mm for automatic pistols and revolvers

Cal. .357 used in magnum .357 revolvers

Cal. .380 about 9 mm used for pistols

Cal. .45 about 11 mm used in automatic pistols

Cal. .50 used in .50 cal. machine gun

Shotgun Cartridges

A shotgun cartridge is a complete unit of unfired cartridge consisting of the pellets, primer, case, wads and gunpowder.

Gauge of a Shotgun

The unit of measurement of shotgun cartridges is expressed in gauge. This measure is based upon the number of solid lead balls contained. This number is limited by the size of the individual balls. Below is a summary table of shotgun gauges and the equivalent diameter in inches.

At present, the 10-gauge shotgun is the biggest one available while the 410 is the smallest. As noted in the table, the 410 is a caliber and not a true gauge measure.

Types of Shots

• Soft or Drop Shot made of pure or nearly pure lead to which a small amount of arsenic has been added to make it take on the form of a spherical drop as it falls down the shot tower; easy to deform or flatten; loses its velocity quicker; low penetrating power and string out more

• Chilled or Hard Shot made with lead containing a small amount of antimony to increase its hardness; does not deform easily; has better patterns, less string and more uniform velocity and penetration

• Coated or Plated Shot also called a lubaloy shot; a chilled shot coated with thin copper through electroplating design for greater strength and elasticity; great resistance to deformation and leading and better pattern

• Buck Shot large lead shot