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Posts Tagged ‘Ammo’

The word “Ammunition” comes from a word in French, “la munition” which described any material that was used for war. Today, it’s known as “ammo”. In a historical context. it meant projectiles, such as bullets and shot, as well astheir primers and fuses, that were fired from guns and canons or otherwise propelled. Today, the term takes in a broader selection of weapons including nuclear, biological, chemical, or explosive material, such as grenades or rockets.

Would you be surprised to learn that people from different walks in life are interested in ammunition – from hog hunters to full-time forensics, ballistics, mettalurgy and chemistry experts and those in manufacturing disciplines. Then there are current and former military or law enforcement people. Those not engaged in the active use of firearms include historians (particularly of the Civil War) and hobbyists interested in the ammunition’s evolution over time, and the amazing variety of imaginative designs that have been tried.

Of those interested in weaponry, some are collectors rather than active hunters or shooters and building a collection of weaponry and militaria is their hobby. Since the close of the Second World War the United States has imported and sold a great many surplus military rifles. As the various militaries, especially in the smaller nations, clean out their stocks of outdated and obsolete rifles, some are imported for sale into the U.S. from time to time.

There’s a range of used hunting rifles available that are suitable for hunters, such as the New England Firearms handi-rifle. Buying a new rifle can be cost quite a bit and it’s worth your time to check if there are used firearms for sale either online of in your local gun stores.

Usually, when you want to buy ammunition, you’d visit your local gun store. Nowadays, of course you have the option of getting ammo for sale online. But knowing what you need is important. Searching for the cheapest ammo online isn’t all that’s involved. Other factors should be taken into consideration so you’re certain you’ll get precisely what you require – the type of ammo you require is determined by what you intend to hunt or shoot.

You also need to consider how much ammunition you require. Locate a source, such as military surplus ammunition, where you can easily get replacement stocks of the same ammunition so you don’t end up switching ammunition and having to take a trip to the target range to sight in the new ammunition. Zeroing in a rifle takes time and ammo isn’t discounted that much, even if you’re buying surplus ammo. So save yourself some heartache.

Military surplus ammunition is, essentially, the ammunition that the various armed forces (Army, Navy. Marine Corps) have surplus to requirements. In times past, it also included ammunition that soldiers returned home with when they were discharged, and then later sold. Now, such things are more strictly controlled and weapons and ammunition must be returned before a soldier leaves military life. Military surplus ammunition is one of the most popular types of ammunition simply because the cost savings are usually pretty decent when compared to the prices offered by outdoor and hunting speciality stores and other more generic big stores.

Surplus ammunition isn’t just limited to the US forces, however – it can also come from outside the U.S. An example that is the 7.62×39mm rifle cartridge which was designed during Second World Warand first used in the SKS carbine by the Soviet Union.

Do a bit of online research when looking at the price of ammo and availablility and remember that the the best solution isn’t always the cheapest. Doing the research will save you money and time in the long run.

A rifle cartridge, also referred to as a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer within a single metallic case made to fit the firing chamber of particular firearms. The primer is a small shock of an impact-sensitive chemical and will be located at the center of the case head in center-fire ammunition and with rim-fire ammunition, it will be at the rim. A cartridge without a primer is completely unreactive and is known as a dummy and one without a bullet is called a blank.

The term ‘bullet’ is usually misused to refer to a cartridge; it is incorrect as a bullet is only the projectile component of a round and not the entire cartridge in everyday use. The shell case seals a firing chamber in all directions except down the bore and when a firing pin strikes the primer, then the primer ignites with the powder. Burning gases from the powder expand the case and seal against the chamber wall before the bullet is then pushed down the barrel. After the projectile leaves the barrel the pressure is released as a flash and a plume of gases as the cartridge case is automatically removed from the chamber. Semi-automatic and automatic firearms, which eject the case automatically can often damage the casing in the process.

As it was in early firearms history, brass is a frequently used casing material, as it is resistant to corrosion and ductile/malleable enough to be reformed several times. Still, because it is cheaper, some low quality ammunition and military grade ammo from the former Soviet Union and China is cased in steel. Other critical specs include caliber, bullet weight, expected velocity, maximum pressure, headspace, overall length and primer type.

Many high power firearms have relatively small bullets moving at high speeds as bullet energy increases in direct proportion to bullet weight, it increases in proportion to the square of bullet velocity. As a consequence, a bullet going twice as fast has four times the energy and bullet velocities are limited by starting bore pressures.

Even though the many different designs and alterations have occurred, only two basic cartridge designs remain. All current weapons fire either rim-fire or center-fire cartridges. A center-fire shell has a centrally located primer which can be replaced so that the costly brass cartridge case can be recycled. A rim-fire round such as the common 22 LR which remains in common use can only really be used for fairly low powered cartridges, as the case has to be soft enough to be reshaped by the firing pin which detonates the priming compound in the rim.