Military Sniper Combat Use of Open Tip Match Ammunition W. Hays Parks Formerly Senior Associate Deputy General Counsel Department of Defense Copyright 2012 W. Hays Parks When is a ‘hollow point’ not a hollow point? The curious history of military acquisition and combat use of open tip match (OTM) ammunition History 1950s: Bullet maker Sierra Bullets introduced MatchKing™ “boat tail hollow point” bullet for competitive rifle shooting. A word can have different meanings British English American English • To ‘table’: “to lay (an  To ‘table’: “to lay on appeal, proposal, the table as a way of resolution, bill, etc.) on the postponing indefinitely; table of a deliberative or to shelve; to remove legislative assembly; hence from consideration to bring forward or submit indefinitely.” for discussion or consideration.” Sources: COMPACT EDITION OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY (1971); WEBSTER’S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY (1986) The open tip design employs a precision deep drawn jacket with lead inserted from the front tip and ogival forming from the open tip mouth. The result is better manufacturing control and more consistent quality than possible with traditional full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet designs formed from tip to base. Minimizing the meplat minimizes aerodynamic drag, preserving velocity, reducing time of flight, and providing a high quality flatter shooting bullet. Words can have different meanings Manufacturer (Sierra International lawyers Bullets) and military  Hollow point”:  “Hollow point”: refers to bullets describes the physical believed to be design or appearance prohibited by the 1899 of the bullet, not Hague Declaration on necessarily its Expanding Bullets. terminal ballistics. Misunderstanding of this distinction resulted in three decades of military hesitation to employ a more accurate projectile. History (cont.)  Following its debut, MatchKing™ soon dominated centerfire rifle competition.  September 4, 1980: Army Marksmanship Unit requests legal review by Judge Advocate General of the Army of MatchKing to determine if it can be used by military for competition.  Legal review required to ensure compliance with U.S. treaty obligations. 1899 Hague Declaration • Prohibits “bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions”. • Declaration contains examples of expanding bullet design and describes intended terminal ballistics effects. • ‘Hollow point’ is not expressly used in the Declaration. • The Declaration prohibits bullets that expand of flatten easily, not all hollow point bullets. Which bullet is a ‘hollow point’? Sierra MatchKing Sierra GameKing Purpose: Long  Purpose: hunting  range accuracy. Larger aperture  Smaller core cavity  Larger core  No skiving  cavity Terminal ballistics  Skiving  same as M80 Ball. Expands easily on  Sierra expressly  impact with soft recommends against tissue use for hunting. The criteria for legality is what a bullet is intended to do and its terminal ballistics, not its external appearance. “Individuals judging the MatchKing™ solely on its appearance failed to consider the foundation law of war principle of distinction. It obligates a government and its military to develop and apply force against an enemy military in a manner that limits risk of injury to innocent civilians. A well-trained military sniper equipped with a contemporary sniper rifle, including its optics, using the most accurate ammunition, is the epitome of distinction.” -- “Open Tip Match – When a “hollow point” is not a hollow point”, Small Arms Defense Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2012)