Tank Ammo - The quick guide

APHEBC, APCBC, HESH, what does all this actually mean??
Which shell type for what situation?
What's the difference between AP, APC, APCBC and APCR?
All these questions and others will be answered in this guide.

Introduction

Hello tankers!

I made this guide because while looking at the other guides I noticed that some ammo types were missing and/or the description for each one was too long and over complicated... And also because I was bored at the time :P

Knowing your shells is surprisingly easy, and you can tell everything about a shell by it's name, no need to even look at the stats to know it's uses and characteristics.

This guide aims to be as short and simple as possible while providing a description with the very basics you need to learn to be able to know what a shell does and when to use it, for EVERY shell type used by tanks, even if only one tank uses it (looking at you, APFSDS!).

Hope you like it, and enjoy! :)

AP

The simplest ammo type there is. A metal slug fired from a cannon. That's it.
Used primarily on the american tanks and some british tanks as well as the default shell. Should be replaced ASAP by something better.

APC

Same as AP, but with a "cap".

What does this mean?
The cap on the shell is softer than the actual shell, so it will deform on impact while also making the shell turn slightly, which means the shell will try to penetrate the enemy at a higher angle than the one that hit the tank.
However, the shell will travel at a lower speed because the cap is not as aerodynamic as plain AP, so the penetration values will not be better, it just won't ricochet as easily.

The german version of APC has explosives in it, while the other nations' work as a normal AP shell in terms of damage.

APBC

Same as AP and also has a cap just like APC, but this is an aerodynamic cap instead of a soft one, so the shell will travel faster than a regular AP shell and thus will have more penetration.

A curious thing about this shell is that even though it does not have a soft cap like APC it seems to have a lower ricochet angle as it if did have a soft cap. I don't know if this is intentional or if only a few calibers experience this but it seems that APBC act like APCBC shells, minus the explosives.
Speaking of which:

APCBC

And finally, the first "real" shell!
APCBC combines both previous shells to make an aerodynamic shell that also has a soft cap in it, so it will travel faster and ricochet less than a normal AP shell.

This shell also has explosives in it to increase it's destructive power, with the exception of the British APCBC ammo which has no explosives at all and acts similarly to the previous AP shells, creating only shrapnel.

APCR

Ahh yes, APCR... I love to see people rush to get these because they are NOT as effective as you may think! Makes me feel safer on the battlefield...

It is composed by a small high density hard core, surrounded by a much lighter case that fills the rest of the diameter of the barrel. You can think of this as the father of APDS, as both shell types work quite similarly inside the barrel but APDS leaves the lighter shell once it leaves the barrel.
This makes the shell travel faster after exiting the barrel, but it will decrease it's speed a LOT faster afterwards, making it ineffective against any target farther than 500m.

It does not have any explosives and creates close to no shrapnel so it will only kill/destroy what's in it's direct line of travel.

APDS

Similar to APCR, but the case that encapsulates the projectile is discarded once it leaves the gun barrel, at which point you basically have a small bullet fired by a cannon.

These shells travel at a much higher speed and as such have more penetration, but since there is the lack of explosives and the shell is very small there won't be nearly as much damage as an APCBC or APHE shell would deal.

APHE

Standard AP shell with explosives in it.

The default Russian shell loaded into most of their tanks.

Shell penetrates and explodes, nothing simpler than this. There are better shells though, such as the next:

APHEBC

Same as APHE but has a ballistic cap.
Now things get interesting, because even though it has a ballistic cap (BC) and not a "regular" cap (C) APHEBC shells act similarly to APC shells and not APBC, with the difference of having explosives inside. Some players actually consider APHEBC to be a downgrade from APHE because it has less penetration but the ricochet angle reduction is very important, do not neglect it!

The Russian army loves this shell and you should get it as soon as possible if you only have a normal APHE shell.

HE

Shell explodes on impact. Does close to nothing against armored targets.
Use ONLY if you are facing tanks like the ones in the Marder line with only a metal sheat covering the cannon or anti-air vehicles. Pretty much most open-top tanks are vulnerable to this shell, with some exceptions of course...

