50BMG Ball ammo question

[Matt304]

Just a quick question...

Is 50BMG BALL ammo supposed to be a pure lead core?

I had a bag of some FMJBT 50BMG bullets that I assumed was ball ammo, since they were not marked at all on their tips, just plain copper jackets. I gave the bag to a friend that reloads 50BMG and he cut the base off one to find that they appear to be a full steel core. I just thought that the steel core bullets were always marked with a black painted tip for AP.

Thanks.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Ball has a mild steel core.

AP has a hardened steel core.

lpl/nc

 

[SDC]

Ditto; if these bullets all had a lead core, they would be so heavy that they wouldn't have the velocity or trajectory required for them to be effective.

 

[50 Shooter]

For some strange reason they seal the back of the jacket on ball projo's with lead. That's why people think that the bullet is lead core and not steel but yeah what Lee said about the differences.

 

[Wes Janson]

Perhaps to shift the center of gravity of the projectile further back? Just random uneducated theorizing...

 

[RecoilRob]

I've sectioned a few ball and AP projos, and they have lead all around the core. The ball has a powdered like lead while the AP normally has solid, like it had been molten when formed.

The AP has a reputation as being the more accurate surplus projo because the core tends to be centered more consistantly vs M33 Ball.

I suspect the lead encasement of the core is to create a space for the rifling to imprint which makes it easier on the barrel, and the manufacturing process ends up pushing some out of the base...hence the lead endcap.

 

[Matt304]

These have no visable lead inside. He cut the base with a pipecutter and the rear jacket just fell off, exposing a pure steel core. The base has a small hole on all of them, where you can see the steel.