Plastic Cartridges

[Brass Fetcher]

spooney,

Didn't think about them being lighter, just seemed like a bad idea strengthwise to me.
I'm with you on that, but I think that is a large barrier facing any new technology, especially in an area of commerce that has lifelong consequences such as guns do. Most people who use terms like "I'd bet my life on (product name here" are more interested in a 'proven' material such as steel or aluminum.

I know a Vietnam veteran who was among the first 10 000 or so soldiers to utilize the M-16 in combat, and he will still to this day tell you how skeptical he was of having a 'plastic' rifle.

One of the very fine things about advanced materials (especially moldable material like plastics) is that they keep getting more useful and dependable as time goes by. I expect big things from this technology, but the market has to support it for things to improve.

JE223

 

[GunnySkox]

I am also under the impression that polymer transfers less heat than brass...not more.

I think that's the trouble, generally. Normally, because brass is a good conductor of heat, it'd "absorb" a deal of heat from the firing during operation and that heat would go away when the case is extracted and done away with. The polymer wouldn't conduct heat as well, and so wouldn't heat up as much, leaving the chamber area hotter, or something like that. I dunno, I just post here.

Buy what you want. Don't push that trash on the rest of us!

Who's pushing what on you? You can buy what you want, too. You can buy steel or aluminum or "bimetal" or brass cased ammunition until the cows come home, just like you can buy guns that are made of steel or polymer or aluminum or weird alloys or zinc or what-have you. NATEC Ninjas aren't going to come bust in your door and shoot you in the face if you're all about the metal-cased ammunition, don't get your knickers all up in a twist.

~GnSx

 

[lysander]

JE223,

but the market has to support it for things to improve.

Or....government subsidies and corporate grants for beneficial technology can be provided, to prop up production of items not yet commercially viable.

GunnySkox,

The polymer wouldn't conduct heat as well, and so wouldn't heat up as much, leaving the chamber area hotter, or something like that. I dunno, I just post here.

I'm not sure here either...the way the cases are pitched seem to indicate that the polymer acts as an insulator...preventing the transfer of heat to the chamber at all (going where? I couldn't tell you...don't have anywhere near the science skill-set to offer anything more than a guess) helping the gun run cooler.

 

[cbsbyte]

Junk

I bought a couple of boxes of Natec .223 55 FMJ to try out. It did not run at all in my tight new AR, it jammed every few rounds because it is underpowered, and does not fully cycle the bolt. My AR has the same problem with diguesting Wolf. Also it is dirty. For the price of the Natec one could get better preforming like Federals American Eagle ammo.

 

[jes1994]

Insert Twilight Zone Theme Here

I know it's fiction, but in Unintended Consequences, Henry Bowman uses plastic ammo in a 44 revolver on one bad guy explicitly, one bad guy implicitly, and claims to have it loaded in his revolver while drawing down on yet another bad guy.

This thread was kinda eerie because coming to THR to look for information about the plastic stuff back in Real Life (tm) was on my to-do list, having recently finished reading UC.

--

EDIT: Oops... plastic cases... sorry about that.

 

[walking arsenal]

The book "The AR-15" by Patrick Sweeney states "It (the brass) takes a considerable amount of heat with it, somthing firearms engineers plan for. One of the problems the German Army and H-K had with the caseless G-11 they were working on was what to do with the heat generated by the burning powder if there was no case to remove the heat during cycling."

Considering the plastic case doesnt hold heat well I would be concerned about the case melting under rapid or full auto fire. A problem they (whoever they are) had a problem with when they were trying to invent a full auto 12ga shotgun. The Pancor Jackhammer solved this by using a cylinder much like a revolver. Single chamber designs had a problem with the cases melting and sticking in the chamber.

I never even thought about that when i was shooting it in my AR. Reading this thread now makes it pretty freakin obvious.

 

[Harv]

Was In a 3 Day carbine class last year and a fellow student was running this NATEC ammo. He had to Squib loads that luckily were caught by the instructor before he punched another rd down the barrel.....

He had a lot of reliability issues with this ammo...and the ironic thing and what I always here from some one who starts to have issues with something is "I ran this before and never had any problems"

Of course this translates to " I never fired more then a few mags thru on a cool 70F day" All his problems were after heating up his weapon with 4-5 mags on a 100F day...
No thanks..I'll pass. for the little bit of difference money wise...., I'll stick to Brass or steel

 

[rangerruck]

i use it once in my cz in 223. wont do it again until they figure a way to work the kinks out, may work better in a pistol, short case and all.

 

[Khornet]

Used a couple boxes

in my DPMS CMP rifle. On a 70 degree day, not shooting very quickly. Accuarcy was about that of Federal XM193. No feeding or ejection problems. Some cases did seem a little scorched, but who cares. What DID rattle me at first was when a fired case had no neck lect, cracked clean off. I worried where that material was, so I cleared the rifle and checked. Not in the rifle. I think it gets snapped off sometimes during ejection.

I can certailnly see the point from the standpoint of less weight and maybe better resistance to the elements. I just haven't fired a lot at once, so I can't address heat issues. But it functioned fine in my AR.