Question re Ammunition Types

[Drashner1]

Hello all,

A while back we received a question about the various types of ammunition listed on this page. Specifically, the part of the Projectile Weapons section that says this:

Common slug thrower payloads include: explosive-tipped guided micro-shell, memo-form tipped micro-shell, spoiling penetrator, flechette, soft-shell, hydrostatic enhanced, hollow point dum-dum, infecter, mandel (fractal), wire trailing, penetrating guide point round, and more.


The person would like to know how the different types of ammunition listed would work. Unfortunately, the article doesn't really provide any explanation and the article authors are no longer active with the project. I'm also not sure if they had anything specific in mind for most of these or just thought they sounded cool.

Does anyone have thoughts or ideas on what each type of ammunition might do to justify the name? Both to answer the question asked and possibly with an eye to an expansion of this article or creation of a new one around ammunition in the setting.

Thanks!

Todd

[stevebowers]

The 'mandel' (fractal) sounds intriguing. Perhaps the bullet splits apart inside the body into fractal shrapnel that causes widespread tissue damage.

[dsmike1980]

Common slug thrower payloads include: explosive-tipped guided micro-shell, memo-form tipped micro-shell, spoiling penetrator, flechette, soft-shell, hydrostatic enhanced, hollow point dum-dum, infecter, mandel (fractal), wire trailing, penetrating guide point round, and more.

Explosive tipped guided micro shell would probably be a large for small arms caliber bullet, probably in the area of 20mm that would deploy steering fins once clear of the muzzle. Guidance could be literally anything, laser, infrared, radar or wire. Basically, a very large bullet or small artillery shell that is self guided.

Memo-form tipped micro-shell makes me think of a large caliber projectile fired from a shotgun or small cannon but I have no idea what memo-form tipped would mean.

Spoiling penetrator may be a round meant for optimal performance against multiple targets of varying hardness. Certain modern cartridges, 9x18mm Makarov I think, have a variant in which the bullet has a steel core surrounded by a soft lead filler and a copper jacket. When it hits something soft it behaves as a bullet normally would but when it hits something hard, the lead and jacket peel away leaving the core to continue on. I cant seem to find the article where I read this now.

Flechettes/APFSDS and APFSDS-T are common in modern tank guns and can be found in a few small arms platforms like a Steyr IWS 2000. The flechette would be a fin stabilized dart made of tungsten carbide or depleted uranium alloyed with titanium or molybdenum and would be released by the sabot a few hundred meters from the firing weapon. It strikes the target at extreme velocity applying its kinetic energy on a small point to penetrate heavy armor. Uranium is superior to tungsten as it is denser, self sharpening, and flammable.

Soft shell makes me think of a jacketed soft point bullet. The jacket of the bullet would be left open at the tip leaving the soft core exposed. On impact, the core would expand to produce a wound channel greater than the bullet's caliber.

Hydrostatic enhanced might be a round intended to cause hydrostatic shock. The kinetic energy of a bullet is manifested as pressure wave that creates a temporary wound cavity that causes damage to distant regions of the body than those that were physically struck by the bullet. This is achieved by the bullet transferring as much of its kinetic energy to the target as quickly as possible, usually by expansion or fragmentation.

Hollow point dum-dum. A hollow point is a cavity in the front of the bullet that causes it to expand on impact, similar to a soft point. Dum-dum is an alternate term for an expanding bullet.

An infector would be a projectile with a biological payload. I have a vague memory of reading about a bioflechette being developed by the US Army in the 1950's or thereabout that could deliver a dose of weaponized anthrax to its target.

No idea about fractal. The only thing I could think of is the self sharpening nature of depleted uranium I mentioned earlier, it shatters on impact in such a way that the tip is always pointed to apply the maximum amount of pressure to penetrate a hard target.

Wire trailing is probably a reference to a TOW missile. When the missile is launched, a wire unspools behind it and the operator guides the missile to its target electronically through the wire using a joystick. As for the last one, penetrating guide point round, I have no idea.

[dsmike1980]

The 'mandel' (fractal) sounds intriguing. Perhaps the bullet splits apart inside the body into fractal shrapnel that causes widespread tissue damage.

That makes me think of a Radically Invasive Projectile (RIP). Its a controlled fragmentation hollow point of pure copper, precut into eight sections called trocars. On impact, the trocars separate from each other and the base of the bullet (which creates the ninth wound channel) and travel through the target's body radially from the gunshot site.

[Rynn]

The foam comment reminds me of an old, random SciFi book called Anvil. Criminals use bullets that turn into expanding foam inside the victim, causing further damage as they go.

[JohnnyYesterday]

Memo-form tipped makes me think of a bullet that can be commanded to alter its shape before the round is fired. It’s made of a utility sand that’s mostly tungsten, bismuth etc. by volume for density and the mechanics are diamondoid, of course.