Silver Tulammo

[MrGiggles]

A LGS has Tula .223 for 5.00/20. I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round. I bought 80 rounds yesterday, thinking about grabbing some more today.

They are all silver bullets that I have not seen before.

All of the threads I have read are all just assumptions and bickering, can't seem to find any solid evidence that it causes excessive barrel wear. Is it anything to worry about?

The gun is an Anderson lower/BCG and a S&W MP15 barrel.

 

[FROGO207]

You can't reload for as cheap but you CAN reload better quality for nearly the same price. Sounds like you will be able to give evidence on barrel wear after shooting a pile of these. I generally think that lots of rumors are just that---but possibly hold some bit of truth or they would not persist out there. I also think that newer shooters hear about using older corrosive surplus and put the same thoughts forward on using the newer imported offerings not knowing there is a difference. YMMV

 

[Panzerschwein]

For .308, which also has the new silver coated bullets, I don't think you can reload for how cheap it is. Makes shooting my battle rifles feasible these days. I've never had an issue with it in my G3 clone.

 

[alientrainwreck]

I have an old DPMS at least 20yrs old , I bought it through the marshal service when I first started working for the nation marshals and since we couldn't shoot reloaded ammo I shot the steel cased bi-metal stuff that a magnet will stick to the bullet kinda stuff for targets alot of the time. The gun has absolutely no problems and is very accurate and maybe a hiccup 1 ina 1000 rounds maybe ! It's good ammo to fill a water proof ammocan just in case you gotta hit the woods type of thing.

 

[funklord12]

The silver color is zinc. Russian ammunition manufacturers changed to zinc plating the steel jackets instead of copper plating them.

 

[230RN]

^
You sure it isn't tin-plated? I don't know, but it seems to me that tin-copper alloy bullet jackets were what finally solved the copper fouling problem in U.S. jacketed ammunition almost a century ago.

On the other hand, zinc-plated steel inhibits corrosion, as in "galvanized steel," so it could be.

Someone educate me further.

Terry, 230RN

 

[KansasSasquatch]

If it is Zinc coated I wouldn't shoot it. Burning zinc creates fumes that cause cumulative and irreversible damage when inhaled. When welding galvanized steel you should wear a respirator or use a fume extractor. I'm not sure that firing ammo with zinc coated bullets would get the zinc hot enough to produce the fumes, but I sure wouldn't risk it.

 

[hdwhit]

I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round.

When I visited my father over Thankgiving, he asked me how much I had paid for the commercial ammunition that I had brought with me (American Eagle 55gr FMJ, brass case, $7.49 for 20) and how much it had cost me to reload the rest of what I had brought. I hadn't given it much thought since my reasons for reloading have nothing to do with cost savings. But, I did run the numbers for him and in round figures, this is what I came up with:

Bullet: 55 gr FMJ from Everglades Ammo (shipping included) 8.4 cents
Primer: Winchester WSR purchased locally at Academy (sales tax included) 4.3 cents
Powder: 19.8 grains IMR-4198 purchased at local doomsday preparation store (sales tax included): 7.5 cents
Case: Ex-Military LC80 case purchased for 4 cents but reloaded four times (so far) 1.0 cents
Total 21.2 cents

Associated costs such as the vinegar or Lemishine I use for case cleaning, case re-sizing lubricant, fingernail polish used to seal the primers, amortization of the reloading equipment, etc. have been ignored as they are immaterial.

So, buying components at retail prices and not in bulk, it is possible to reload .223 Remington plinking rounds for a quarter each. Of course if by "plinking" the OP is intending to mean soft point ammunition because that's what his range requires, that would push the bullet cost up to around 11 or 12 cents, but even that would still bring the total cost in around a quarter.

 

[MrGiggles]

What I should have said is that I can't justify reloading plinking ammo when I can buy it for less, or close to the same price.

I probably won't be buying any more, that deal was this weekend only and I didn't have time to stop in today.

 

[Gottcha]

I shot Tula 9mm ammo for the first time and I can tell you after 50 rounds it took me twice as long to clean the barrel. They all went bang and I can't comment on accuracy due to not being a seasoned pistol shooter.

 

[Prince Yamato]

I've used Tula Ammo in all my guns. It's fine. If you have a gun with loose tolerances (as in NOT a Wilson Combat or something expensive) it will shoot the same as regular ammo with the exception of being a little dirtier. It's fine for MOST AR-15s, again with the exception of expensive custom guns. But, if you can afford those guns, you can probably afford better ammo anyway.

