Polymer-cased ammunition (PCA) is

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

( cartridge) with casings made from synthetic polymer instead of the typical metallic casing. PCA is considered a new alternative that potentially reduces production cost and weight for

long gun A long gun is a category of firearms with long barrels. In small arms, a ''long gun'' or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, which can be fired being held with a single ...

s and

handgun A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ag ...

Origin

The first references to the possible use of polymers in the manufacture of casings come from the early 1950s. One of the earliest is the patent filed by Jack W. Roske in 1950 and the idea was to use a metal cup joined with a polymer shell "that will be converted to gas during the firing phase to assist in propelling the projectile and thereby permit reduction in the use of the propelling powder charge".

Examples

* The majority of commonly found

shotgun shell A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rim (firearms), rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridge (firearms), cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellets (petrology), pellet ...

hulls are constructed of polymer with metal only found on the lower or rim portions of the shells. * The Steyr ACR was a notable user of polymer cased ammunition. * The US Army ARDEC developed a 5.56mm Telescoped ammunition for its

LSAT The Law School Admission Test (LSAT; ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension as well as logical and verbal rea ...

program. * The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operation's

TSWG The Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) is a United States Interagency program for research and development into combating terrorism measures. Established in 1986, TSWG falls under the oversight of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special ...

program developed lightweight cartridges in multiple calibers for USSOCOM. * Textron Systems: Textron CT System carbine, rifle, automatic rifle utilizing a Olin Winchester CT 5.56, 6.5, 6.8 and 7.62 mm polymer cased-telescoped cartridge * Desert Tech MDR rifle with PCP Ammunition 6.8mm polymer case-metal cartridge *

Knight's Armament Company LAMG The Knight's Armament Company Light Assault Machine Gun (LAMG) is a light machine gun system developed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company (KAC). It was previously known as the Knight's Armament Company LMG. It is the ...

machine gun with PCP Ammunition 6.8mm polymer case-metal cartridge and .277 True Velocity polymer ammunition * True Velocity (earlier LoneStar Future Weapons,

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

): RM-277R bullpup rifle and RM-277AR machine gun utilizing True Velocity .277 TVCM polymer cased cartridge * KAC M110 SASS sniper rifle utilizing True Velocity 7.62 and .277 TVCM polymer cased cartridge *

M240 machine gun The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 has been used by t ...

utilizing True Velocity 7.62 and .277 TVCM polymer cased cartridge * M134 Minigun utilizing True Velocity 7.62 and .277 TVCM polymer cased cartridge *

Lightweight Medium Machine Gun The Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) is a prototype machine gun being developed first by General Dynamics, later by LoneStar Future Weapons, now by True Velocity Design The LWMMG is designed to fill the gap between 7.62 mm and .50 BMG m ...

utilizing True Velocity .338 Norma Mag polymer cased cartridge

Manufacturers

* '
PCP Tactical
'' offers a variety of

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

s in 5.56mm NATO/ .223 Rem, 7.62mm NATO/

.308 Win The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

, .260 Rem,

6.5mm Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48 mm), designated 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, 6.5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. or 6.5 CM or 6.5 CRDMR for short, is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Hornady senior ballistic ...

, 6.8mm PCP and .50 BMG. * PolyCase Ammunition offered a .380 Polymer Cased Round. * True Velocity offers polymer ammunition in a variety of calibers including 5.56 NATO,

, 6.8mm TVCM,

/ 7.62mm NATO, .338 Norma Mag and .50 BMG.

References

External links

LSAT: The 9 Pound LMG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polymer-Cased Ammunition Ammunition

Origin

Examples

Manufacturers

See also

References

External links