SS109 ammo question

[tim71]

I hope this is in the right thread and if it's not, I'm sorry but I'm not real experienced on this board.

Anyway, SS109 ammo is selling like crazy and it's not AP ammo by definition and is not considered AP ammo by the BATF.

So, to me if an ammo company was halfway smart, why not make "SS109" ammo for many other calibers? Seems to me to be a no-brainer and would undoubtably sell very well.

.308, 6.8 would be good starters and heck I even bet some of the other sporting rounds would sell good. I'd love to have some for my 7mm RM.

Ammo manufacturers would do good to realize that hunters aren't the ones who stock pile ammo, but military type shooters are.

Heck, FN won't import the good stuff for the 5.7 pistol so come out with a ball SS109 bullet for that and load it up.

Seems like a prime opportunity to me. Any thoughts?

Tim

 

[moooose102]

i think most comercial ammo makers in the us are in buisness to make money. purposely making ammo, to be sold at less profit kind of defeats the purpose. that is probably why most cheap ammo comes from countries other than the USA.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I don't think it means any ammo named SS109 is exempt it means SS109 .223 ball ammo is exempt. I think if makers started producing other calibers the ATF would squash it pretty soon. Especially if it was in a handgun caliber (which is why fn had to stop selling the AP 5.7 ammo when it brought the FiveseveN pistol here).

 

[novaDAK]

SS109 is simply the NATO designation for this particular 5.56x45mm load. The US designation is M855. You can't call other cartridges SS109 or M855 since it refers to an exact 5.56 cartridge variant.

 

[RyanM]

M855 is exempt because the core is part steel, part lead. The definition of AP only applies to stuff with a core that's made wholly from a banned material.

 

[tim71]

Ryan,

That's exactly my point. By construction, the SS109 is exempt so regardless of what you'd call the finished product, why doesn't some other manufacturer make an identical bullet / cartridge for the other calibers? Heck, sounds like you could make pistol cartridges with that construction and they'd still be legal.

I think it would sell like hotcakes.

Tim

 

[HorseSoldier]

The media and anti-gun crowd would have a field day with anyone who started cranking this stuff out.

M855/SS109 minuses, from a commercial stand point --

1) Degraded accuracy (green tip averages around a 3 MOA round, some lots better some worse)
2) Not suitable for hunting use
3) Not suitable for three gun or tactical/defensive training classes where there's any shooting on steel targets inside 100 meters or so
4) Costs more per round than lead FMJ

Pluses

1) Better performance against armor and barriers.

In about a month this idea is going to literally go over about like a lead balloon. I don't think any manufacturer would touch the idea with a ten foot pole, but if they did it would just be handing a great big freebie to the anti-gun crowd, for no real benefit for anyone but the black helicopters anxiety club.

 

[tim71]

I heard a guy say once that you don't sell 4wd pickups by catering to the environmentalists. I think the same holds true for guns and ammo.

There must be alot of members in the black helicopter anxiety club as you say because .223 SS109 is sold out every where.

I bet the liberal antis would be really proud of themselves if they read this thread. They seem to not have to attack us all the time because many times we limit ourselves by worrying about what will or won't upset them.

I'm simply looking at business. Personally, if I had an ammo company I'd want to cater to the crowds that will spend their last dollar buying ammo by the case or pallet.

Heck, antis don't need a good reason, just look at the Black Talon. That bullet wasn't even that great and they had a field day with that.

Tim

 

[Jeff White]

SS109 was developed to create a 5.56x45 round that would penetrate the old US M1 steel helmet at 600 meters. There is no need to make a round like that in a bigger caliber because the bigger calibers already do that. Start designing them to penetrate more then that and they will likely be designated AP by the powers that be and banned.

The old M1 steel helmet was not exactly armor.

 

[Old Guy]

SS109 was developed to create a 5.56x45 round that would penetrate the old US M1 steel helmet at 600 meters.

Correct Jeff, but why? The troops on the other side of our conflicts don't use our helmets do they?

 

[woodybrighton]

It would probably been seen as unnecessarily provocative to use a standard soviet helmet plus they weren't that easy to come by.
Then you have people arguing thats an old Russian helmet not the new issue etc etc. When if its your issue you know what went into the standard.