Full Metal Jacket Rifle

[Rell Jette]

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 Vietnam War film directed by Stanley Kubrick that follows a US Marine nicknamed "Joker" (Matthew Modine) through his initiation into Marine boot camp up to his tour in Vietnam as a reporter for Stars and Stripes. Upon his deployment, Joker and his fellow Marines find themselves in the midst of the Battle of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. With a screenplay adapted from Gustav Hasford's novel The Short-Timers, Full Metal Jacket provided breakthrough acting roles for Vincent D'Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey, who was a former Marine drill instructor prior to his iconic role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the film. At the time of its premiere, the film was part of a wave of Vietnam War-related theatrical releases, and was unfairly compared to Oliver Stone's Platoon (which was released just over six months prior to this film). The film's title refers to a bullet usually consisting of a soft lead core encased in a shell made of harder material, typically of metal.

The M14 Rifle features prominently in the U.S. Marine boot camp scenes in the film. Once the Marines arrive in Vietnam they are issued M16s. The M14 rifle is notably seen in the film 'locked and loaded' with 7.62x51mm NATO rounds when Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio) is confronted first by Pvt. "Joker" (Matthew Modine), and then Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), in the 'head'. When Joker asks if the rounds were live, Pyle responds, "Seven-Six-Two millimeter, Full Metal Jacket".

The M16 Rifle appears in the film as the standard-issue weapon of most of the US Marines in Vietnam. Since the film takes place during the Tet offensive in 1968, the use of M16s is correct since it was adopted by the USMC in 1967. However, the particular rifle adopted by the USMC was the M16A1 whereas the rifle featured in the film is a Colt Model 604, which was the version of the M16 adopted by the US Air Force which lacked a forward assist and had the partial magazine fence of the XM16E1. "Cowboy" (Arliss Howard) has his M16 with two magazines taped together 'jungle style', a practice that originated during World War II for the Thompson that was carried over to the M16 during Vietnam. During his encounter with the VC sniper, Pvt. Joker's rifle jams on him, something early M16s were notorious for due to poor maintenance habits and faulty ammunition.

The VC sniper (Ngoc Le) that engages the Marines is armed with a Czech-made Sa vz. 58. Though the Sa vz. 58 rifles were commonly used by the North Vietnamese Army alongside the more predominant Soviet AK-47 (as well as the Chinese Type 56 copy), it is technically incorrect for them to be in common use with the VC. The Việt Cộng tended to use less modern weapons, like captured M1 Carbines, SKS rifles and old weapons from the First Indochina War.

The Doorgunner (Tim Colceri) on the Westland Wessex helicopter (standing in for an H-34 Choctaw) that takes Joker (Matthew Modine) and Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) to join Cowboy's (Arliss Howard) 1st Platoon repeatedly fires an M60 machine gun at random Vietnamese they pass. The M60 is also the weapon Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin) carries throughout the film. Pvt. Joker can also be seen firing an M60 when their base is attacked at the start of the Tet Offensive.

Several Marines carry M67 hand grenades on their flak vests as well. An interesting note about this is that during the late 1960s (when the events of the film take place), the M67 was just starting to see use among frontline US military units, and beginning to phase out older designs such as the M26 hand grenade mentioned above.

Over the past year there has been a large influx of new gun owners with a lot of questions about their new firearm and ammunition (lately, the lack of it.) And, let's face it, if you are new to firearms, the different ammo choices can be really confusing. The past year saw new gun owners enter the market as never before. Over 8 million (and counting) new firearms owners! That increase in new gun owners created the greatest demand levels the shooting sports industry has ever faced. Picking the right ammo for your new firearm is critically important.

One frequently asked question I seem to get the most at the MUDDY BAY ARMORY goes something like this: "What is the difference between hollow point and full metal jacket for home defense and why do I need those more expensive home defense rounds?"

No matter what, you need to spend time at the range getting familiar with your firearms. You have all heard it, "Practice makes perfect." There is also a familiar saying for firearm ammunition: hollow points for your carry/home defense guns and full-metal jacket (FMJ) rounds for practice. Why? Here's the skinny on the difference.

A Hollow point round is an expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out tip. These rounds are preferred by hunters and in self defense situation because they expand upon impact. When hollow point bullets hit the target, the hollow tip allows the bullet to deform (making it look more like a mushroom), slowing the bullet, and giving more stopping power. It also causes more catastrophic damage to your intended target. Hollow points are a more expensive round than FMJ, but overall are a better self defense round.

