American Eagle 130 FMJ safe in tubular magazine?

[ddc]

Hi,
I have a Marlin 1894 and a bunch of FMJ (American Eagle 38 spcl) originally purchased for revolver usage.
Is the FMJ safe for use given the tubular inline magazine. i.e. is it "blunt" enough to be safe?
Thanks,
Don.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I wouldn't just to be safe. While its not as pointy as 9mm, it's still a hard and pointed bullet. I don't think I'd be worried about lead round nose ammo. If you want to shoot it up you can load one, chamber it load another. You can use the 2 shots then reload as a speed drill for handling your rifle.

FYI that AE 130gr stuff gave me horrible accuracy in my snubby.

On the other hand, 38 special isn't generating much recoil to set one off in the mag tube.

 

[ECVMatt]

I am not sure if it is safe, but I have shot a ton of that out of my Marlin and Winchester .357. There is no recoil, so I can't see how it would cause a problem. I single loaded a round and fired it to judge the recoil before I loaded up the tube. You might want to do this for yourself to see how you feel about it.

 

[paintballdude902]

anyone know the pressure it takes to set off a rifle primer? i know on a 105mm its 3-5lbs but i feel like its more for a rifle or pistol primer. is that amount of force going to be put on the primer of a round in a tube mag? i doubt it

 

[303tom]

Yes they are safe, why would they not be ? Their not pointed ! I don`t think you can buy a .38 SPL or .357 Mag. that would not be safe in it..............

 

[Dain Bramage]

Yes they are safe, why would they not be ? Their not pointed ! I don`t think you can buy a .38 SPL or .357 Mag. that would not be safe in it..............

I agree. Pointed spitzer rifle rounds are the only ones I have ever heard being a problem in tubular magazines, and that only from the famous Lebel rifle with the enlarged rim and rebated base specifically designed to counter the issue. So, unless you're running some oddball (and illegal) Russian kevlar penetrating rounds with the protruding posts, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[CraigC]

I would do so without hesitation.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Watch for bullet noses that would put pressure on the primer: cartridges in a tube magazine tend to "bounce" under recoil. If the nose on the FMJ is blunt and the flat is larger than the diameter of a primer, it should not put pressure on the primer under recoil. I have a box of FMJ 357 Mag, but the flat nose of the bullet is much larger than the primer pocket. I checked and I have fired all my FMJ 130gr 38 Spl (BTW that is the same style as the USAF issue ammo for the .38 revolvers issued to pilots) so I can't say if I would use it in a tube magazine.

I have a Rossi Puma 1892 clone and a Ruger Security Six and I simply make a point of buying jacketed bullets with exposed lead , hollowpoint or flatpoint noses, in either .38 Spl or .357. Quite frankly, the FMJ was bought by accident, but I would not expect it to cause a detonation in a tube magazine. I suspect the noses were flat due to factory concerns about use in tube magazines.

 

[brnmuenchow]

LRN/SP only IMO. I say why chance it.

Blackhills Ammunition "Cowboy Action" .38 Special
158 Gr. CNL
Velocity 800 FPS.

You may want to try something like that instead of FMJ's.

 

[rule303]

In our sue-happy society, if there were any chance that it were dangerous, there would be warnings in the manual in bold red print, and probably on the side of the barrel. There aren't, it is perfectly safe.

 

[MrDig]

I'm uncertain of the safety but I am certain that American Eagle is really nasty to clean out of your gun when you are done shooting. I have yet to shoot any of it that doesn't foul everything the gas can reach.