anyone tried loading solid brass pistol bullets?

[USCG]

I am looking to find out if anyone has tried to load solid brass bullets for a pistol?
I am just looking for some input, whether its possible on not etc...
I would be loading 380gr solid brass bullets for the smith and wesson 500, they are called saterns thors hammers, and they sell them on midway usa.

[Lavid2002]

Theres no other practical purpose for a S&W 500 might as well go buy some ammo that has no practical purpose and go blast away!

[USCG]

thats what i figure, my response to the people that ask me why own a gun that big, i just say why not? haha

and i figure why not have a round that can do some serious damage to an engine block?

[Magnum Mike]

i figure why not have a round that can do some serious damage to an engine block?

you got those pesty things around there too!
I agree with your statement "why not". To each their own.

[Lavid2002]

Got the chance to hold one of those suckers the other day..... wow : O


I strait up asked the guy how he liked it. He said light loads are fun but heavly loads are *Then he paused* well they hurt...LOL! At least he's honest.

[Jim243]

Just out of couriousity what does a 380 grain solid brass 50 cal bullet go for nowadays??? I know my 285 grain 50 cals power pelets for my muzzle loader goes for $20.00 for 12, but a solid brass 380 grainer????

Jim

[USCG]

I mainly got them just for fun, it was $45 for 25 for the ones that i purchased, there is another company that makes hollow point brass bullets and those go for $70 for 50.

The 500 really is not a bad gun to shoot if you arent too recoil sensitive, smith and wesson does a really good job of mitigating the recoil, they use a 2 piece hogue grip, with a second material in the back strap, plus the gun weighs about 5 lbs...

[USCG]

i heard someone say that i should treat the solid brass bullets like i would a copper jacketed bullet, any input?

[Unclenick]

Start pressure is higher for brass and bronze. More like a Barnes solid. Work your loads up.

[freakshow10mm]

Hmmmm.....


a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and
which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other
substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass,
bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium;


Interesting. AP ammo is actually the bullet only, not the ammunition. There are laws regarding selling this of which I question were done legally.

[troy_mclure]

careful on loading brass bullets into pistol ammo, its considered "armour piercing" and is restricted by batfe.

http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIG1.html

[Edward429451]

Is there anything that anyone can ask about on this forum where a bunch of people don't rise up with the "It's illeagal" crap all the time?
I know you trying to help but it's just sickening how everything is illegal and you guys just keep beating the dead horse.

Brass bullets illegal, lead bullets hazardous. We know! We know! make a It's Illegal sticky and everyone will now that anything cool or useful you want to do is already illegal, no need to junk up the thread with tripe.

Post something practical and useful...like which alley is Bush going to be walking down so we can beat the crap out of him and get our rights back./

[Jim Watson]

Sorry Edward, not everybody knows about the repressive law banning a brass pistol bullet as "armor piercing."

The Midway listing is contradictory. It is headed:
"Satern Thor's Hammer Bullets 50 Beowulf (500 Diameter) 380 Grain Solid Brass"

But the body of the ad says:
"Solid copper construction for superior knockdown power"

Any road, it is listed for the .50 Beowulf, a rifle caliber for which brass bullets are legal. Loading them in a pistol is not.

There is no mention of bullets on Satern's site that I can find.

I'd call them up before I loaded any revolver ammo with those bullets.

[freakshow10mm]

like which alley is Bush going to be walking down so we can beat the crap out of him and get our rights back.

Yet threatening the well being of a former US President is much better? You are a fool.

[Edward429451]

I'm clearly joking. Besides it's over his head, he's just a puppet, or was

But about that duty to retreat thing...how many times do I have to let him shoot me in the back before I am legally able to defend?

Save the legal and political stuff for the legal and political forum.

[Unclenick]

Have to disagree. We would be irresponsible not letting a newbie know something is illegal for the same reason we would be irresponsible not to warn him when we are posting hot loads. His ignorance of either could ruin his life. If he want's to take the risk, that's his business.

In any event, the point seems to be moot, as Jim appears to have uncovered that these are actually solid copper. Possibly brass plated for looks? I bought some Czechoslovakian .45 ACP with brass-colored bullets at a gun show one time (MFS brand?). I never scratched one to see if it was brass plated or some other alloy? Didn't shoot any differently than any other gunshow hardball that I recall?

[USCG]

thanks for the input, if it becomes an issue for me I always have a friend who loads for the beowulf, but what i think is ridiculous is how you can get away with that, but not a .308? and not that it matters too much for the S&W 500, I shot some relatively light load cast bullets at one of our "bullet proof vests" that had expired from work, and there might as well have not been one there, plus to top it off, the sheer blunt force trauma from something like that would stop just about anything.

[USCG]

I dont know if you read that entire article but...

2) AP ammo is the bullets ONLY, not the loaded ammo, although ATF has
identified some AP ammo by the loaded ammo, not projectiles, for the
information of FFL dealers, who are not supposed to "willfully"
transfer AP ammo.
>From this it follows that loading the bullets identified above into
completed rounds does not constitute "making" AP ammo; making the
bullets themselves does.


WHAT FEDERAL RESTRICTIONS ARE PLACED ON AP AMMO?

If you are NOT a (FFL) licensee under the Gun Control Act (an individual):
It is: ok to OWN AP ammo
ok to SELL AP ammo
ok to BUY AP ammo
ok to SHOOT AP ammo
NOT ok to MAKE AP ammo (18 USC sec. 922(a)(7))
NOT ok to IMPORT AP ammo (18 USC sec. 922(a)(7))

[Unclenick]

I recall this all stemmed from the KTW bullet, a hard brass bullet with Teflon coating that was an AP handgun bullet design in the early 80's. Soft body armor was getting into wider law enforcement use at the time, and even though the KTW was only sold to law enforcement agencies and not to the general public, there was sudden paranoia that its very existence meant there would be gangs of thugs armed with 9 mm AP knocking police down left and right. Since the original soft body armor was only designed to stop handgun rounds in the first place, regulation of rifle ammo was a moot point at the time.