Are These 7.62x39 Steel Core?

[Speedo66]

I've got some Chinese 7.62x39 ammo I picked up some years back. Read some threads which talk about "steel core". Just wondering if these are.

They are all copper washed steel cases, the bullets themselves are attracted to a magnet.

They are branded as follows:

Boxed as Jin An, headstamped 31, then 180 degrees around, 91

Boxed as Norinco, headstamped 351, then 180 deg. around, 91
Boxed as Norinco, headstamped 311, then 160 deg. around, 92

Boxed as Norinco China Sports, headstamped 31, then 180 deg. around,93

Any accurate info would be greatly appreciated. If they are steel core, approx. value?

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

... the bullets themselves are attracted to a magnet.

Definitely steel cored, then.

At the indoor range I used to shoot at, they did not allow steel cored bullets - as it would cause damage to their backstop - and would actually check rifle bullets with a magnet, as you did. It may not apply to you, but is worth noting.

 

[TheDriver]

I think retail value on steel core is b/w .50/$1.00 ea.

 

[Bartkowski]

The chinese steel core I see is about $.50 a round.

 

[stampsm]

... the bullets themselves are attracted to a magnet.

Definitely steel cored, then.

At the indoor range I used to shoot at, they did not allow steel cored bullets - as it would cause damage to their backstop - and would actually check rifle bullets with a magnet, as you did. It may not apply to you, but is worth noting.

not necessarily, some ammo uses a steel jacket covered in copper to save in cost. the only way to know for sure 100% is to verify the markings as know steel core, or dissect one of the bullets.
if it is steel core it can be as high as 1$ a round in places like gun shows where there are limited quantity and lower volume sales, to as low as around 40-50 cents in higher lots.

 

[GlowinPontiac]

If you really want to know pull one of the bullets and cut it in half with a hacksaw.

 

[ogree]

just use a magnet to check them.

 

[230RN]

^

stampsm already pointed out:

not necessarily, some ammo uses a steel jacket covered in copper to save in cost. the only way to know for sure 100% is to verify the markings as know steel core, or dissect one of the bullets.

Confirmed.

A magnet will attract steel jacketed bullets even if they have a lead core.

However, cutting them open is not the only way. You could weigh a bullet in air, then weigh it in water. Steel jacketed steel-core bullets will have a specific gravity of around 7-8 ish, steel jacketed lead bullets around 10.5 or more. Ish. IIRC. Awkward, but that's another way. Steel core bullets are also longer for a given weight than lead.

Simpler to hacksaw one.

There's an article on it which appeared in makeyourown.com under gear articles, ak-47 ammo. It has a discussion of how to tell with very good pix of the headstamps. See thumbnail for an example.

Unfortunately, you'll have to find the article yourself since it's way past my bedtime.

You might also do a search on THR for the information.

 

[fatelk]

I have a bunch of it, Chinese and some east German, wish I could find someone to pay 40 to 50 cents each for them. I be happy to do a two-for-one trade for Wolf ammo, as the steel-core stuff is really of no practical use at all to me.

IIRC, it was around '93 when the lead core Chinese stuff started coming in to the country. It seems to me that the cannelure was different, too; knurled instead of cut, perhaps. I used to know about this stuff, but it's been a long time.

So, I'm guessing that most, if not all of yours is steel core. The only type I would wonder about would be the "Norinco China Sports" from '93 (could be either way).

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Pull one bullet, if it's over an inch long, it's steel core. There is a chart on the internet that shoes which years and plants are steel core, but I can't link to it from this computer. I'll look around when I get home this evening.

Just so you know the 91 and 92 stamps are the year of manufacture, the 311 and 351 are the plants they were made in.

 

[Bartkowski]

Just got back from a gun show and it is now $1 a round. I believe the headstamp is the same as one of yours.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

No one else with any farther info, eh?

Well here's the info I told you I'd dig up:
http://www.makeyourowngear.com/Articles.php?action=detail&g=content1146681053

 

[230RN]

Thank you, Ben Shepherd. That was the article from which I pulled the pic above. I had only saved the article itself as an HTML file, and did not record the URL.

(child's sing-song tune): My laziness is bigger than your laziness, nyah-nyah.