What ammo is illegal and what is not?

[barnetmill]

If the ATF judges that rifle ammo can be used in a pistol, than at their discretion they may declare any armor piecing ammo in that caliber to be illegal to manufacture or sell for civilians. What is armor piecing depends on the amount in the jacket and core of hard metals like steel and depleted uranium, tungsten etc. Currently according to the ATF if I am still update 30-06 armor piecing is legal and .308 is not. .223 with a steel penetrator is legal.

 

[benEzra]

I can buy 62 grain SS-109 bullets to load in .223, they are steel core, pretty sure they would be AP bullets.

Actually, SS109/M855 is lead-core with a teeny steel cap, is classified as regular non-AP ball by both the military and BATFE, and actually has somewhat less penetration in metal than M193 55gr FMJ at close range due to its lower initial velocity. M855/SS109 penetrates better at long range only because of its better sectional density, allowing it to hold on to its velocity better, not because of any AP qualities.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

...and .30 M2AP in .30/06 is legally *NOT* AP per ATF; in spite of the fact it is a serious AP round for a shoulder fired weapon.

Now, have the same projectile in a 7.62 NATO case and--presto--you have a 'real deal' AP cartridge (per ATF).



The LONG story gets long, but that tidbit illustrates the point.

 

[benEzra]

...and .30 M2AP in .30/06 is legally *NOT* AP per ATF; in spite of the fact it is a serious AP round for a shoulder fired weapon.

Well, it's AP, it's just not AP handgun ammunition (the 1986 AP ban applies only to handgun ammo, and BATFE considers .30-06 to not fall into that category). Steel-core 7.62x39mm and tungsten-core 5.56x45mm/.223 and 7.62x51/.308 are considered AP handgun ammunition by the BATFE, but .30-06 is not.

.223/5.56x45 is considered handgun ammo and subject to the ban, but M855/SS109 is not banned because it's not AP, just regular ball.