For range training applications, 9mm full metal jacket is a prime option with a lot of advantages. This post will cover some of those, as well as the differences associated with 3 popular alternatives.
What Is 9mm Full Metal Jacket?
This type of ammo is characterized by a lead bullet core that’s completely encased in a copper jacket, from the nose down, with the exception of the base of the bullet, where the lead core remains exposed.
Encasing the core almost fully confers several advantages to the bullet and shooter. For one, it stabilizes the bullet, resulting in more accurate rounds. It also helps prevent bullet deformation on impact, resulting in superior penetration.
Moreover, the full metal jacket helps cut down on lead exposure in the form of vaporized lead, which is unsafe for the shooter and bystanders, as well as on lead fouling in the bore, which leads to complications with respect to accuracy.
All in all, it is stable, accurate, and reliable, making it suitable for all sorts of training and competitive disciplines.
On top of that, 9mm full metal jacket ammo is fairly affordable, which makes it even more appealing to shooters, across the board.
With that said, 9mm full metal jacket is far from your only option, even if you restrict the scope of applications to training and competition. Here are some popular alternatives, along with what they offer.
Total Metal Jacket
Like full metal jacket ammo, total metal jacket ammo has a copper jacket that completely encloses the lead bullet core. Except, in the case of total metal jacket, or TMJ, the bullet core is fully enclosed, including at the base.
This configuration offers all of the benefits of full metal jacket, plus one more. Like full metal jacket, total metal jacket cuts down on lead exposure, which keeps the bore cleaner and also helps prevent vaporized lead exposure
Because of this, there is an argument to be made that total metal jacket ammo is safer for use in indoor ranges, simply because it will result in less vaporized lead and less overall lead exposure.
Also like FMJ ammo, TMJ ammo is stable, accurate, reliable and consistent, which makes it appealing. The one drawback is that TMJ ammo tends to be a little more expensive than FMJ because the manufacturing process is more involved.
Total Synthetic Jacket
Total synthetic jacket is like total metal jacket, except that the metal has been replaced by a synthetic polymer. In a TSJ bullet, the lead core will be completely enclosed by a jacket of some polymer material.
The polymer used is softer and exhibits greater lubricity than copper jackets, which results in less wear and tear on the barrel and rifling. Also, because the bullet core is totally enclosed (as in the case of TMJ ammo) there is little to no lead fouling or exposure.
Total synthetic jacket ammo also confers most of the other advantages of both full metal jacket and total metal jacket. The main difference is that a polymer is used instead of a copper jacket, and like TMJ ammo, since it is more expensive to manufacture TSJ, it is usually more expensive than TMJ and TMJ.
Also, both TSJ and TMJ ammo, since they provide the highest level of protection against lead fouling and lead exposure, are preferred for indoor range training when compared to FMJ.
Flat Nose Bullets (Wadcutters)
There is one more class of 9mm ammo that is commonly used for target shooting, training and competition purposes, at least commonly. They are called wadcutters or flat nose bullets because they have a flat nose; no explanation needed there.
However, the flat nose itself offers benefits to those who are competing, especially with paper targets. Wadcutters punch clean, round holes in paper targets which makes scoring easier.
As for feeding, reliability, consistency, and accuracy, they usually perform similarly to FMJ bullets, and are themselves jacketed, which does help reduce lead exposure.
There are two caveats. One is that wadcutters are more expensive, so don’t shoot them unless there is a reason to do so. The other is that some guns may not feed them as reliably as round-nose FMJ, and they may not prove as accurate, especially at intermediate ranges, either.
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