http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/plastic-cased-ammunition-from-pcp-ammo/
i swear i’ve seen this stuff for sale even as far back as 05. that was at at a gun show…
I feel like there may be bugs to work out. also as a reloader it does nothing for me. interesting though.
Previous iterations of this type of ammo sucked. At the time, I recall the engineering types saying that the materials and tech weren’t there yet to make it truly viable at a price point the market would bear. Perhaps something has changed since. Good luck, guys. We’ll see.
Interesting concept but Im not buying anything that cant be reloaded.
They state that they must officially say its not reloadable. I’m not arguing but that seems open to interpretation based on the polymers “memory”.
I was going to ask about this when I first saw it. but I’m glad someone else did first as I have no SA on polymer casing.
Seems like it would have applications for inserting by foot somewhere for an extended period of time when you may not have resupply.
Or even “End of Days” scenario? When petroleum runs out and movement is based on man or animal power?
Polymer technology has come quite a ways over the last decade, so maybe there is some hope. I mean shotgun rounds are plastic with a metal base, granted they aren’t high pressure loads, but still. People make all sorts of things out of plastic now, even frames for guns so the we know the chemical resistance is possible. There is a company out of Switzerland that has materials suitable for use in automotive exhaust manifolds so the heat resistance is possible.
Wonder of they are relying on the metallic base to do the heavy duty work of sealing the chamber while the plastic only really holds everything in place.
Cool either way and may keep cost down as metal prices go up. However with the increase in oil prices going on and coming plastic may become more expensive than brass.
If you think about it. This could be the gateway green ammo. If the polymer is recyclable they could claim to be environmentally sensitive. Maybe make a bio degradable version later. After they get some of the bummers green jobs bail out money.
A company named Natec tried that back in the 90’s and it sucked pretty bad. It was very weak in the .223 I tried and sometimes the case mouths would rip off in the chamber.
I hope they get the plastic cases working well. This would be great for reloaders. Not because of reusing the cases but because we could make our own cases using simple injection molding equipment and cheap pelletized raw material.
In junior-high school shop class (decades ago) we used a small little machine that heated plastic pellets and with the pull of a lever injected the molten plastic into a mold. In our class we made screwdrivers, molding the plastic handle. Point is that the equipment would be easily within reach of the average reloader.
I can hear it now. The plastic melted to my chamber after 3 mag dumps and I chambered a round and the case melted to the chamber!
NO THANKS! I hope they never market this as I get tired of hearing all the wanna bees b*tching about the steel cased ammo. This will be the new gripe.
I spent some time with PCP at the SHOT Show. Officially the ammo is not reloadable until they have published some data. The case capacity is less than a normal .223 and he suggested that in general starting loads need to be treated as maximum charges. They have reloaded cases multiple times with no issue. However, it is officially not reloadable…
We also talked about Natec and their problems. PCP is convinced they have overcome those problems and that the plastic case is lighter and manages heat better than brass. The brass head with the primer is needed to hold the primer, but not necessarily required for extraction.
Well since they will not say how much the ammo costs it a mute point!
Unless it can be had for $6 for a box of 20 in 5.56mm it isn’t wurth it even it does work. :rolleyes:
I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much on molding your own case. IMM machines aren’t cheap, especially those that could be used to mold a relatively thin walled high pressure vessel inches from someone’s face. Small void inside screw driver handle = goofy or artsy looking tool. Small void in wall of pressure vessel holding 20ksi, even though it’s for microseconds = bad juju.
Bummer about the case cap, although it makes sense. Are we talking plinking ammo then, or can they make good mv?
That’s simply not true. Hollow point bullet molds for casting lead bullets are very similar to what a case mold would be. They must be held to high tolerances yet are usually <$250. Well within reach of a reloader who probably already has at least $2-3k in tooling already, not counting guns & consumables.
And it wouldn’t be a panacea. Thermoplastic cases could melt in a chamber of a hot barrel but most people don’t shoot that way. May not be a good option for your AR, but for revolvers, benchrest, hunting & other bolt-action guns, lever action guns, shotguns (oh wait, those are already plastic & they dond melt in) etc. Options are always a good thing.
Imagine, a case mould cut using the same reamer your chamber was cut with.
I think you’re confusing casting molten lead into a projectile with actually molding a plastic case. I think the idea would be great. Have a mold made with the same reamer that your chamber was made with and for a couple bucks a pound for pellets you can crank out your own cases.
Unfortunately there is a HUGE difference between casting and molding. Granted I am not a huge expert in casting plastics, but I don’t think that casting thin walled items is that easy. I do make my living designing injection molded plastic parts, some of which just happen to be pressure vessels. Nowhere near the 20 ksi + arena though. Relatively inexpensive aluminum molds that can hold decent tolerances (+/- .005 inches for items the size of a case) can be had for around $2-$4 thousand bucks. They will run around 1000 parts of unfilled material and less if you’re dealing with filled materials. After than your tolerances will drift as the tool wears. Hardened steel tools made in the USA will probably begin in the $8-$10k range. For a bottle neck case design you’re easily going to be looking at the $10k range as you will need a collapsible core to make the case neck work or your case volume will be cut dramatically. Then you will need the actual machine to run the mold. Not cheap, the cheapest one I could find online was a used 1995 machine for $35k although IMO it was WAY overkill for a small part like this. Assume used you can have one for $10k. Add drying equipment and it’s not something that you can have set up in your garage and run cost effectively, unless you’re independently wealthy that is. This is not an item you can simply cast and you sure as heck can’t make with a low pressure hand crank press. At least I wouldn’t put one up to my face.
Shotgun hulls are plastic and they don’t melt and they don’t disintegrate, which is why this concept is alive. However, not a soul that I know makes their own. We all buy they from someone else just like brass cases.
Moot.
I thought it was a “moo point”…like a cow’s opinion.
hmm if they can make it cheaper than steel case i’ll shoot it.
Honestly plastic cased ammo very likely is the future in small arms. It’s lighter cheaper and easier to produce (in theory). Whether it has yet arrived, we shall see.