Marketplace listings for: Ammo Encyclopedia

Seller notes: 840 pages. Illustrations. Includes Publisher's Note; Table of Contents; General Information; Meet the staff; Foreword by S. P. Fjestad; Introduction by Michael Bussard; and Acknowledgments. Also includes Reference Material; Abbreviations; Glossary; Addresses, Trademarks, and Brands; Fallen Flags; General Index; and Cartridge Listing Index. For more than ten years, Michael Bussard worked on the technical staff of the American Rifleman magazine, and became the technical Editor. He is the author of numerous magazine articles, manuals, and two books, including The NRA Firearms Sourcebook. Contains hundreds of listings for current and obsolete handgun, rifle, and shotgun cartridges since the mid-1800s, including detailed information, specifications, and measurements on rimfire, centerfire, and shotshell cartridges. Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any weapon. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target (e.g., bullets and warheads). Nearly all mechanical weapons require some form of ammunition to operate. The term ammunition can be traced back to the mid-17th century. The word comes from the French la munition, for the material used for war. Ammunition and munitions are often used interchangeably, although munition now usually refers to the actual weapons system with the ammunition required to operate it. In some languages other than English ammunition is still referred to as munition, such as French ("munitions"), German ("Munition") or Italian ("munizione"). The purpose of ammunition is to project a force against a selected target to have an effect (usually, but not always, lethal). The most iconic example of ammunition is the firearm cartridge, which includes all components required to deliver the weapon effect in a single package. Ammunition comes in a great range of sizes and types and is often designed to work only in specific weapons systems. However, there are internationally recognized standards for certain ammunition types (e.g., 5.56×45mm NATO) that enable their use across different weapons and by different users. There are also specific types of ammunition that are designed to have a specialized effect on a target, such as armor-piercing shells and tracer ammunition, used only in certain circumstances. Ammunition is commonly colored in a specific manner to assist in the identification and to prevent the wrong ammunition types from being used accidentally. Ammunition design has evolved throughout history as different weapons have been developed and different effects required. Historically, ammunition was of relatively simple design and build (e.g., slingshot, stones hurled by catapults), but as weapon designs developed (e.g., rifling) and became more refined, the requirement for more specialized ammunition increased. Modern ammunition can vary significantly in quality but is usually manufactured to very high standards. For example, ammunition for hunting can be designed to expand inside the target, maximizing the damage inflicted by a single round. Antipersonnel shells are designed to fragment into many pieces and can affect a large area. Armor-piercing rounds are specially hardened to penetrate armor, while smoke ammunition covers an area with a fog that screens people from view. More generic ammunition (e.g., 5.56×45mm NATO) can often be altered slightly to give it a more specific effect (e.g., tracer, incendiary), whilst larger explosive rounds can be altered by using different fuzes.