What Reloading Components are Made Of

[Mr.B1852]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new at this so please bare with me. For quite some time now, tons of people have been debating the copper clad steel jacketed bullets, weather or not there hard on barrels. Time and time agian I see people say that they won't hurt, that for the money you save you can buy a new barrel. That is true if you buy the cheapest barrel you can find, but what about match barrels, I've seen them cost as much as $800. What about, for example a Collectors grade M1 Garand, once you replace the barrel is no longer going to hold its value. Weather or not you should be shooting such a prized possession is of course a different topic all together.
I think it was Lucky Gunner ( http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/ ) that ran 40,000 rounds through 4 different AR-15's, that clearly showed the effects of bi-metal bullets on barrels.
I was wondering why can't I find bi-metal bullets to reload with?
I think that yes it's true bi-metal bullets are cheaper, but mainly for the manufacturing companies, Alot of countries where their economy struggles had to develop cheaper bullets to save money, it's possible that they just didn't have the resources to manufacture a traditional copper-lead bullet, but have a lot of iron.
In my opinion, copper-lead bullets are the way to go if you want to prolong the service life of your barrel especially if you own a Match Rifle like a Springfield Armory National Match our Super Match M1A, that you just spent $2-3000 on. Never mind the headache of having it rebarreled, witch some day you will have to do because even with copper-lead bullets, the barrel will eventually wear out, ( but future down the road), but if you're shooting a rifle that you just want to have fun with, then the bi-metal bullet is the way to go. The money saved will get you a new cheap barrel, but again you still have to go through the headache of having it done, most shooters don't have the tooling to do it so we'll have to find someone to do it for us.
But to answer the question, YES it dose hurt the barrel, 20, 30, 200 rounds is not such a big deal, but a constant diet of them, the choice is up to you.
What do you folks think? Dose this sound about right. ( without typing out a book to explain every what if)
Take care everyone, shoot straight.

 

[Bart B.]

Any bullet jacket harder than regular copper alloys normally contacting the bore will wear it out faster. All the variables involved determine how much.

 

[DeadEye9]

Barrels will always wear, theres no way around that. All you can do is minimize the wear. The best bullet for this is going to be the coolest I.e. The ones with the least friction and pressure. This means no max loads; magnum rifles especially Short mags are not going to be able to avoid barrel wear. With other calibers though to preserve a barrel you want lower pressure and velocity loads. The next is bullet choice, but and jacketed or plated projectile will suffice really. More important than the jacket material is diameter. Slug your exact Bore and pick projectiles ideal for that measurement. Lastly, the way you shoot plays a role in barrel wear as well. Shooting slower and with ample time in between firing sessions will aid in keeping the bore good and solid. Cold Bore shooting is easier on rifling than shooting while the barrel is very hot. Also one last thing, a bi-metal bullet and a FMJ bullet are essentially different names for the same thing. (Think 9mm Luger vs 9mm parabelum)
A bi metal jacket is copper wrapped over lead, a full metal jacket is the same thing. The main difference between the foreign bi metal and US FMJ is the antimony content and the mixture/hardness of the lead in general. Sometimes they also have more iron in the mix as well as they tend to use whatever resources are most abundant and affordable. If your really looking to preserve a weapons barrel as much as possible just do the steps I said above; shoot it cool, low pressure loads with FMJ or other quality bullets sized for YOUR Bore. As always keep the rifle clean and lubricared also. Doing all that will do way more to preserve your Bore than any magic bullet. (There aren't any)

 

[Bart B.]

Cold Bore shooting is easier on rifling than shooting while the barrel is very hot.

Not in my observations. Higher pressures erode away barrel steel more than heat does.

Sierra's test barrels in 308 Win testing bullets with 10-shot groups fired every 10 seconds or faster every 10 minutes or so for an entire production run last about 3000 rounds of best accuracy. Same as a 308 match rifle fired once a minute or more for 20 shots in a string.

I said above; shoot it cool, low pressure loads with FMJ or other quality bullets sized for YOUR Bore.

