Bullet Acronyms and Abbreviations This is a list of acronyms and abbreviations used to describe bullet shapes and/or construction. The following are very common abbreviation you will see associated with ammunition: +P - Contains a higher powder charge than normal (10-15% overpressure). +P+ - Contains a much higher powder charge than normal (20-25% overpressure). J - usually Jacketed. P - usually Point. S - could be Soft, Semi, Spire or Spitzer. The list below is not a complete list, but you will get the idea. For example, you can use this information to put together or figure out the abbreviations or acronyms for a particular bullet shape such as SWCHP (Semi-Wad Cutter Hollow Point) or JHPBTS (Jacketed Hollow Point Boat-Tailed Spitzer.) Bullet and cartridge companies have also introduced some creative new names for bullets in an effort to distinguish their products from those of other companies. These are generally used to describe a particular product, rather than the general bullet construction. For example, Remington's Golden Sabre bullets would rightly be described as JHP(Jacketed Hollow Point), however, they have chosen to label them HPJ(High Performance Jacketed) instead. A listing of the new acronyms and abbreviation is listed below. Acronyms and Abbreviations: A A-Frame (Swift) ACC Remington ACCelerator ACEL Accelerator Discharging (or Discarding) Sabots ACP Auto Colt Pistol A-MAX Polymer tipped long range target bullet (Hornady) AP Armor Piercing (has a steel or other hard metal core Military) API Armor Piercing Incendiary (Military) APT Armor Piercing Tracer (Military) APTI Armor Piercing Tracer Incendiary (Military) AT-BT AccuTip Boat Tail (Remington) BBWC Bevel Base Wad Cutter BD or Ball, Duplex M198 - Contains two bullets (Military) BEB Brass Enclosed Base BEE FP varmint bullet for.218 Bee (Hornady) BJHP Brass Jacketed Hollow Point BP Bronze Point BT Boat Tail, also Black Talon (Winchester) BTBT Ballistic Tip Boat Tail (Nosler) BTHP Boat Tail Hollow Point BTM Boat Tail Match
BTSP C/T CB CL CL-SIL CLU CMJ CNL CP DEWC DPX EFMJ EP FEB FMC FMJ FMJBT FMJ-ENC FMJFN FMJFP FMJRN FMJRP FMJSWC FMJTC FN FNEB FNSP FP FS or Fail-Safe FST GAP GC GD GDHP GS GS HAP H&H HBWC HC HE HM HMR HORNET HP Boat Tail Soft Point Combat Target (Hornady) Cast Bullet Core-Lokt (Remington) Cannelure - Silhouette (Hornady) Core-Lokt Ultra (Remington) Complete Metal Jacket Conical Nose Lead Cone Point Double Ended Wad Cutter - can load either way (Cast Bullet) Deep Penetrating X (Cor-Bon cartridge with a Barnes X all copper hollow-point bullet) Expanding Full Metal Jacket (Federal) Expanding Point Fully Encased Bullet Full Metal Case Full Metal Jacket Full Metal Jacket Boat Tail Full Metal Jacket - Encapsulated (Hornady) Full Metal Jacket Flat Nose Full Metal Jacket Flat Point Full Metal Jacket Round Nose Full Metal Jacket Round Point Full Metal Jacket Semi-Wad Cutter Full Metal Jacket Truncated Cone Flat Nose Flat Nose Enclosed Base Flat Nose Soft Point Flat Point Partition bullet with steel bands around lead cores (Winchester) Winchester Fail Safe Talon (Black Talon) Glock Auto Pistol Gas Check (Cast Bullet) Gold Dot (Speer) Gold Dot Hollow Point (Speer) Golden Saber (Remington) Grand Slam (CCI) Hornady Action Pistol (Hornady) Holland and Holland Hollow Base Wad Cutter Hard Cast High Energy Heavy Magnum Hornady Magnum Rimfire Extra thin jacket for.22 Hornet (Hornady) Hollow Point
