Sub-caliber ammunition

Sub-caliber_ammunition

A sub-caliber armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot projectile in its sabot.

A sub-caliber armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot projectile separating from its sabot.

Sub-caliber ammunition (also spelled subcaliber) is firearm ammunition where the projectile has a smaller diameter than the bore of the gun barrel from which it is fired. Firing sub-caliber ammunition has several potential benefits compared to full-caliber ammunition. It can for example allow for much higher muzzle velocities due to smaller lighter projectiles being fired from relatively larger propellant charges,^[1] but it can also lower the cost of ammunition due to less material being used to produce the round compared to a full-caliber ammunition etc.

Several methods exist for firing sub-caliber ammunition.^[1]