Whats the correct 30 caliber bullet size for a .2980" bore and .3075" groove diameter barrel?

 

[wally]

Time and time agian I see people say that they won't hurt, that for the money you save you can buy a new barrel. That is true if you buy the cheapest barrel you can find, but what about match barrels

Someone who spends $800 for match barrel will not be shooting the lowest cost projectile they can find -- defeats the whole purpose. But in a "normal" gun shooting bi-metal bullets will result in savings -- the luckygunner tests you mention show this if you do the math and look up ammo and barrel prices.

Typically I save $85-100/1000 rounds with the Wolf/Tula/Monarch over the XM193 type ammo. We have lots of fun shooting 3-4 moa steel plates with this 2 moa ammo, and with this level of accuracy barrel life is very much longer that what is needed for QA/QC of Sierra bullet production.

Its your gun and your money, don't over-think it, save money up front with the cheaper bi-metal bullets (if their accuracy is acceptable for your purposes )and replace the barrel down the road, or pay up front with more expensive ammo and delay the barrel replacement.

example a Collectors grade M1 Garand, once you replace the barrel is no longer going to hold its value

You just don't shoot a significant number of rounds through a "collectors grade" gun if you expect it to hold value. Even normal handling dings and marks will reduce value.

 

[mdi]

I guess I'm safe. It will take me a looooog time to shoot in excess of 40,000 rounds in either my AK74 or my SKS. My Garand only gets "normal" bullets of modern manufacture...

 

[CZ9shooter]

I was wondering why can't I find bi-metal bullets to reload with?

Because there is no market for it. The vast majority of us reloaders are not doing it purely to save money. Those that do tend to lose interest rather quickly.

 

[Offfhand]

Any bullet jacket harder than regular copper alloys normally contacting the bore will wear it out faster. All the variables involved determine how much.

What Mr. Bart says is obviously true. Harder jackets increase barrel wear, but what degree of hardness results in significantly accelerated barrel wear? It might not be so much as supposed. Several years ago--and I'm talking decades here-- when I was much involved in the US International Shooting Program many of us, including myself, owned and used 6.5 cal 300 meter "Free" rifle. The best, meaning most accurate, 6.5 bullets we could find were made by a Norwegian company by the name of Raufoss and they had STEEL jackets! Naturally we were concerned by the increased barrel wear caused by the steel jackets, and top quality free rifle were anything but free, and we did a lot of shooting. But as it turned out my barrels remained competitive for over 2000 rounds, not a lot less that the barrel life I got after good copper jacketed bullets were imported. I still have a few hundred of the old Raufoss steel bullets and this conversation has prompted me to load a few and compare with modern bullets. Attached is a photo of what they look like.

 

[Walkalong]

Higher pressures erode away barrel steel more than heat does.

Interesting, I always assumed it was a combination of both. And of course how fast the shots were fired, keeping heat up there.

 

[Walkalong]

Attached is a photo of what they look like

Cool.

 

[Swampman]

Also one last thing, a bi-metal bullet and a FMJ bullet are essentially different names for the same thing. (Think 9mm Luger vs 9mm parabelum)
A bi metal jacket is copper wrapped over lead, a full metal jacket is the same thing. The main difference between the foreign bi metal and US FMJ is the antimony content and the mixture/hardness of the lead in general. Sometimes they also have more iron in the mix as well as they tend to use whatever resources are most abundant and affordable.

The term "bi metal jacket" is generally used to refer to a gilding metal clad steel jacket. That's why bullets of that type are magnetic. Bullets with bi metal jackets can be FMJ, soft point or hollowpoint.

It's not a foreign vs US made thing either. US manufactured 7.62x51 M-80 ball ammo is often made with gilding metal clad steel jackets.

 

[reddog81]

If you want cheap bullets that won't ruin your bore try some powder coated lead ones.

I'm guessing you don't see many reloading copper clad steel jacket bullets for sale here because they aren't made here. Most reloading bullets for sale in the US are made in the US. At least that's my observation and I'm sure there are some exceptions.