Ballistics is an important part of Escape Tarkov. As of Update 0.12.2, there are over 100 different types of cartridges in Tarkov, minus the ammo for mounted weapons. Each round has unique stats including damage, penetration, velocity, knockback, and armor damage. Armor can absorb damage, but even if it stops a round completely, you will still receive a percentage of round damage depending on the type of armor you are wearing. Some rounds are also tracers or subsonic. Subsonic rounds are very quiet, which is great for stealth, but they are more expensive and have a lower speed. The lower speed means subsonic rounds tend to have lower armor penetration, take longer to reach the target, and drop earlier by lowering their range a bit. Tracking rounds can help you see exactly where your balls are going. They emit a bright light allowing you to follow them to the target and see exactly how you are adjusting your aim. They can also help your teammates understand exactly what you are shooting by tracking your shots. The big problem with scout patrols is that they work both ways, anyone in the area, including the one you shoot at, can follow the patrols back to you. They are about as stealthy as a very powerful flare.
Choosing your ammo can make the difference between a good raid and a complete disaster. Fortunately, players like NoFoodAfterMidnight have done a lot of work breaking down ballistics, making them easier to understand. Here's a breakdown of the different ammo types highlighting the best options for players to use according to NoFoodAfterMidnight's Ammo Tables.
Shotguns
If you are going to run with a shotgun, it is usually a good idea to aim at the limbs, especially the legs and stomach. Shotguns usually don't have a large amount of penetration but can do tons of damage if used properly. Shotguns originally only had two options for ammo, but these options were expanded in the latest update. Hunting rifles currently have the greatest variety of bullets, but most of them are quite similar.
Shotguns do damage per pellet, so a shell with 32 damage will not split it between the 8 pellets and instead each pellet will do 32 damage individually. Because of this mechanic, shotguns can do a fair amount of damage and slugs can do absolutely insane damage with some of the highest numbers in the game. The downside is that shotguns usually don't have great penetration and armor damage all over the board. The RIP slug, for example, deals 235 damage, the highest in the game right now, but has 0 penetration and will only do 11 damage to armor.
Buckshot:
For the punch, there is no better or worse turn, it will mostly depend on personal preference and playstyle. The 8.5MM Magnum does the most damage with 44 damage per pellet. Dart bullets are best for penetrating armor. Dart uses darts instead of pellets with 19 damage and 28 dart penetration.
Slugs:
Slugs are absolutely devastating to unarmored targets. The AP20 has the best balance of all the different slugs with 32 armor penetration and 164 damage per shot. The problem is, these slugs require you to get Jaeger at level 4 to purchase them, so getting them can be a bit cranky. Devastating slugs have higher damage at 188 but only 4 AP. The RIP slug has the highest damage in the game at 235dmg but 0AP. Poleva 6U slugs have a good balance at 120dmg and 17AP and are a bit cheaper than the better AP20
.366 TKM
This round is very common but should probably be reserved for scavs and scav players. Shells have high damage, but speed, range, and penetration are negligible. These rounds are essentially useless in PVP, except against new or completely unshielded players. They are only used in OPV rifles.
The GEKSA cycle is 80dmg but only 14AP
FMJ rounds are 73dmg and 20AP but other stats aren't great.
EKO has the best overall balance with 65dmg and 30AP. Eko is also best on a budget as it can be purchased at Jaeger level 2 for around 87 rubles.
4.6x30mm
This type of ammunition is only used with the MP7 SMG. This type of ammunition has high accuracy, speed and AP but relatively low overall damage. It compensates for the low damage caused by the MP7 having a high rate of fire and being one of the only non-rifle ammo types that penetrate Class 5 ammo.
The Action SX variant has low AP but does the highest damage for this round type at 65dmg and 13AP.
The best balanced round is the AP SX with 35dmg and 47AP.