Most NATO militaries use only FMJ rounds. This is due to an international treaty that was signed many years ago that forbids the use of expanding rounds. However, the USA never ratified that section of the treaty, and the US Army just recently adopted hollow point ammo along with the new Sig Sauer M17 pistol.

Having a NATO stamp and not, however, does indicate a real difference. The NATO stamp is an indication that the NATO spec has been followed when making the round. An official 5.56 NATO round will have a little cross in a circle stamped on it:

In the case of products labeled xx193xx, the various lettering before the 193 (XM, XP) and letters after the number (like C, A, AF, ML, B, etc) almost always have to do with packaging differences. The rounds themselves are almost always identical. It is worth making sure you understand the packaging though. Some packaging is more expensive because they come with ammo already loaded on stripper clips. Other letters sometimes designate the ammo is in bulk/loose packaging which might lead to more denting of casings (if that is important to you).

One exception for 193 rounds is the designation M193 with no other letters. The M by itself in front of 193 indicates these are military grade/spec rounds. These should NEVER be available to a civilian customer as selling them in the commercial market is illegal.

There are also M855 and a few other rounds with different numbers. These often have to do with the purpose and composition of the round. This does make a difference. For example, M855 rounds are sometimes called 5.56x45mm 62 grain, green tip, penetrator rounds, etc. These are specialized rounds that have a steel core. 193 rounds have a homogenous soft metal core, while M855 penetrator rounds are either fully or partially steel filled. This leads to different performance characteristics and are not always good for target shooting. See the discussions on composition below for pictures. You can also read more here.

These rounds differ from the standard ball or full metal jacket rounds in that they often have a hybrid core designed to penetrate targets better. A full metal jacket core is usually uniform material inside the metal jacket. But as you can see below, penetrator rounds are often a mix of traditional soft material and a steel perpetrator part.

Hollow point rounds get their name from the fact they have a tip that has a hollow space. This means when the hits a target, it immediately expands like opening an umbrella the wrong way in a wind storm. These rounds become highly specialized for their purpose and often sell in small quantity boxes for home defense.

Soft point rounds are as the name suggests. They are mostly covered by a metal jacket, but the tip is not covered and exposes the soft lead core. The soft tip expands on hitting the target, but not as much as hollow points. These are good for large game that have tough, thicker outer hides.

The answer is this: 5.56 ammunition and rifle chambers are not the same dimensions and pressure ratings as Remington .223 ammunition and rifle chambers. You can safely shoot .223 Rem in a 5.56 rifle, but you should not fire 5.56 ammo in a .223 Remington rifle.

5.56 rounds can generate higher chamber pressures than Rem .223 rounds. 5.56 weapon chambers are designed to withstand the higher pressures of 5.56 rounds. Rem .223 weapons have chambers that are NOT designed for the higher pressures of 5.56 rounds. Further, Rem .223 chambers and 5.56 chambers do have slightly different internal dimensions. The differences are small enough, however, that either round will usually fit and fire in either weapon.
Reloaded rounds may be another issue to consider. Reloaded rounds often deviate even more from their specs and can result in higher rates of jamming or feed issues. Mixing reloaded rounds with the chamber different dimensions may be even more unreliable.

The M199 dummy round is an insert, used for dry-fire training. Usually used for loading and unloading drills during basic training. Dummy rounds have six indents on the sides of the shell casing to denote that it is a dummy round with no powder inside. The primer is removed so the firing pin can pass through safely with each dry-fire.

The M200 is a functional shell casing with gunpowder loaded inside. At the business end, the casing is crimped with no bullet in place. The crimping allows appropriate pressure to build in the chamber and barrel in absence of a live round, allowing the rifle or pistol to cycle as if it were firing a live round.

The M862 short-range training ammo, or SRTA, allows for live-fire indoors where rifle ammunition would not normally be allowed. This ammo can be used to train at distances of 25 meters or less. Importantly, many AR-15 owners and military service members zero their rifles for 100 meters, at 25 meters. You should not use SRTA ammo to do this, even though the firing distance is the same. Ballistics for the M862 round are wildly different compared to M855 and M193, and doing this will result in an inaccurate zero.

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