Wolf 223 muzzle sparks

[rifleman14]

I shot a couple boxes of wolf 55 grain hollow point out of my AR the other day and noticed that about 15 out of every 20 rounds produced sparks from the end of my muzzle. This leads me to believe that the bullets have steel in them, and that the steel is coming in contact with the rifling in my barrel.....this seems like a major no-no to me, but apparently its not if Wolf is doing so legally and not getting in to trouble for causing short barrel life...or are they? could someone educate me please?

thanks

 

[Jimro]

Disassemble one of those rounds and see if they stick to a magnet. I'm pretty sure they won't. HP bullets are generally copper cup (gilding metal).

More likely it is unburnt powder following the bullet out the muzzle.

Jimro

 

[50 cal]

I've had the same problem, and yes they do stick to a magnet.

 

[firesky101]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=646565&highlight=sparks

I don't believe it is actual sparks. Likely cheap powder that is not completely burned exiting the barrel.

 

[briansmithwins]

Yes, the steel case Wolf normally has a steel jacket coated with gilding metal.

If you want to worry about it go ahead. But it ain't the rifling in your barrel that's going to wear out, it's the 3000 degree gas and incandescent particles eating the throat out of the barrel that's going to destroy it.

And there ain't no way to prevent throat erosion except not shooting.

BSW

 

[Z-Michigan]

Yes, the steel case Wolf normally has a steel jacket coated with gilding metal.

Sort of... it's a "bimetal" jacket made of alternating super-thin layers of iron and copper, with a copper wash on the outside. The problem is that the outside layer is so thin that in many cases the bullet is effectively uncoated iron (or super-soft steel) riding on your barrel.

If you want to worry about it go ahead. But it ain't the rifling in your barrel that's going to wear out, it's the 3000 degree gas and incandescent particles eating the throat out of the barrel that's going to destroy it.

The major cause of barrel wear, but not necessarily the only one.

This article is quite interesting:
http://www.uspsa.org/front-sight-magazine-article.php?Should-I-Buy-BiMetal-Ammo-8

The long and short is that there is a lingering controversy over how much barrel wear the Wolf bullets cause. The practical answer is that the ammo is so much cheaper that you will come out ahead buying it and replacing your barrel more often, assuming you have a fairly standard (NOT precision) AR or AK barrel. I wouldn't run Wolf through any sort of expensive match barrel.

Anyway, the sparks you're seeing are probably unburned powder like someone said above. I wouldn't worry about them.

 

[rifleman14]

thats a good point, that even if it is wearing the barrel out quicker than conventional brass cased commercial ammuntion, the savings that you receive by shooting the super cheap wolf ammo will allow you to buy at least one new barrel by the time that its shot out. although this savings might be outweighed by all the cleaning solvents that will be used in cleaning that dirty wolf carbon out of your gun