The MP7's high rate of fire means it eats this ammo very quickly. The best rounds, the AP SX cost around 557 rubles per round while the others cost around 200 per round, making it a fairly expensive type of ammo overall. The weapon itself is not available until level 40 and the mechanic must be at level 4 to purchase ammo.
5.7x28mm
This type of ammunition is used by the FN Five-seven and the P90
This ammo type has good speed, damage, and AP but can be a bit expensive, especially with the P90's higher rate of fire.
R37F variant has the highest damage with 90dmg but only 8AP
SS190, L191, and SB193 all have a nice balance between damage and AP. SS190 has 49dmg and 37AP, L191 has 58dmg and 33AP, and SB193 has 54dmg and 35AP. The SB193 is subsonic and a bit pricey and the L191 is a round tracer. The best round of this type of ammo is the SS190 because it is well balanced, not a tracer or subsonic, and relatively inexpensive at $ 2 per Peacekeeper round but most rounds of this type cost about the same at Peacekeeper and Mechanic.
7.62x25mm
For now, these cartridges are used almost exclusively by the TT pistol. They have decent speed, but that's about the only notable feature about them. These towers are mainly used by scavs and new players.
LRN and LRNPC have the highest damage at 64dmg and 66dmg respectively but really low penetration at 6AP and 5AP each.
The PST GZH is the best option for this type of ammunition against armored targets. This trick has the highest penetration at 24AP and costs only around 80 rubles. This type of ammunition is best used for headshots and lightly armored targets.
9x21mm
This is an excellent armor piercing bullet used only by the SR1MP pistol. These ammunition are best used for precise headshots providing heavy hits through light armor. There are only four variations of this ammunition.
The SP12 and SP11 variants do 75 and 70 damage respectively but have the lowest AP at 14 and 16. The SP10 has 49dmg and 32AP and the SP13 does 62dmg and 36AP making it the best balance of the four variations.
The SP13 is the best version of this ammunition and is relatively cheap at 140-250 rubles per turn.
9x18mm
This type of ammunition is mainly used in Russian pistols and SMGs. There are many hollow point versions of this type of ammunition but not many good bullets for penetration.
SP7 has the highest damage at 77 but only 2AP, a slight improvement over SP8 which only does 67dmg and 1AP.
PMM and PBM cartridges are the best balanced of this type of ammunition. The PBM round does 44dmg with 22AP and the PMM round does 56dmg with 25AP. PBM and PMM towers can be bought for around 120 rubles each, but all other towers would be good on a budget as they are fairly cheap ammo.
9x19mm
This is the most common type of ammunition in the game. It is used by most pistols and SMGs. This ammo does a decent amount of damage with good speed and accuracy, but has low penetration. Ammo tends to have low recoil, which is good for taking quick shots. This ammo is great for targeting weak spots, but not so good against armor.
RIP rounds do the most damage at 102 but have no true AP.
The AP 6.3 has the highest penetration with 25AP. It is also a bit more expensive than other rounds for this type of ammo at $ 4 / round.
The most balanced trick of this type is the PST GZH. This round is 54dmg with 18AP and is very inexpensive. The mechanic sells these lathes for about 65 rubles per lap.
12,7 × 55 mm
This is a newer type of ammunition used exclusively by the ASH-12. Overall, this ammo deals an insane amount of damage for an assault rifle, with each type dealing over 100 damage per shot. The downside is that shells generally have low penetration, range, accuracy, and speed with very high recoil.
PS12A does the highest damage overall at 165dmg but has very low penetration at 10AP.
PS12B has the highest PA of the group at 46 with 102dmg.
Standard PS12 cartridges are the most “balanced” of the bunch at 115dmg and 28AP but the high overall damage of this type of ammo makes the PS12B the better option due to its higher AP.
The standard PS12 lap is the cheapest at 300 rubles per lap, with the other variants being a bit more expensive. Ammo can be purchased from Prapor once he's level 4, which means you need to grind a bit before accessing those towers.
