THE NATO 3 MANUAL

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  Ammo Types
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Ammo Types

 
Choosing your ammo is as important as choosing your weapon. Choose wisely, these descriptions should help.
 
The following basic ammo types are listed in order of armor penetration, best to worst.
AP - Armor Piercing - A hard bullet made from steel or tungsten alloys in a pointed shape typically covered by a thin layer of lead and/or a copper/brass jacket. The lead and jacket are intended to prevent barrel wear from the hard core materials. For gameplay purposes, AP is slightly worse on unarmored targets than FMJ. This is to indicate the hard AP projectiles' tendency not to deform or reliably tumble/yaw.
 
FMJ - Full Metal Jacket - Made with a lead core surrounded by a full covering of brass, copper, or mild steel. These have very little deformation or expansion, but will occasionally yaw/tumble. FMJ is a good choice when you don't know what you will be fighting or possibly if you will be going up against a mix of armor types.
 
JSP - Jacketed Soft Point - In the late 1800s, the Indian Army arsenal at Dum Dum, near Calcutta, developed a variation of the FMJ design where the jacket did not cover the nose of the bullet. The soft lead nose was found to still expand in flesh while the remaining jacket still prevented lead fouling in the barrel. For gameplay purposes, JSP is roughly splitting the difference between FMJ and JHP. It gives more penetration than JHP but has more stopping power than the FMJ.
 
JHP - Jacketed Hollow Point - Soon after the invention of the JSP, Woolwich Arsenal in Great Britain experimented with this design even further by forming a hole or cavity in the nose of the bullet while keeping most of the exterior profile intact. These bullets could theoretically deform even faster and expand to a larger diameter than the JSP. Best used against unarmored targets only, the JHP also has the least over penetration so it is ideal for use around hostages.
 
Training Ammo - The training ammo is portrayed as a cross between the FX paint cartridges like Simunitions and long range simulators like the laser-based MILES. It is intended more for clan practice, and is not suitable for single player usage. It can cause wounds, however.
 
The Hague Accords - The Hague Accords ban the use of expanding projectiles against the military forces of other nations. Some countries accept this as a blanket ban against the use of expanding projectiles against anyone, while the U.S. feels free to use JSP and HP against terrorists and criminals. (The U.S. didn't sign the complete Hague Accords in any case, but still follows its guidelines in military conflicts.)
 

12 gauge Shotgun ammo
The trick with the buckshot is that you can have a few large pellets or a bunch of smaller pellets. The smaller pellets have a better chance of scoring a hit due to the sheer number of pellets, but the severity of the wound won't be as great as a hit from a larger pellet. The same principle applies to the armor piercing QB-8 (Quadrangle Buck) and flechettes. For purposes of game play, the armor piercing shot will not be as effective as standard buckshot against non-armored targets. (Of course, the standard buckshot is worthless against armored targets except for taking out the legs and arms, hoping for enough wounds to cause incapacitation.) They are listed from largest to smallest, separating the list into non-armor piercing and armor piercing types.

 
000 Buck - 8 pellets of lead
00 Buck - 9 pellets of lead
0 Buck  - 12 pellets of lead
1 Buck - 16 pellets of lead
4 Buck - 27 pellets of lead
QB 8 - 8 pellets (Armor Piercing) - Quadrangle Buck is made from a steel cylinder cut into two layers of four pie-shaped pieces per layer. The numerous sharp edges gives excellent penetration; however, the light weight and poor ballistic shape limits its effective range.
Flechettes - 32 flechettes (Armor Piercing) - Flechettes are essentially small steel nails with tiny fins swaged into the rear.
Slug - Slugs will pretty well flatten any target, armored or not; however, the issue of over penetration will determine whether you want to take the solid or the hollow-point slug.
Slug HP - Hollow-point slugs. Less penetration than regular slugs.
Baton - Rubber batons. Used for training.
 

Calibers
These ammo types are listed numerically.
 