Just a note on HE shells:
A large enough HE shell (fired from howitzers) can deal damage to armored tanks, which means that at lower tiers Howitzer SPGs can be effective even when using only HE shells, but will start to struggle when facing enemies too well armored.
For example, the SU-122 can use it's HE shell with decent effect against targets of his BR, but at 2 BRs above him it will start to do decreased damage because the armor thickness of the target is high enough to prevent the creation of shrapnel.

HEAT

The real life mechanics of this shell are kinda cool... Shell explodes on impact and propels material into the tank through a tiny hole.

It's not how this works in War Thunder though...

It looks weird actually... It looks like a mix of AP with HE, meaning it will explode just like an HE shell but create shrapnel like an AP shell.

When you need a long range alternative with high penetration this might be your solution, but these shells should only be used as your last option, when you can't absolutely do anything else.

WARNING!!
HEAT shells travel VERY SLOWLY! A tank which fired AP shells at ~680m/s will fire HEAT at ~330m/s, so you will have to aim much higher to hit the target. In Arcade game mode that is not really a big deal if the target is stationary, but if the target is moving or you are playing in Simulation or Realism modes you need to compensate for the slower shell speed.

There are lots of better shells to destroy a tank, like APCBC or APHEBC which most tanks should have, or at least something similar.

HESH

Shell hits the enemy, pancake's into it's armor and then explodes, creating shrapnel on the inside of the enemy tank.
In this game it does not actually pancake into the armor, instead it acts like a buffed HE or a prettier HEAT shell.

NOTE: This shell CAN ricochet if it hits the enemy tank at an angle below the indicated in the shell tooltip!

Seems to be pretty common among high tier British tanks, just like APDS.

HEATFS and APFSDS

HEATFS is a seriously buffed HEAT shell with higher shell speed and penetration, making most previous shell types obsolete.
APFSDS is also a buffed version of APDS with a lot more penetration.

The APFSDS is only available in a select group of tanks. Right now it's available on the following tanks:
Russian:
- T-62
- T55A

American:
- T95E1

May be added to other tanks in the future. If this shell type exists in any other tank please give me a heads up!

AC

40kg shell with 5kg of TNT in it, just your standard KV-2 derp cannon's ammunition.

Shrapnel

Do not use this unless you want to go to court-martial. This shell is a crime against humanity!
jk, but this is really nasty, just look at the screenshot

Although the penetration values of this shell are low (when compared with the AP based ammo tanks should have anyways) the Shrapnel shots can be quite deadly.

If the shell penetrates the target it will explode releasing a TON of shrapnel all over the place.
Deadly at lower tier battles (Rank 1-2, up to BR 3-4).
The screenshot was taken firing a shrapnel shell from a "T-34 1940" into the front of a "PzIV C" in the Test Drive map at a distance of 160m. The shrapnel is spread in all directions, not just the direction of the shell trajectory. In the screenshot it does not seem so because the rest of the shrapnel already hit either the inside walls of the tank or the crew members (driver and machine gunner). You can however see red dots in the driver's area, which are all bits of shrapnel.

One final note:
If you hit a module the shell will explode and all of the shrapnel will be absorved by that module.
If you hit an area with nothing on the way it will explode in the middle of the tank and release shrapnel damaging all of the crew.

You really need to aim well with this ammo type, so due to this issue and the low penetration it may be more reliable to use an AP based shell instead.

Smoke

The newly added shell type.
It's an utility type shell and its used for tactical visual obstruction.

Available primarily in tanks with a battle rating of 4 and above. Some tanks do not have this shell type and have Smoke Grenades instead.

Setting up a loadout

NOTE: You may want to reserve some space for the newly added Smoke shells. They are very useful specially in Simulator Battles.

Ok so now I know how each shell behaves ingame, but which one(s) should I bring to a battle?

If possible bring APCBC or APHEBC as your default shell, some APCR for those hard to pen targets, a couple of HE shells to deal with Marders, Nashorns and that kind of nuisances and at least 1 or 2 Smoke shells for their utility value.

I always try to make my loadout as similar as possible to this (pic for example):
- ~70% default shell;
- 20% High Penetration shells (APCR);
- 5% HE;
- ~5% Smoke;

OR, if I can load HEAT shells:
- 75% APCBC / APHEBC;
- 15% APCR;
- 5% HEAT;
- 5% Situational (HE/Smoke);

This lets me have loads of shells to punch through as many targets as I want, leaving some room for the shells I might need to pierce a harder target at close and long range, even though it may be worth to try and get closer to the enemy first, it really depends on the situation.

