Ballistics 3

lecture 3

Types of firearms

Smoothbore

rifled

Smoothbore

Here the barrels are smooth and cross section of the bore inside forms a circle at any point

The projectiles fired are, ordinarily, pellets and shots

A shotgun is a short range firearm

It is meant for hunting small game

Rifled bore

Rifled firearms have grooves and lands in their barrels

The grooves are canal like furrows cut out in the form of spirals.

They are cut from the barrel by giving a regulated twist to the cutter or to the barrel to get the groove in the required shape

The raised portion between two grooves is called a land

Examples of rifled weapons

Single shot fire arm

Repeater

Self-loader

Automatics

Assault rifle

Cartridge

also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (smokeless powder, black powder substitute, or black powder) and an ignition device (primer) within a metallic, paper, or plastic case

Propellants

Modern small arms propellants all share a common origin, nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose carries the majority of the chemical energy used to propel a projectile from a gun barrel. It is the result of treating cellulose with nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid

Projectile

commonly use in small firearms: Bullet, Shots or Slug

Bullet

is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel.

Types of bullets

Plated bullets

Full metal jacket bullets

Lead bullets

Round nose bullets

Hollow-point bullets

Boat tail bullets

Rifle bullets

Armor-piercing bullets

Soft point bullets

Hunting bullets

Heavy bullets

38 special ammo

Open tip bullets – match bullets

Close range bullets

Cartridge cases

are belted, rimmed, semi-rimmed or rimless, In the first three types, the diameter of the base is larger than the diameter of the cylinder of he cartridge, while in the last one it is either equal or smaller.

either cylindrical throughout or it has a neck, depending upon the ballistics required for the ammunition or the cylinder is tapered

Components of a firearm

Charging handle, trigger, ejection port, receiver, rear sight, barrel jacket, front sight housing, barrel, flash hider, hand guard, magazine, safety, bolt assist mechanism, pistol grip, butt

Gun powder

also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive.