Steel core ammo that ain't

[AbitNutz]

I have a Siamese Mauser that has been re-barreled in .303 British. 303 British is becoming hard to come by but Cheaper Than Dirt has some Greek surplus. This is supposed to be as good as surplus can get.

It's Boxer primed, non-corrosive and according to CTDs description...steel cored. I'm not a fan of steel cored ammo. According to my barrel maker, it causes excessive wear. You may or may not agree with that but that's what they said.

Oh well, I guess I'll just break it down and reuse the primered brass. It was still cheaper than once fired brass!

Except....I hit it with a magnet and got nothing. Then I broke one down and the exposed base end is clearly lead. I cut it easily with my pocket knife. I then cut one open. If there's a steel core in there I sure couldn't find it. This thing is a thick copper jacket with a lead core.

I am a happy camper...

 

[herrwalther]

Would not be the first time the descriptors at CTD have been wrong. They have really been slipping the last few years in accuracy of their products.

 

[rcmodel]

Contrary to internet lore.

Steel ' core' ammo will not harm a barrel any worse then lead core.

Because the 'Steel Core' never comes in contact with the rifles bore.

It is totally inclosed by the bullet jacket, and usually by a thin lead core between the steel core and copper jacket.

The bore could care less, because the steel core never even gets close to touching it.

rc

 

[AbitNutz]

Well....the folks at Kreiger barrels would beg to differ. They claim to have evidence of a "substantial" increase in wear when shooting steel core. The gentleman on the phone accurately described the design of the bullet as steel with lead and then a casing. I questioned him about it and he said it causes increased pressure.

What can I say? They said it. They don't recommend steel cored ammo in their barrels. They said it's safe but causes accelerated wear.

Anyway, I'm still thrilled to find out that this Greek surplus Greek 303 British ammo is brass case, non-corrosive, boxer primed, copper jacket, lead cored.

 

[Reloadron]

Well....the folks at Kreiger barrels would beg to differ. They claim to have evidence of a "substantial" increase in wear when shooting steel core. The gentleman on the phone accurately described the design of the bullet as steel with lead and then a casing. I questioned him about it and he said it causes increased pressure.

What can I say? They said it. They don't recommend steel cored ammo in their barrels. They said it's safe but causes accelerated wear.

Anyway, I'm still thrilled to find out that this Greek surplus Greek 303 British ammo is brass case, non-corrosive, boxer primed, copper jacket, lead cored.

RC correctly answered based on steel core. Now what seems to be described above is a steel jacket as in steel jacket and a lead core. The steel jacket will have a guilding acting as a lubricant, for example a copper wash. So a steel core and a steel jacket are not the same bullet.

It becomes real important to know exactly which bullet we are talking about. I can understand the cause for celebration on this note:

Anyway, I'm still thrilled to find out that this Greek surplus Greek 303 British ammo is brass case, non-corrosive, boxer primed, copper jacket, lead cored.

Ron

 

[zoom6zoom]

causes accelerated wear.

Yeah, the barrel will only last 90K rounds instead of 100K

 

[GLOOB]

I have personally never worn out a barrel, but I understand that centerfire rifle barrels don't last nearly that long! Rifle barrels die of throat erosion, sooner or later, and 100k rounds is probably well past "later" in this case.

If a 30 cal barrel lasted even half that long, who could afford to wear one out?