.300 Whisper subsonic - Made by necking-up the .221 Remington Fireball case to .308" and using a 240gr Sierra MatchKing, this cartridge will fit and feed from 5.56x45mm NATO magazines. The Whisper is subsonic with about as much power and weight as .45 ACP, but in a thinner bullet which dramatically increases armor penetration. Good against all targets, but is unreliable against heavy armor.
.300 Winchester Magnum - A long range sniping round, it is favored by US Navy SEALS and the German Bundeswehr. While not in the same class as the .338 Lapua, it has roughly the same power as 7mm Remington Magnum, and easily exceeds the performance of 7.62x51mm NATO. Good against all targets.
.338 Lapua Magnum - Originally designed as a long range sniping cartridge to bridge the ballistic gap between the .300 Winchester Magnum and the .50 BMG. It is in service with GSG9, the British SAS, British Army, Royal Marines, and the Dutch military. An early prototype of the cartridge even saw service with the US Navy SEALs. Good against all targets.
.338 Whisper subsonic - Made by necking-up the 7mm Remington BenchRest case to .338" and using a 300gr Sierra MatchKing, this cartridge will fit and feed from 7.62x51mm NATO magazines. Good against all targets, but is unreliable against heavy armor.
.357 Magnum - Using a lengthened and strengthened version of the .38 Special case, the .357 Magnum was rapidly accepted by hunters and law enforcement. At the time of its introduction, it was claimed to easily pierce the body panels of automobiles and crack engine blocks. While it has less power than .44 Magnum, it compares favorably to the 10x25mm Norma and .45 ACP, but with better armor penetration. Good against unarmored targets.
.357 SIG - Designed to produce .357 Magnum revolver ballistics in a self-loading pistol (automatics), the .357 SIG is roughly a .40 S&W case necked down to .355". Despite the manufacturer's claims, it is not quite as powerful as an actual .357 Magnum, but it exceeds the 9x19mm NATO and falls roughly in-between the .40 S&W and 10x25mm in power. Good against unarmored targets.
.40 S&W - Roughly a shorter cased version of the 10x25mm Norma, this round is a step up in power from the 9x19mm in similar sized handguns. Good against unarmored targets.
.40 S&W subsonic - Roughly a shorter cased version of the 10x25mm Norma, this round loses about 20% of it's energy when subsonic. This round is a step up in power from the 9x19mm subsonic, and has beaten out the parent 10x25mm subsonic in popularity. Good against unarmored targets.
.44 Magnum - A high powered pistol cartridge designed primarily for hunting, the .44 Magnum offers less power than .50 AE and .454 Casull, but much more than .357 Magnum. Good against unarmored targets.
.45 ACP +P - The standard U.S. pistol round for about a century, the .45 ACP offers more power than .40 S&W but less than a full-power 10x25mm Norma. The +P designation indicates that the cartridge is loaded to higher pressures and generates higher velocity than normal version of the round. Very effective against unarmored targets while reducing the specter of over-penetration.
.45 ACP subsonic - The standard U.S. pistol round for about a century. Typical .45 ACP loads are already subsonic, making them ideal for suppressed weapons. Good against unarmored targets.
.454 Casull - A very high powered pistol cartridge designed for taking the largest game animals, the .454 offers more power than .44 Magnum and has superior penetration over the .50 AE. It is the most powerful handgun cartridge in NATO 3. Good against unarmored targets.
.50 Action Express (AE) - A very high powered pistol cartridge, exceeding the .44 Magnum, the cartridge's combination of high velocity and mass results in very favorable penetration characteristics against hard cover and certain types of body armor. It is excellent in close quarters where the first shot is often the only one that counts.
10x25mm Norma - Originally designed for the ill-fated Bren Ten pistol, the cartridge gained another lease on life when it was briefly promoted by the US FBI. Slightly more powerful than .45 ACP, the narrower projectile offers better penetration and greater effective range. Good against unarmored targets.
10x25mm Norma subsonic - When the FBI's Firearms Training Unit found that full-power 10x25mm loads were too powerful for the average user, the subsonic version was developed. This round loses about 40% of it's power when subsonic. Slightly more powerful than .40 S&W subsonic, the 10x25mm subsonic was briefly the general issue sidearm cartridge of the FBI and continues in use in the FBI's MP5/10 SMGs. Good against unarmored targets.
12.7x99mm BMG (.50 BMG) - Originally designed to pierce tank armor in the First World War, the cartridge still serves an anti-materiel round against light armor. It is basically overkill against personnel. Use this for stopping vehicles.
4.6x30mm H&K - H&K's answer to the 5.7x28mm FN. Based on HK's experimental 4.6x36mm cartridge for the HK36 ACR in the early '70s, while deleting its unique Loffelspitz (spoon-nose) projectile. Like the FN entry, the 4.6x30mm has amazing armor penetration, yet recoils less than a 9x19mm pistol cartridge. The smaller HK projectile appears to gives superior penetration over the FN variant, but this also detracts from the permanent wound cavity. Best against unarmored targets, but can be used against armored.
