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Old April 6, 2013, 08:22 PM   #1
Tucker 1371
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Bimetal Jacketed ammo in pistols

I read a while back an extensive report on a 10,000 round test done on four identical AR15s using one brand of brass cased ammo vs Tula, Brown Bear, and Wolf. Link here http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/bras...el-cased-ammo/

The glaring con against using steel cased ammo IMHO that was revealed were the bimetal steel and copper jackets which when traveling down the barrel at high velocity quickly lost their copper exterior resulting in steel on steel contact before the bullet left the barrel which in turn resulted in severe long term barrel wear.

Question- Since pistol bullets travel much slower and have shorter barrels, is it plausible that the copper jacket would remain intact for the entirety of the bullets travel down the barrel thus eliminating aforementioned barrel wear experienced by rifles?
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Old April 7, 2013, 08:41 PM   #2
James K
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First, those steel jacketed bullets are not "copper jacketed"; they are lightly copper washed to keep the bullet from rusting, not to provide longer barrel life; the copper will easily rub off an expose the steel in normal firing.

Second, the bullet jacket steel involved is relatively soft, much softer than the steel of the barrel. Steel jackets with copper or cupro-nickel plating have been standard in Europe for well over a century, so the concept is neither new nor different.

And of course, we are not dealing with, say, a 6.5mm Swedish Mauser, firing at a bolt action rate. The firing was intended to test the limits of barrel and gun durability with each of the types of ammo involved.

Still, steel jackets, are harder than copper jackets and will cause more barrel wear. That is certainly not startling news. But, as the report made it clear, the testing went well beyond what an average shooter would experience. Not only were barrels shot red hot, but firing continued long after any reasonable gun owner would have replaced the barrel.

But there is no doubt that that video provides valuable information and is one of the best I have seen on the general subject. It was a reasonably well controlled test, and not a "puff piece" for gun or ammo manufacturers as so many "gunzine" articles are.

Jim
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Old April 7, 2013, 08:47 PM   #3
Tucker 1371
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Thanks for setting me straight on that Jim. So the copper on the steel jacketed bullets will probably have worn off well before it has finished traveling the 4-5 inches or so of a pistol barrel, correct?
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Old April 7, 2013, 08:55 PM   #4
James K
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I really don't know whether the copper would last in a pistol or not, but at normal pistol velocities and firing rates, it would make little difference, since the amount of additional wear of soft steel over gilding metal would not amount to much over the normal barrel life of the pistol or in the normal firing of a handgun. How often does even an avid pistol shooter fire magazine after magazine until the barrel turns red hot?

The video was useful in a discussion of rapid and extended fire. IMHO, it would have almost no relevance to handgun use, or be a major concern in choice of ammunition.

Jim
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Old April 8, 2013, 07:25 AM   #5
Tucker 1371
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Thanks again Jim, I'm sitting on a bunch of Herters .45 ACP and ammo being what it is these days it'd be nice to not feel so bad about running it through my Colt, I've already decided the Herters .308 is a no go in my M1A.
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