You should check -->> this <<--[wiki.warthunder.com] table first when picking your shells when entering a battle and loading only the recommended amount of ammo into the tank, as most times it removes the ammo from the turrets or weaker spots that might be prone to ammo detonation. In some cases you don't lose that much ammo by not loading any into the turret, but if you really need the extra ammo go for it, I won't stop you :P


"But my tank does not have APHEBC, APCBC, APCR or HEAT... What should I use?"
Those are the most common shell types that you should be looking for, but there are cases where that is not possible, specially at higher tiers where the finned shells start to appear along with APDS. In those cases you must look at your needs and possibilities.

Firstly, what is the standard shell your tank has? AP? If yes, there must be at least an APC, APBC, APCBC or any other shell available to make the upgrade.
Does it have APDS loaded by default? Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think.

Not all tanks have bad ammo loaded by default, just like not all tanks have good ammo loadouts available even after research, most of them actually being premium tanks.
For example, you have a Conqueror (British Heavy Tank), and your only shell options are either APDS or HESH. What should you do? Need penetration? Use APDS. Need damage? Use HESH. Yes, HESH has a lot less penetration and at that level you won't be able to penetrate a lot of the enemies you'll be facing head-on, but it will obliterate most tanks if fired at it's side.

As a general rule you should pick explosive ammo because it deals more damage to the enemy tank, while fast projectiles like APCR or APDS should be used to take key components in the enemy tank or when you can't penetrate it by any other means. Sometimes you may even use an APCR to lock the enemy in place by killing the driver with a well aimed shot while circling him for a side shot with APCBC/APHE/similar, it all depends on the situation and enemy you are fighting.

Scenario examples

"So much talk and I still dont know when to use each shell type..."

Alright...
Are you facing a heavily armored enemy that has a higher Battle Rating than your own? Unless you are a tank destroyer/spg I would not try my luck head-on, I would prefer to make a flanking maneuver and hit him on the sides. But in case it's flanks are covered or you can't move and must face him head-on I'd suggest using APDS or APCR, if you have any. If you are over 500m from the tank there is no reason you should face him head-on, but if you still want to do it use HEAT or HESH, all other shells will most likely bounce or do nothing to the target.
If you manage to be facing his flank pretty much every AP-based shell should do the trick.

Are you facing a medium tank, similar to yours in stats and Battle Rating? The normal APCBC/APHEBC shell will work, even head-on. IF you can't penetrate him head-on with your regular AP-based shell you may try and use APCR/APDS, but again, if you are over 500m away from him you should be using HEAT or try for a flanking maneuver.

Are you facing an open top/truck/SPAA with minimal armor? Try to fire a single HE round into the gun's mantle, it should at least kill some (if not all) of the crew members near the cannon (Gunner, Loader(s), Commander, etc...). Even if you do not completely destroy the truck in one hit you will cripple it and force him to either retreat or risk taking another shell into the driver or any other surviving crew member.

If you don't have HE ammo or don't have the time to load it in the heat of the battle and have an AP shell loaded instead don't worry, AP shells can still work against trucks, just aim at the ammo rack which is usually located in the box at the very back of the truck or hit the middle of the hull and you may get a kill by "Hull Break".
"Hull Break" is when the hull of your tank/truck is damaged so much it can no longer function properly. Picture it as trying to drive half a car because a shell tore it apart. It's basically a destroyed vehicle, but in this case because a strong enough force destroyed the structure of the tank rendering it unusable.

You might also try your luck with your machine gun. The armor in the trucks is meant to stop bullets but anything at or above 12mm should have no trouble penetrating it.

Final Notes

This is the first guide I have ever made for any game, so it is rough around the edges, but I am open to suggestions, corrections and any pointers from the other players.

If you think anything is wrong please say something and I'll correct it asap.

If you have any questions leave them in the comments or ask personally through a personal message if you prefer it that way, I will answer them as soon as I log into steam.

I hope I can help the players struggling with the ammo choices because there are a lot of ammo types, it's normal to feel overwhelmed at first, but it is easier than it seems.

I also apologize for any grammar or coherence errors that might exist in this guide, English is not my native language and even though I have read through the whole guide several times to correct as many errors as I can find I am sure there will be at least one that I've missed.