4.92x34mm H&K caseless - A revolutionary round that encases the bullet in a combustible material. There is no brass holding the cartridge together and the "powder" is completely burned upon firing. The round itself is ballisticly similar to the 5.45x39mm Soviet but has better armor penetration. Good against all targets.
5.45x39 Soviet - The Soviet's response to the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge. While the long 5.45mm projectile doesn't fragment like the 5.56x45mm NATO, it is more prone to reliably tumble/yaw. Good against all targets.
5.56mm Steyr Flechette - Introduced for the US Army's ACR trials, the Steyr cartridge uses a plastic case with a small caliber fletchette pulled by a 5.56mm diameter sabot. The fletchette is launched at a high velocity and the narrow projectile offers excellent penetration. However, this small diameter also reduces the terminal ballistics. Good against all targets but tends to wound more than kill.
5.56mmx45 NATO - Adopted by the US military in the 1960s, it later became the NATO standard rifle cartridge in the early '80s, displacing the much more powerful 7.62x51mm. Good against all targets, but has trouble with heavy armor.
5.7x28mm FN - The small high velocity cartridge used in FN's new pistol and SMG appears much like a miniature rifle round. The 5.7mm FN cartridge has amazing armor penetration due to its small projectile size and speed, yet has much less recoil than many pistol rounds. However, don't be tricked into believing that it is as powerful as a rifle cartridge. The ballistics are roughly pistol level with far superior penetration. Best against unarmored targets but can be used against armored.
5.7x28mm FN subsonic - This round loses about 50% of its power due to the dramatic reduction in velocity. While the heavier projectile allows it to retain a portion of its armor penetration, its performance is severely hampered. Use against unarmored targets only and use multiple shots.
7.62x17 Browning - A very small pistol round designed for...very small pistols. However, it was the predominant police service cartridge in Europe until the mid-1970s. It is the weakest of the cartridges in NATO 3 and Rogue Spear. Only useful against unarmored targets, and then only in volume.
7.62x39mm Soviet - The standard Soviet/ComBloc rifle cartridge from the mid-1940s to the mid-'70s, it is easily one of the most widely distributed cartridges in the world due to the distribution of the ubiquitous AK-47 series. Roughly equal in terminal performance with the 5.56x45mm NATO, it is far powerful less than 7.62x51mm NATO. Good against all targets.
7.62x51mm NATO - This was the standard NATO rifle round until it's gradual replacement by the 5.56x45mm. It is much more powerful than 5.56x45mm, but has considerable more recoil. It is now typically restricted to sniper rifles and GPMG. Good against all targets, but with lots of over penetration.
7.62x51mm NATO Duplex - Originally designed to counter human-wave attacks, the M198 Duplex load fires two projectiles for one shot. Good against all targets.
7.62x51mm NATO Match - A variation of the 7.62x51mm NATO, the cartridge uses a heavier projectile such as the 168gr or 175gr Sierra MatchKing. The production methods are tweaked to provide a high level of consistency and quality for the cartridges, which pays off in target group sizes. Good against all targets.
7.62x51mm NATO Sabot - The sabot allows a .224" projectile to be fired from the larger 7.62x51mm case. This is designed to dramatically increase the short range velocity and penetration of the round. Good against all targets. Sabot is an archaic French word referring to a wooden shoe.
7.62x54mmR Russian - The standard Russian rifle round from the 1890s to the mid-1940s, it is now confined to sniper rifles and GPMG. The "R" stands for rimmed. A little less powerful than 7.62x51mm NATO, but the target won't quibble over the difference. Good against all targets.
7mm Remington Magnum - A long range hunting cartridge, the 7mm Remington Mag has its proponents among the US Secret Service and those not emotionally tied to a .30" projectile. While less powerful than the.338 Lapua, it offers roughly the same power as .300 Winchester Magnum and far more power than the 7.62x51mm NATO. Good against all targets.
9x19mm NATO - Invented for the German military at the turn of the century, the wide distribution of the 9x19mm Parabellum/Luger cartridge made it the logical choice for the NATO standard pistol and SMG round. While weaker than .40 S&W, it tends to have an advantage in weight and capacity. Fairly good against unarmored targets, but very weak against armor.
9x19mm NATO subsonic - As suppressed 9x19mm weapons became more popular, purpose made subsonic cartridges were produced. In order to retain a portion of the energy for both weapon function and terminal ballstics, heavier the normal projectiles were substituted. The US Navy SEALs standardized on a 147gr loading due to its accuracy at 50 meters, allowing for reliable head shots from a suppressed MP5N. This round loses about 20% of it's energy when subsonic. However, many US law enforcement agencies have followed the FBI's advice and now use it as standard issue, even in unsuppressed weapons. The cartridge is weaker than .40 S&W subsonic and is roughly equal to the elderly .38 Special. Fairly good against unarmored targets, very weak against armor.