Military

M118 7.62mm Special Ball Cartridge

The M118 Special Ball cartridge is used in the M14 Series, M21, M24, and M40A1 weapons. The sniper uses the 7.62-mm special ball (M118) ammunition with the sniper weapon system. The sniper must rezero the weapon each time he fires a different type or lot of ammunition. This information should be maintained in the sniper data book.

The 7.62-mm special ball (M118) bullet consists of a gilding metal jacket and a lead antimony slug. It is a boat-tailed bullet (rear of bullet is tapered) and weighs 173 grains. The tip of the bullet is not colored. The base of the cartridge is stamped with the year of manufacture and a circle that has vertical and horizontal lines, sectioning it into quarters. Its spread (accuracy standard) for a 10-shot group is no more than 12 inches at 550 meters (fired from an accuracy barrel in a test cradle).

The 7.62-mm M82 blank ammunition is used during sniper field training. It provides the muzzle blast and flash that can be detected by trainers during the exercises that evaluate the sniper's ability to conceal himself while firing his weapon.

Regular 7.62-mm ball ammunition should be used only in an emergency situation. No damage will occur to the barrel when firing regular 7.62-mm ball ammunition. The M3A scope's bullet drop compensator is designed for M118 special ball, and there will be a significant change in zero. Therefore the rifle will not be as accurate when firing regular 7.62-mm ball ammunition. The 7.62-mm ball ammunition should be test fired and the ballistic data recorded in the data book.

M118 Longe Range