Chainsaw2
Member
I've been told that some of the russian ammo has steel jacket rounds. I understand that most of it is steel cased, and this may be causing some confusion. Is there such a thing as steel jacket slugs in 5.56 ammo?
jim
jim
5.56x45 Steel jacket ammo.
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VintovkaMosin
Member.
I have never heard of steel jacketed 5.56 bullets, but I'm sure they exist. Wolf is steel cased but not steel jacketed, and they are by far the most common Russian ammo where i am. 5.56 has an already low barrel life, especially in military weapons due to fast throat wear so a steel jacket would exacerbate that greatly.
Z-Michigan
Member
Use a magnet and know for sure!
Most Russian-made rifle ammo (and a lot of their handgun ammo) uses both a steel CASE and also uses a bullet with a steel JACKET. The jackets are usually very soft mild steel and have a super thin copper wash that gives them the copper color. If it's Wolf, Barnaul, or Bear, you should assume the bullet is steel jacketed unless you can show differently (same for Golden Tiger but I've never seen .223 from that brand.)
Incidentally properly made steel jackets cause very little additional wear vs. copper. Roughly half of US-made, US-military-spec 7.62x51mm NATO (aka .308) FMJ ammo has copper plated steel jackets as well. (I'm not aware of any US-made 5.56 NATO ammo using steel jackets.)
Most Russian-made rifle ammo (and a lot of their handgun ammo) uses both a steel CASE and also uses a bullet with a steel JACKET. The jackets are usually very soft mild steel and have a super thin copper wash that gives them the copper color. If it's Wolf, Barnaul, or Bear, you should assume the bullet is steel jacketed unless you can show differently (same for Golden Tiger but I've never seen .223 from that brand.)
Incidentally properly made steel jackets cause very little additional wear vs. copper. Roughly half of US-made, US-military-spec 7.62x51mm NATO (aka .308) FMJ ammo has copper plated steel jackets as well. (I'm not aware of any US-made 5.56 NATO ammo using steel jackets.)
briansmithwins
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Lots of ammo manufactured in Russia is made with steel jackets with a gilding metal plating. If the bullet sticks to a magnet chances are it's steel jacketed.
That said, you barrel is going to have the throat eroded out of it long before and additional wear to the rest of the bore becomes a problem. Barrels always* wear out from shooting at the throat from the hot gas. Smaller calibers and higher velocities wear out faster.
BSW
*Except for mechanical damage from a squib or to the crown.
That said, you barrel is going to have the throat eroded out of it long before and additional wear to the rest of the bore becomes a problem. Barrels always* wear out from shooting at the throat from the hot gas. Smaller calibers and higher velocities wear out faster.
BSW
*Except for mechanical damage from a squib or to the crown.
Exactly this, and I can confirm, Golden Tiger is the same.
You'll hear the ammo referred to as bimetal as well.
Other point to note as well....do not confuse bimetal/steel jacketed rounds with steel cored penetrator ammo, such as SS109/M855. This ammo has a hard steel piece embedded in it, and is made to go through things. THis is the stuff that chews up steel targets at the range, for instance. The Russian stuff with the mild steel jacket does not...but gets a bad press anyway because it sticks to a magnet and is often tarred with the same brush.
JustinJ
Member
Most of the russian is actually lead core with a steel jacket beneath a very thin outer copper jacket.
christcorp
Member
There's a big difference compared to what many people think. Basically, most of the russian ammo is bi-metal, as has been said. It's lead with a thin steel jack over it; then a copper coating over it. Done because it's cheaper. Unless of course you get soft points. Then it's just lead like a normal soft point.
Can it hurt your rifle? No. That's what the copper over the steel is for. There a lot of military STEEL CORE ammo out there. Steel core is different. It's real steel with a coating to protect the barrel. It's the stuff that easily goes through metal. Bi-metal is simply a cheap way of making ammo without spending so much on copper and lead.
Can it hurt your rifle? No. That's what the copper over the steel is for. There a lot of military STEEL CORE ammo out there. Steel core is different. It's real steel with a coating to protect the barrel. It's the stuff that easily goes through metal. Bi-metal is simply a cheap way of making ammo without spending so much on copper and lead.
mortablunt
Member
It's not a legal issue. It's a common way of doing it because steel is cheaper than brass. It ain't AP either; the steel is too soft to add penetration.
Chainsaw2
Member
Thanks for the info gents! I knew I'd get a proper indepth answer here.
jim
jim
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