Armor-piercing cartridges: device and principle of operation

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Armor-piercing cartridges are in service with the internal and regular troops of the countries of the world due to the use of personal armor protection by potential opponents. They are special types of ammunition that expand the functions of small arms and are designed to hit targets in light armor.

Classification

Armor-piercing cartridges come in three types:

• ordinary;
• incendiary;
• tracers.

The shells of the first type are used to hit targets located outside shelters or behind easily penetrated shelters. For such cases, there is enough lethal force, ballistics and a sufficient coefficient of strength - so that the shell does not deform when a weak defense is beaten. A suitable ballistic shape is a criterion that does not apply to conventional armor-piercing pistol cartridges.

Incendiary bullets are used to ignite easily combustible objects. Often used to shell improvised field shelters made of wood, rags or tents.

The tracer shells correct the fire and are used as a target designator. Can be used at night to mark the area of attack from the air or artillery support.

Design and principle of operation

Any armor-piercing cartridge has a solid core of steel and a lead coating (or jacket). If we compare an ordinary and armor-piercing bullet, then the first one will have a greater stopping effect (the chance to take the enemy out of the battle).

The fact is that the usual one is made of less durable alloys and often deforms, remaining inside the body of the enemy. Armor-piercing ones often go right through. Nevertheless, the latter are in service with many armies of the world and are valued as irreplaceable. For example, for a TT pistol, there are regular and armor-piercing cartridges of 7.62 mm.

In addition to steel, the “filling” is also made of tungsten carbide. An example is cartridges for 1940 rifles of caliber 7, 62, shells of the BS-40 type. The alloy is harder than steel and denser than lead, the only drawback is the high cost. Material handling is also difficult.

Another core material is depleted uranium due to its ability to self-ignite without heating in the open air.

Armor-piercing incendiary cartridges are designed to ignite lightly armored fortifications and vehicles. These are combined-action projectiles, but when compared with narrowly targeted ammunition (only incendiary or armor-piercing), efficiency is noticeably reduced.

The core of specialized cartridges is much smaller than that ofarmor-piercing, therefore lower lethal force and mass of the igniter composition.

First appearance of bullet "K"

World historians have noted the experience of using a 7.92 × 57 mm projectile with a “K” bullet by German infantrymen during the First World War. It was fired from the barrel of a standard Mauser rifle during the shelling of enemy tank formations.

The thickness of the armor of the British heavy tank "Mark IV" was 12 mm, and the penetration depth from the shot reached 12–13 cm. 400 m).

In June 1917 in Belgium, during the Messina operation, cartridge "K" was used by the Germans against Britain. In the future, the bullet turned into a 7.92 mm SmK cartridge.

For PM

The armor-piercing cartridge 9x18 mm PMM was created by the Tula Design Bureau in order to modernize standard pistol cartridges for Makarov. Has the following characteristics:

• cartridge weight 7.4g;
• bullet weight 3.7 g;
• initial speed 519 m/s.

In addition to the streamlined (ogival) shape, the advantages include the presence of an aluminum insert between the shell and the steel core. Due to this, the kinetic energy increased by 1.5 times, increasing the return by 4%.

An armor plate made of five-millimeter steel breaks through from a distance of 10 meters, armor of 2.4 mm or a Kevlar plate - from a distance of 11 m, and from 30 meters it will boldly break through a standardbody armor made of titanium (1.25 cm) and thirty layers of Kevlar fabric.

About 12 gauge cartridge

Armor-piercing ammunition is specific and is used by law enforcement agencies as an additional patrol equipment. Shotguns, which have long been the standard in police vehicles (especially in the West), have been replaced by light semi-automatic carbines.

Shotguns and carbines are not only in service with internal and regular troops, but also acquired by civilians to protect housing or fight wild animals.

12 gauge armor piercing rounds are used with smoothbore guns due to the lead jacket enveloping the steel bullet. The layout allows you to protect the barrel from rapid wear. The shot will easily break through a 6mm thick metal door, so it is suitable for fighting an enemy using cover like cars.

In stopping a car with one or two shots, an armor-piercing incendiary cartridge works well. As soon as the bullet hits the target, it heats up to 3000 degrees, breaking the motor, active mechanisms and setting fire to the wiring.

Pneumatic weapons

Armor-piercing cartridges for pneumatics are called so rather conditionally. Real armor will not be sewn, but their impact characteristics are higher than classic lead balls or Christmas trees.

Highlight in the design: the core is made of steel, brass or other solidmaterial. Accordingly, when the projectile reaches the target, it does not deform, but penetrates deeper. The sleeve (usually made of plastic or lead) flies off to the side.

Armour-piercing cartridges for pneumatics are used for sporting purposes or ordinary entertainment in the form of shooting at cans, bottles or barrels in nature. Popular in city shooting ranges and recreational shooting ranges. Enhanced penetration increases the interest in shooting, and the projectile remains inside the target and does not bounce, which makes shooting at the shooting range safer. However, in terms of ballistic characteristics, the projectile is inferior to ordinary bullets, therefore it is almost never used for hunting.

