bi metal ammo for AK-47 - yes or no ?

[dekibg]

I have always shot Tula and Wolf without even realizing that bullet is bi metal ( I always knew that case in Russian ammo is steel)
My understanding is that bi metal bullet means that actual jacket is made of steel with thin coating of copper or brass.
What is your opinion on bi metal ammo for AK?
seems that price wise, now is a good time to buy a case of 1000, since they are available online for around $230.
Thank you all

 

[OilyPablo]

Yes. It's pretty much what most everyone shoots. I just paid about the same for another 1000. The AK (should be) a low cost platform!

 

[eldon519]

Bi-metal jackets are a bit harder on the barrel, but it is an AK. It is not a match-grade platform. That is what it is fed in full-auto military service, so I would not hesitate to do so.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

Yes! No reason to pay more for anything else.

 

[adcoch1]

That's what chrome lined barrels are for. Plus the ak is designed to shoot it, and out of a steel case too. Actually the ammo is designed for the rifle, but they go hand in hand. Not gonna hurt an ak by using bi-metal ammo

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

 

[WardenWolf]

It's a bi-metallic jacket, not steel core. That said, go for it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Shoot it and have fun.

 

[DeepSouth]

I've shot many thousands of rounds of it and never noticed any excessive barrel wear, and a lot of that was with a gun equipped with a slide fire that's had a glowing barrel on multiple occasions.

I'm not saying it want cause excessive barrel wear, just that it's not enough to matter.

 

[shrewd]

not worth worrying about. If you ever actually shoot out the barrel you've already spent the cost of numerous new AKs in ammo anyway.

 

[MIL-DOT]

bi metal ammo for AK-47 - yes or no ?

Realistically, you don't have much of a choice. The only other option is to spend huge money blasting through 30-rd mags filled with much more expensive European or US-made, brass-cased ammo, with no discernable benefit.

 

[Reloadron]

It's what the rifle was designed and built to shoot so I wouldn't be concerned shooting the stuff.

Ron

 

[dekibg]

Phew !
Thanks everyone !!!!

 

[Mosin Bubba]

Yeah, one big benefit with AKs is that cheap steel ammo is actually it's military-issue recommended diet.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The steel in Russian bullet jackets and cartridge casings is a mild steel.

It is not like hard tool grade steel used for rifle receivers or barrels. It is deliberately softer, a bit tougher than brass, but not Man of Steel tough.

The AK has been used with bimetal bullet jackets for decades.

 

[Ironicaintit]

... brass-cased ammo, with no discernable benefit.

As an aside, I'd say being able to reload the spent cases is a benefit....

But your AK does not care.

 

[Stuffs]

I wouldn't worry about an ak using that kind of ammo.....but now I'm wondering what that ammo will do to my cz527 carbine's bore. I only use Tula/wolf ammo.

 

[Reloadron]

Back in post #13 Carl summed it up nicely. The steel case used is a very soft steel alloy and this type steel jacket has been shoot in just about everything in several test with no damage to the barrels. The word "steel: does not imply a steel as in a hard tool steel. Finally rifles like the SKS and AK 47 families were designed around shooting this stuff. Beyond that, guys shooting for example Ruger Mini rifles have never had a problem I am aware of where the mild steel cases did any damage?

Ron

 

[eldon519]

It will not damage anything, it just wears a barrel ever so slightly faster than a copper jacketed round. That will be true whether it is an AK or a CZ527, whether it is a 7.62x39 or whether it is a 5.56x45 (or any other round). It is not a big deal, and as pointed out it would be economically impractical to feed it anything else. It is a combat weapon with combat accuracy though, so it isn't a huge deal. If you were absolutely obsessed with barrel wear you could feed it cast lead bullets which are even easier on the barrel than copper jacketed, but it is silly to fret over.

 

[Whiskey11]

Everything you could possibly want to know on the issue:
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

Basically, by the time it matters, you will have replaced the barrel and still spent less than shooting the same in "normal" rounds.

If you are looking for accuracy though, I wouldn't shoot steel unless it was the only thing you had.

 

[Bugster]

Realistically, you don't have much of a choice. The only other option is to spend huge money blasting through 30-rd mags filled with much more expensive European or US-made, brass-cased ammo, with no discernable benefit.

I have always felt the same. But about a week ago at a local farm store that always has much ammo at reasonable prices, I found a great buy.
I saw some boxes on their shelves I haven't seen there before. It was, Red Army Standard brand of 7.62x39 ammo at $14.99 a box, and it was their annual sales tax free weekend. So I bought two boxes, and took them home. When I got home I found it wasn't 20 round boxes but 30 round boxes. I immediately went back and bought four more boxes. Figures out to about $7.50 per 20 rounds. That's about what the Russian Bear brand is going for around here. It is all brass cased and boxer primed. Sweet find even if I do say so myself.