So, I’m at the range yesterday banging away and a nice enough guy comes up to me and we strike up a conversation and we drift into ammo.
We get on the subject of Russian ammo.
He says he never uses the stuff. Why? Because the bullets are not jacketed in copper, but in steel, and that destroys the rifling in your barrel.
What say you?
Destroy? No increase the wear, yes.
So, it is true that with Russia ammo the full metal jacket is steel, not some kind of copper or copper wash?
Most is copper washed steel.
OK, so what he was saying was true, it will degrade my rifle’s bore?
Over time probably, But, it isn’t like it’ll be ruined in say, 1000 rnds, The key here is, the metal being used as a jacket is softer than the steel in the barrel, Barrel life wasn’t a priority with the Soviets, At the time,(say, WWII) getting ammo out was, if a rifle barrel was worn out from hard use, it was turned in, and a replacement was issued,
OK, gotcha. I’m a fairly high volume shooter, so any idea on what kind of round count with this stuff would hurt my M4 Daniel Defense?
Thanks for any info.
I find it highly unlikely that you’ll wear your barrel out any faster using Russian ammo. For the sake off argument, let’s say that you do…I’m willing to bet that the money you save by shooting Russian ammo, over the lifetime of the barrel, will be enough to replace the barrel and still save money at the same time.
This thread has my attention as I just picked up 2K steel jacketed, copper washed, lead core 147grn .30 cal bullets. I got a good deal on them & thought I’d load some just to see what they’d do.
being very conservative with the numbers, lets say you only save $50 per K on the ammo, and shoot the barrel out in 6k, you have paid for a new CHF barrel.
Yeah, most if not all of the cheap russian ammo has a jacket of copper coated mild steel (aka bi-metal or GMCS). It’s my understanding that this jacket steel is very soft, though. Much softer than the steel the barrel is made from. Given that, I’d suspect that it’s unlikely to cause any significant wear.
IIRC, a GMCS jacket is also spec’d for M80 ball…
Really? Seriously? please either use the search function or move this thread to arfcom.
I’m sorry, is there another location on this forum to talk about ammunition? I thought the “Reloading & Ammunition” forum was the right place to discuss what I was told at the range yesterday.
No, I think he means this type of question has been discussed more than several times in the past.
To stay on topic, I have shot a metric butt-load of “bi-metal” jacketed ammo through my guns over the years, I have yet to see a problem.
Basically the guy you were talking to has no idea what he is talking about
Yup, always a few who, apparently, have nothing better to do with themselves than play the role of “forum nanny.”
Thanks for the info on the ammo.
And there is your answer, Bottom line, go shoot it, and don’t worry about it, If/when you wear the barrel out, replace it with a new one. At least with a AR, barrel swaps aren’t that difficult
He isn’t being a “nanny” he is simply informing you that this site doesn’t hold peoples’ hands for them. There is plenty of previous discussion if you were to use the ORANGE SEARCH button at top.
Yup, thanks, good advice.
Comments like this are getting old.
echoing…
the jacket in russian ammo is actually NOT “steel” it’s an iron based metal blend, which is actually fairly soft, and just a bit harder than most copper jackets.
The projectile is copper washed in most cases, so the ONLY metal that comes in contact with the barrel is COPPER. If you can explain how that would wear out a barrel faster than an ordinary copper jacket or a plated bullet, I’d like to hear it.
At this point, the “barrel/extractor wear” theory holds no water on two premises:
1- There is little if any credible or repeatable evidence that it actually takes place and it certainly does not make any difference with a chrome lined barrel. (you dont see many AK barrels getting replaced do you? and thats with corrosive and “steel jacket” ammo being used)
2- the finances involved in using bimetal jacket ammo is such that it FAR outweighs ANY costs associated with increased wear on the firearm.
In short, the “steel jacket” theories/excuses are just more repeated interweb bull from people who can only see one dimensionally IMO.