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Acronyms are everywhere in the gun and ammunition industry, and when reading through descriptions it is
enormously helpful to knowjust what those acronyms stand for. We frequently get questions from customers
regarding various bullet types in both handgun and rifle cartridges. It’s easy to see why: there are numerous
terms and acronyms used to describe the bullets.
Jacketed hollow point (JHP) bullet
Let’s briefly go over the basic types of bullets that can be found on the market today.
FMJ: Full Metal Jacket Metal cased and full metal jacket both refer to bullets with a metal coating that
covers all of, or all but the base of, a bullet.
MC: Metal Cased This is a term used by Remington to refer to their full metal jacketed bullets.
HP: Hollow Point Hollow point bullets have a concave shaped tip that facilitates rapid expansion of the
round upon impact.
BT: Boat Tail Boat tail bullets have a streamlined base to facilitate better aerodynamics.
Sometimes, these terms are mixed to make a new acronym.
FMJBT: Full Metal Jacketed Boat Tail
JHP: Jacketed Hollow Point Jacketed Hollow Point bullets are similar in design to regular hollow point
bullets, but have a copper jacket that normally covers everything but the hollowed portion of the round.
Boat Tail Hollow Point (BTHP) bullet
JFP: Jacketed Flat Point Jacketed flat point rounds have a flat area of exposed lead at the tip.
JSP: Jacketed Soft Point Jacketed soft point bullets usually have a spire pointed tip of exposed lead.
JSP can also refer to a Jacketed spitzer point; spitzer meaning a sharply pointed bullet.
JRN: Jacketed Round Nose Jacketed round nose bullets split the difference between JFP and JSP
bullets and have a rounded tip of exposed lead.
BTHP: Boat Tail Hollow Point
BTSP: Boat Tail Soft Point Sometimes the letters in the acronyms are switched, so boat tail soft point
may also be abbreviated as soft point boat tail or SPBT.
EFMJ: Expanding Full Metal Jacket Expanding full metal jacketed rounds appear as and feed like a
regular full metal jacket bullet, but have a construction that allows the case to collapse and the bullet to
flatten upon impact.
WC: Wad Cutter Wad cutter designs often appear to be nothing more than a cylinder, usually with a
hollow base. This design is used in target practice to punch neat holes in the paper, rather than the
ragged holes produced by more rounded designs.
Semi Wad Cutter (SWC) bullet
SWC: Semi Wad Cutter Semi Wad Cutter bullets have a rounded nose that comes down to a cylinder
that is slightly larger than the rounded section, giving the bullet a more aerodynamic shape while
allowing it to punch clean holes in paper targets.
RFP: Rounded Flat Point Rounded flat point bullets have a flat tip that is smaller than the bullet
diameter and rounded shoulders.
AP: Armor Piercing Armor piercing ammunition can have bullets with a variety of shapes, though in
general they are spire pointed and full metal jacketed rounds that have a strong core designed to
penetrate armor.
API: Armor Piercing Incendiary Armor piercing incendiary ammunition has the same penetrating
abilities of armor piercing bullets, but with the added function of bursting into an intense flame upon
impact.
Frangible Frangible ammunition is available under a number of trademarks; notably MagSafe, Glaser,
and SinterFire. All of these rounds are characterized by a design that facilitates the rapid breakup of the
bullet upon impact, thus reducing the chances of overpenetration or a ricochet.
This list is by no means exhaustive. There are other variations in bullet designs, many of which are
proprietary and made only by certain manufacturers.
If there is another bullet you think should be listed, be sure to let us know in
the comments section.
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Comments (9)
Arthur Gonzalez
April 30, 2017 at 11:17 pm | #
Spitzer/spire point
Reply
GEORGE DEFRANCA
November 24, 2015 at 12:09 pm | #
What does “BK” mean in the 5.56 ammo that I have? The full designation is
XM855BK. Thankyou!
Reply
Suzanne Wiley
November 24, 2015 at 1:01 pm | #
1000 round bulk case
Reply
[…] By CTD Blogger published on March 12, 2010 in Ammunition http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/bullet
types/ […]
Reply
Steve Hunter
June 15, 2015 at 9:08 am | #
What does SJHP mean when describing a bullet style?
Reply
Dave Dolbee
June 15, 2015 at 9:14 am | #
The semijacketed hollow point (SJHP) is a bullet designed to give you all the stopping power
and expansion of a normal hollow point but with a bit more penetration.The partial jacket acts as
a platform for creating a predictable and uniform mushrooming effect upon impact with a target.
~Dave Dolbee
Reply
Larry Turner
April 22, 2015 at 7:45 pm | #
I was looking for reloading data for 8208 using 69 gr bullets and the Hodgen website lists SIE HPBT – I
know what the HPBT is abbreviated for (Hollow Point Boat Tail) but have not been able to find SIE
anywhere (yet)
Thx
Reply
TK
November 2, 2016 at 11:36 am | #
I know this is an old post, but I figured I’d help anyone else who can only find this page when
searching for the SIE abbreviation (thanks to Hodgdon’s online reloading data). SIE is
Hodgdon’s abbreviation for Sierra Bullets. This was gathered from the context found in this M14
forum post:
http://m14forum.com/ammunition/103523helpdecipheringhodgdonloaddata.html
Maybe Hodgdon can take it a little easier on the abbreviations? Or provide a cipher?
Reply
N
February 27, 2013 at 1:20 pm | #
Hi. What’s the similarities/differences between a JHP and HP? Which is better for self defense? I am
under the impression that only difference with a JHP and HP, is the JHP leaves less lead foul up – that’s
the only difference. Is that correct? Also, does one penetrate more than the other? Thank you very much.
Reply
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