 

[Everready73]

I use it in my PSA ar15 frequently. Never had an issue. Bolt locks back every time. It is a little underpowered buy it's just for plinking so I don't care.

 

[Panzerschwein]

It is what I use in my 9mm Makarov. Good stuff.

 

[jdc1244]

Everyone needs to research the issue and decide for himself what is best.

Based on my research and evidence discovered, I’ve made the decision to not use ammunition with a bi-metal bullet; the copper or zinc ‘wash’ does nothing to protect the barrel, resulting in premature wear.

This does not mean, of course, that those who continue to use such ammunition with good results are ‘wrong,’ nor does it mean that ammunition with a bi-metal bullet is ‘bad,’ it means I’ve determined that what meager savings one might realize doesn’t justify the risk.

 

[Reefinmike]

I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round.

Yes you can! You can load 223 for 18-20 cents a round if you buy in larger quantities and keep an eye out for the deals.

nereloading.com and monmouthreloading.com often times have hornady 55gr fmjbt or SP bullets for $140/2,000ct box shipped. That is 7 cents a bullet

If you dont already pick it up for free at the range, once fired LC 556 brass can usually be found for 5 cents a piece shipped. You should be able to get at least 5 reloads per piece so figure 1 cent per load for brass cost.

When purchasing decent quantities of powder/primers, I figure your average pound of powder to be $22.50/lb. With an average charge of 25gr for a 55gr 223 load your powder cost will be 8 cents a powder charge

A primer will run you 2-4 cents a piece depending on brand (S&B vs CCI#41s)

At a savings of 5-7 cents a round, it will take over 500 rounds before you break even on the dies but I bet you could load better shooting ammo than the folks at tula.

 

[hdwhit]

Mr Giggles wrote:
What I should have said is that I can't justify reloading plinking ammo when I can buy it for less, or close to the same price.

And viewed in absolute terms, $21.20 per hundred to reload versus $30.00 per hundred may constitue "close" for you and you may not want to bother with the hassle of reloading for the difference. All of that is fine. The choice to reload or not is entirely up to you. My post took exception with the assertion in the OP that "I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round"; an assertion I established was not accurate under all but most restrictive of circumstances.

Whether or not you choose to shoot inexpensive factory loads or reload is entirely your choice.

But, when you say something like "I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round.", other reloaders - or potential reloaders - who might be reading this thread are liable to take that 25 cent figure as a floor and make their decision about whether or not to engage in the hobby based on it. My purpose in challenging it is to establish: 1) it is not an accurate figure, and 2) that a more realistic - and actually achieved - cost of "plinking" ammunition is nearly 20% cheaper than what you cited.

 

[wally]

My post took exception with the assertion in the OP that "I can't reload plinking ammo for 25c a round"; an assertion I established was not accurate under all but most restrictive of circumstances.

Not putting a sub-minimum wage value on your time to hit your price target is hardly a "most restrictive of circumstances".

You also have to look at the capital equipment costs of reloading which is a significant upfront expense, plus you need to go up the learning curve in order to do it safely, which takes yet more time.

I reload handgun rounds in high volume and I can't reload "plinking" .223 for 25c a round. Even though I'm retired, I still don't have unlimited free time -- time spent reloading, takes time from something else I'd rather be doing instead. Reloading 100K+ pistol rounds over the next 5-10 years was part of my retirement plans. Any rifle reloading would be confined to "match" loads should I ever get to where my volume of shooting would justify it.

OTOH my wife and I were recently out at my friends ranch having a ball banging 4 moa steel plates with 2 moa Wolf .223 ammo at ~250 yards. Unless I get a serious hankering to actually shoot in matches, or find somewhere I can get well past 500 yards to shoot, I may never have any real need for "match" ammo in any significant volume to justify reloading despite having all the equipment needed to do so. I branched out briefly into reloading .223 & .308 after I became an accomplished pistol reloader about 25 years ago. Inheriting much of the equipment also helped me decide to give it a try, after which I rather quickly decided I had better things to do with my "free" time.

 

[FIGHT NIGHT]

That new Zinc stuff is hard to get off your barrel. Best to shoot some copper jackets after

 

[Panzerschwein]

S

That new Zinc stuff is hard to get off your barrel. Best to shoot some copper jackets after

Source?

 

[wally]

That new Zinc stuff is hard to get off your barrel

I haven't encountered it yet in .223, but I've shot a couple of cases of the "silver" Tula 9mm and not noticed any issues whatsoever.

 

[Hacker15E]

No, there is no evidence that the silver Tula will cause "excessive barrel wear," and a lot of people shoot it.