One last tip:
Use the Test Drive feature every time you unlock some new shell type, try it on all the enemies from multiple directions and aiming different spots to see which works or even feels better to you. Sometimes I spend one hour straight in multiple Test Drive runs just to be sure on what ammo to bring to a battle, waste some time testing and you'll be less frustrated in battle.

Good Hunting!

Credits

I'd like to thank everybody who has been pointing out the errors that exist in this guide, I'll try to fix them as soon as they are reported. Proper references available in the Change Notes below.

I'd also like to thank all the players who have created guides related to tank ammo, I have learnt a lot with them when I started playing War Thunder's Ground Forces.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Gaijin for giving us War Thunder. Even though I'm not the most active player I've been around since the beta stage and refuse to uninstall this game.

Change Notes

2017/10/01
- Fixed typo;
- Found a picture for the loadouts section for visual guidance;

2017/05/26
- Added Smoke shell type;
- Note on some new tanks and their use of APFSDS;

2017/04/08
- Added APC info regarding German tanks;

2017/04/07
- Minor tweaks in several sections;

2017/04/05
- Edited Shrapnel info (Thanks to яise);

2017/04/04
- Added some text explaining the concept of "Hull Break" in the "Scenario Examples";

2017/04/02
- Edited the Introduction to make it look better and more useful;
- Edited the link for the ammo table for easier spotting;

2017/04/01
- Added info regarding HEAT shell travel speed and HEATFS info (Thanks to ResoSketch);
- Edited APDS-FS to APFSDS, Gaijin changed the name of the shell...

2017/03/31
- Revised APCR and (by consequence) APDS (Thanks to Dezztroy);
- Edited info regarding scenarios involving trucks and the use of AP shells (Thanks to Rawrkitteh);

2017/03/30
- Edited APCBC info regarding it's British version (Thanks to Peginis001);
- Added Credits and Change Notes sections;

2017/03/29
- Added info regarding howitzer HE ammo (Thanks to MaskedDeath);

[dominguezcristian349]

dude ur a legend all my victorys will be in your name my guy😎

[S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]

Thi is destilled version: APCR=Trash, AP solid shot= trash, Any russian shell insta one kill hitting almost any point of a tank, lest say the antenna, shell hits a base of antenna and shifts conviniently downwards and killing all crew in the process ( slow clap)

[Rattó]

Allriiiight!
Now do the boats, what ammo is best to use in what scenarios on the boats. Pretty please

[gambler01omega]

@Johnny cocas ight I’ll give it a try, thanks!

[Johnny Cocas]

@gambler01dyer if you want "guaranteed" penetration at long ranges (for that rank, at least) try HEAT, although I would still recommend either trying to flank the enemy and use "regular" shells like APHE or any other "capped" AP shell (APBC, APCBC, etc...) as they will usually deal more damage regardless, or close in on the enemy as you'll also be able to hit them more reliably as well.

[gambler01omega]

@johnny cocas that clears things up, tho should I use HE shells for longer ranges? Say like 1km (at rank2/3 ish in the USA side with Sherman’s)

[Johnny Cocas]

@gambler01dyer generally speaking all shells lose effectiveness and penetration power the farthest the target is from you, with a few exceptions that become more common later in the game (HEAT, for example), so there isn't a CQC shell, every rule about shells pretty much applies to all ranges, so the closer you are to a target the more effective the shell is, regardless of the shell in question. For CQC though, it may be easier to target the weakspots I was talking about, as long as you can "safely" engage the enemy tank at such close ranges.

[gambler01omega]

Gotta ask is there like a CQC shell for enemy armor tanks as a sherman that is thats good at close targets? Or are the german and russian heavy tanks in rank 3/4 just all rounders in the armor Dpt?

[gambler01omega]

@johnny Cocas Thx for the tips, gonna start doing that am dumbfounded that i haven't been doing something along those lines.

[Johnny Cocas]

@gambler01dyer that requires more than just ammo loadouts. For taking down heavy tanks try to check the armor layout of the tanks in the tech tree and see where their weakspots are located, so next time you face one of those you know where to aim at so your shell penetrates them ;)
Very rarely you'll be facing a tank you can't penetrate whatsoever if you are in the same BR, so you just got to be on the look for those weakspots and try to flank them as much as possible!