It’s simply not designed for self-protection - both in terms of insufficient wounding and over-penetration. That said, you should not use FMJ ammunition for self defense, home, or personal carry guns.
#Full metal jacket cast full#
Take full metal to the shooting range and your wallet will thank you. FMJ ammunition is better for these purposes because it is cheap and clear to shoot.
#Full metal jacket cast how to#
Use full metal jacket FMJ ammunition for target practice or learning how to use your gun. No matter how much deep you dive into these two bullet types, the knowledge is useless if you don’t know when to select the right bullet. When to Use Full Metal vs Hollow Point Ammo This makes the bullet expand in the wound cavity when it hits the target, creating larger wound channels in any soft targets. On the other hand, hollow point bullets have a pit or hollow in the center. This allows them to hit a practice target cleaner and more accurately. Bullet DesignįMJ bullets have a soft core covered by a hard exterior shell. Recommended Bulletsīoth bullet types are incredibly useful and have their own benefits and drawbacks. This expansion makes it more lethal (great for self defense and hunting), but also more expensive and a dirtier-shooting round. The fact that the hollow point ammunition expands has both pros and cons. Though the treaty has aged, people still debate the ethicality of this approach. That’s because America signed the Hague Declaration, a multilateral treaty preventing the use of expanding bullets in battle.
Interestingly, hollow point bullets are not allowed in military engagements. This also means you’re likely to take the target down with fewer shots, helping you end an engagement sooner, conserve ammunition, and increase the likelihood of filling your hunting tag. This expansion makes it a great option for hunters or self defense, as the expanded bullet both creates a larger wound channel and limits the penetration, keeping the bullet within the target. Hollow point ammunition has a pit or “hollow” in the tip, which causes the bullet to expand upon impact. For this reason, self-defense rounds are almost always hollow-point. It can go straight through a soft target, creating a situation where you could hit an unintended target. The main potential downside of full metal jacket ammunition is over-penetration. They’re also fantastic ballistically due to their optimal shape, so longer-range shooters will always use FMJ rounds. This makes full metal jacket ammunition great for target practice, where you’re shooting at solid targets or steel.
The all-metal jacket allows for FMJ ammunition to penetrate targets effectively, but since the bullet does not expand when it hits the target. They’re also economical because they’re cheap to produce relative to hollow point rounds. Pros and Consīecause of the FMJ casing does not contain a hollow, like hollow points do, FMJ ammo moves at a very high velocity and penetrates hard materials without depositing metal in the bore, making it cleaner-shooting than hollow point rounds. The exterior metal shell envelopes the entire core, and is typically made from gliding metal, which replaced its precursor cupronickel, a copper alloy which contains nickel and strengthening elements but contributed to fouling much more than gilding metal. The name “full metal jacket” comes from its design: it has a soft lead core that is covered in a harder shell metal. FMJ ammunition is a small-arms bullet, ideal target practice and plinking.