NYCOA TOPICS IN ENGINEERED PLASTICS: PLASTICS and POLYMERS IN AMMUNITION and BULLETS
Ammunition is not an industry where you might think of plastics being the most obvious technology. However, as you’ll see, there are reasons why polymers and ammunition are a combination that provide some significant benefits and performance features.
Investigation of plastics in ballistics technology began in the 1960’s, but rapid success only started to develop very recently. The challenges for developing specialty polymers for ammunition are quite high. Ammunition has to work perfectly every time or create an equipment issue, and a potentially serious health issue as well. Not all plastics have less tensile strength and modulus that can compare with common ballistics metals such as brass. Bullets with polymer casing have shown a susceptibility to cracking, bonding failure between the metal and plastic, and insufficient ballistic performance.
Susceptibility to heat is a risk, as the bullets could develop holes in the chamber resulting in improper firing or even a failure to fire causing jams. Additionally the light weight can prove to be problematic as the bullets lack sufficient weight to properly fall into chambers or to have sufficient pull pressure. This list of challenges is certainly formidable, and the stakes are high whenever live ammunition is in a field.
However, recent developments in polymers have broken through these barriers, and revealed some unique strengths of engineered polymers in ammunition. Innovation in plastics such as engineered nylons have improved casing strength, while maintaining a dramatic benefit: weight reduction. These new plastics maintain a weight reduction of up to 40%.
There’s a military idiom which reads: ounces make pounds, and pounds make pain. A small reduction in the weight of ammunition can have a large impact in the ability for soldiers to remain properly armed while still having the mobility to move as their jobs demand.
Another benefit is being able to move away from using potentially hazardous materials such as lead. Polymer casing for bullets is also an insulator and not a conductor. As such the heat generated from the firing of bullets is dramatically reduced, bringing less wear to the parts in the gun than a metal shell which conducts and transmits that heat as wear and tear on the vital mechanisms of the user’s equipment. Creating less breakdown, increasing reliability in the field, and generally ensuring the safety of the firearms expert.
One current model is simply to use a combination of metal and polymer casing to achieve the desired strength, performance, and reliability while still shedding precious ounces to make it a best of both worlds solution.
Safety with trained firearm use will always be a primary concern. And that safety starts with having the best, most reliable, and efficient materials. While this impacts plastics, metals and synthetic products, specialty nylons have an important role to play as well. NYCOA’s research has found chemistries with consistency, ballistics-level functionality, and dramatic weight benefits to the user. And with NYCOA chemistry, there are future iterations which may make ammunition even more advanced, environmentally-sound, and functional.
About NYCOA
NYCOA (the Nylon Corporation of America) commercially manufactures specialty engineered nylon, including nylon 6, nylon copolymers and terpolymers, nylon 6,10 and nylon 6,12, long-chain nylon chemistry alternatives to nylon 11 and nylon 12, as well as a broad variety of compounded nylon materials. All NYCOA products are made in the USA, manufactured in our ISO plant located in Manchester, NH. NYCOA is dedicated to plastics engineering, plastics innovation, and a consistent quality earned through operational excellence. NYCOA is dedicated to its customers, and produces specialty engineered polymers for industries and partners around the world, and has plastics compounding capabilities to produce a variety of reinforced grades.
NYCOA manufactures specialty engineered polyamide (nylon) plastics for many industries and applications, including fasteners, hook and loop, extruded parts, injection molding, foamed components, monofilament, powders, and wire and cable jacketing.
Contact:
333 Sundial Ave.
Manchester, NH 03103-7230
Tel: 603.627.5150
Fax: 603.627.4499