Packs from Umarex, H&N, GAMO and many others are available in stores. Cartridges of various shapes and calibers.

Use in the Russian army

For the first time, 7.62 mm armor-piercing cartridges were put into service in 1916. Kutovoy's bullet had a pointed steel core, there was no cone behind, the shell was smelted from cupronickel, and the lead shirt had the shape of a cup. The key element was the copper tip, which was meant to prevent compression and deformation before hitting the target.

The operation of the ammunition continued until 1932, then the projectile was replaced by innovations such as the B-30 armor-piercing sample and the B-32 armor-piercing incendiary 12.7 and (later) 14.5 mm.

Armor-piercing rifle cartridges were used during the Second World War to destroy enemy manpower located in light fortifications. And also to fightlightly armored mobile vehicles, armored personnel carriers and low-flying aircraft.

USSR, Germany and USA

After the First World War, armor-piercing cartridges were widely adopted. The decision was made in connection with the appearance on the battlefield of enemy equipment, the defeat of which is impossible with conventional bullets. These were tankettes, machine-gun shields, armored cars, aircraft and armored personnel carriers.

Already in the thirties, new ammunition entered the ranks of the troops of the USSR, Germany and the USA and was used on an ongoing basis. During the Second World War, the use of the following types of armor-piercing cartridge was recorded:

• 7, 62 x54 (B-30) consists of three elements: a jacket, a shell and a carbon steel core;
• 7, 92 x 57 (SmK) has a design similar to the B-30, but is inferior in initial speed;
• 7, 62 x 63 (AP M2) is available unjacketed but with a 0.63mm tombac jacket and a MnMo steel core.

Post-war period

In the 50s, the countries of the NATO bloc came to the decision to release a unified projectile of 7.62 caliber, capable of solving the tasks of defeating enemy manpower, lightly armored and unarmored objects and military equipment.

It is believed that the bullet has passed the tests and can be adopted if it penetrates a steel helmet at a distance of about 550 meters. For targets with thick armor, other resources are intended - 12 gauge ammunition.

Directions and development prospects

As for the further development of armor-piercing cartridges, mainly large calibers are being improved: from 12 and above. The development takes place in parallel with armor-piercing shells, flowing into specialized samples:

• caliber ordinary, as well as with a hard or soft core;
• sub-caliber with a heavy core and/or separable elements;
• arrow-shaped.

However, these types of cartridges are inferior to small-caliber ammunition in the criterion of over-barrier action. In other words, all the power is spent on overcoming the thickness of the conditional armor plate and ends there. Objects on the other side suffer minimal damage.

In popular culture

It is easy to imagine how popular the use of armor-piercing cartridges in movies or games. Every second film (regardless of genre) is not complete without a shootout.

S. T. A. L. K. E. R. - the game that first comes to mind at the mention of armor-piercing cartridges. "Stalker" is a small game universe based on the tragedy from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The game has a wide arsenal. Of course, all samples have damage indicators that differ from real life. It's just how the inner balance is created.

In the game you can find specialized ammunition not only for rifles or AK-74. Armor-piercing cartridges for PM are also present and are widely used by gamers to complete tasks and explore the "Zone".

Verdict

Summarizing, it should be noted that the development technologyarmor-piercing shells and the technique of strengthening protection against them are in a state of confrontation. As soon as a new type of body armor appears that can hold back a bullet, after a while the opposite will come out - a cartridge that can penetrate a new means of protection.

From the outside it looks like an arms race. Accordingly, the number of enterprises around the world is growing, ready to fulfill an order for the manufacture of new ammunition and put them on stream.

Any military conflict, no matter how cynical it may sound, reveals flaws in the development of the arms industry of the warring parties and serves as a motivator to eliminate them.

Now there is a certain set of popular hard alloys using tungsten, lead, molybdenum and carbon steel. The desired effect is achieved by increasing the caliber, changing the design or enhancing ballistic capabilities by adjusting the streamlined shape.

As soon as scientists discover a new alloy, experiments on the manufacture of armor-piercing cartridges will begin with it.

There are other ways to increase bullet damage, such as building additional hitting abilities. The flowers of death, known as the dum-dum bullet, immediately come to mind. When it hits soft tissues, the tip opens like a bud, increasing the radius of damage. Naturally, difficulties arise when extracting a bullet from the victim's body.

The ammunition caused a wave of protests and qualified as inhumane and violating the rules and customs of warfare. The decision of the Haguepeace convention were banned from use by army units in 1899.

However, cartridges are widely used for hunting and self-defense. They are also used by internal troops - the use of such ammunition significantly reduces the risk of ricochet in a closed room and allows you to protect partners from accidental injury during a special operation. In addition, a shot with an expansive bullet effectively incapacitates a mock enemy.