9x39mm
This is a specialized Russian ammunition used exclusively by VSS and ASVAL rifles. The guns are perfect for stealth thanks to the built-in suppressors. Bullets provide low recoil and low speed with high damage and AP, which makes rifles feel a lot like SMGs.
SP-5 rounds do the highest damage at 68dmg with 35AP
BP and SPP cycles have the best balance with 60dmg with 50 AP and 67dmg and 45AP respectively, but these cycles are difficult to achieve in large quantities. Usually to get a lot of these tours you have to cultivate or spend an obscene amount of money on the flea market.
The SP-5 is the best ride to use on a budget. Each round can be purchased from Prapor once he's at level 2 for around 140 rubles each.
7.62x54mm
This is a long-range, high-powered, and very accurate bullet for Russian sniper rifles. Each variant is at least 70dmg with a minimum of 40AP.
The 7N1, LPS GZH, and T-46M all have damage over 80 so these rounds kill a hit if you hit the target in the chest.
The 7N37 has the highest PA in the game at 70, but it is very expensive. Each round costs around 1000 rubles.
The LPS GZH has 81dmg and 42AP and may be probably the cheapest of all of these towers. It can be purchased from Prapor once it is level 2, but it is also quite common in raids.
7.62x51mm
This is a larger caliber bullet used in Western rifles. There are several weapons that use this ammunition. It is most commonly used in sniper rifles, DMRs, and other similar sniper rifles. This type of ammo provides high damage, penetration, speed and is effective at long range but has high recoil.
The Ultra Nosler round has the highest damage at 102 but has the lowest penetration of this ammo type at 15 AP.
The M61 is best for sniper players because it has the highest AP at 68 and can pierce any armor in the game. But it is very expensive with each round costing around 1000 rubles.
The M62 is a good alternative to the M61 with 79dmg and 54AP. It is a tracing round but only 400 rubles per round.
The cheapest option of these rounds is the M80 with 80dmg, 40AP and only 200 rubles per round.
5.56x45mm
This type of ammunition is mainly used in Western assault rifles. It does slightly less damage than its Russian counterpart but has higher speed, accuracy, and penetration. There are several different towers for this type of ammo, but they can only be purchased in small quantities.
The Warmage round has the highest damage at 85 but a negligible 3AP.
The M995 has the highest AP at 53 and does 41dmg but is really expensive at $ 11 or 1000 rubles per spin with a limit on how many can be reset per reset. Fortunately, it can be crafted with green gunpowder and a cannon shell on the workbench in the hideout.
the M855A1 has the best balance of damage and AP without costing an arm and a leg. 44dmg and 40AP at around $ 2 or 200 rubles per round.
× 7,62 39
This type of ammunition is used in the AKM series of rifles in the game. These ammunition tend to be less precise and have a lower velocity but higher damage and penetration than other common rounds. This type of ammo is also easy to craft in the stash.
The HP round has the highest damage at 83 but has fairly low penetration for an assault rifle round at 15AP.
The most balanced round for this type of ammunition is the BP round. He has the best penetration at 47AP and does relatively high damage at 58.
Towers can be purchased from Prapor for 470 rubles once he has reached level 3 and the Punisher questline is complete. You can also craft 120 rounds on a level 3 workbench in the hideout for a single green gunpowder.
5.45x39mm
This is one of the most common types of ammo in the game. It is a good type of general purpose ammo used in AK and RPK series of rifles. These rounds generally have low recoil with high velocity and a good balance between damage and penetration. These ammunition are also easily found in large quantities during raids, especially in the reserve. The price of this ammunition ranges from the dime to the arm and the leg.
HP has the highest damage at 54 but only has 11 AP.
7N39 has the best penetration with 62AP but only does 37dmg.
The most balanced round of this type is the BS round with 40dmg and 51AP. BS rounds are sold by Prapor once he reaches level 4 for around 770 rubles.