HPBT HPJ HPWC HS HS & HS2 HSP HST I IB IRT J JET JFP JHC JHP JHPBT JSP JSPF JSZ L LBT LF LFN LFP LGC LHP LM L-N-L LRN LSWC LSWC-GC L-C L-C/T L-T LTC LWC MB MC MJ MK-BTHP MON MRWC MR-X NBT NOS NOSBT Hollow Point Boat Tail Remington High Performance Jacketed (Golden Sabre) Hollow Point Wad Cutter Hydra Shok (Federal) Hi Shok & Hi Shok 2 (Federal) Hornady Soft Point, also Hollow Soft Point (no actual meaning) a type of hollow-point (Federal) Interlock (Hornady) Interbond (Hornady) Indoor Range Training (Federal) Jacketed FP for 22 Rem Jet Revolver (Hornady) Jacketed Flat Point Jacketed Hollow Cavity, (Sierra jacketed hollow point) Jacketed Hollow Point Jacketed Hollow Point Boat Tail Jacketed Soft Point Jacketed Soft Point Flat Jacketed Stranded Zinc (Federal) Lead Lead Bullet Technology Lead Free (Nontoxic) Long Flat Nose (LBT design), also Lead Flat Nose Lead Flat Point Lead Gas Check (Cast Bullet) Lead Hollow Point Light Magnum Lock-N-Load (Hornady) Lead Round Nose Lead Semi-Wad Cutter Lead Semi-Wad Cutter, Gas Checked Lead Combat Hornady Lead Combat/Target Lead Target Lead Truncated Cone Lead Wad Cutter Multi Ball (Shot) Metal Cased (basically FMJ) Metal Jacket Match King Boat Tail Hollow Point (Remington) Monolithic Solid Mid-Range Wad Cutter Improved TS with poly tip & tungsten rear core (Barnes) Nosler Ballistic Tip Nosler Nosler Ballistic Tip
NP P PB PG PL PP Pro-Tex Bore PSP PSPCL R.E.A.L. RN RNFP RNL RNSP RHT S&W SBBT SCHP SFHP SHP SJ SJHP SJSP SLAP SOL SP SPSX SPTZ SSB SSP SST ST STHP Sub SWC SX SXT TAP FPD TB TBS TC TCMJ Nosler Partition Plated Parabellum Lead Bullet - Lead is abbreviated Pb from its Latin name 'plumbum.' Pb might also be used (on cartridge cases rather than bullets) as an abbreviation for Parabellum. Partition Gold (Winchester) Power-Lokt (Remington) Power Point Lead bullet with a zinc washer cast in base (Cast Bullet) Pointed Soft Point or Plated Soft Point Pointed Soft Point Core-Lokt (Remington) Rifling-Engraved-At-Loading (Lee muzzle loader bullet) Round Nose Round Nose Flat Point Round Nosed Lead Round Nose Soft Point Reduced Hazard Training (Federal and CCI/Speer low toxicity bullet) Smith and Wesson Soft Point Boat Tail Solid Copper Hollow Point Starfire Hollow Point (PMC) Speer Hollow Point Semi Jacketed, also Short Jacket (Hornady) Semi Jacketed Hollow Point, also Soft Jacket Hollow Point Soft Jacket Soft Point Saboted Light Armor Penetrating Solid Soft Point, also Spire Point, also Spotter-Tracer (Military) Spire Point Super Explosive (Hornady) Spitzer Swift Scirocco Bonded (Remington) Single-Shot Pistol (Hornady) Super Shock Tip (Hornady) Silver Tip HP (Winchester) Silver Tip Hollow Point (Winchester) Subsonic Semi Wad Cutter Super Explosive or Hornady Super explosive Supreme Expansion Technology or Supreme expansion Talon or Black Talon (Winchester) Tactical Ammunition Police - For Personal Defense (Hornady) Trophy Bonded Trophy Bonded Solid Truncated Cone Truncated Cone Metal Jacket
TCSP Truncated Cone Soft Point THP Tubular Hollow Point TL Tumble Lube (Lee) TMJ Total Metal Jacket -- like FMJ, but the copper jacket even wraps the rear of the bullet and totally encapsulates the lead. Also CMJ, FEB TNT TNT hollow point (Speer) TRI Triad Group (A Square) TRU Tactical Rifle Urban (Federal) TS or Triple-Shock Improved X-bullet (Barnes) UHC Ultra High Coefficient (Hornady) VLD Very Low Drag V-MAX V-Max Polymer Tip Varmint Hunting Bullet (Hornady) V-MAXBT V-Max Boat Tail (Hornady) WC Wad Cutter W/C With Cannelure (Hornady) WLN Wide Long Nose (LBT design) WLY Woodleigh WMR Winchester Magnum Rimfire WSM Winchester Short Magnum WSSM Winchester Super Short Magnum X or X-bullet Solid copper hollow-point bullet (Barnes) XP3 FS without the steel bands (Winchester) XTP Extreme Terminal Performance (Hornady jacketed hollow point)