TWGLADF 0 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 ok. i've ran thousands of bi-metal bullets down my ak and saiga barrels with no noticable effects due to the chrome lining i assume. heres my situation. i found a pretty good deal on some silver bear 223 55gr hp. pretty much the cheapest 223 hp's i've found. one major problem i have is how will it effect my mini 14 barrel. it's blued steel not stainless. will the bi-metal bullets cause very excessive wear in the bore? will the steel casings cause excessive wear on/in the chamber? i'll be using the rounds for plinking and hunting so i will be burning through some rounds. they come down to about $2 cheaper per box than the cheapest fmj rounds, but they are brass cased. reloading is not in my equation. so, the only + for brass casing is they are easier on the chamber, right? or is it not enough to worry about? all info is appreciated! thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 HOLY SHIT!!! If you can get your 223 FMJ for 2 dollars cheaper, than the cheapest you can find I need to know WHERE... I get all my .223 at gander mountain locally, and they always got wolf for $1.97 a box of 20... I need to know where I can get paid $.03 to take their ammo!!! you probably are not referring to a box of 20, though, are you??? Seriously, though... I personally dont know whether bimetal cases will affect a mini 14 barrel. I would like to think they will not, as the barrel should be harder than the steel jackets running thru them... BUT... I am no expert, I dont claim to be. Personally... I WOULD USE THEM... I wouldnt go blasting bumpfires of multiple 30 rounders thru it... but I wouldnt feel bad to plink and hunt with them often... If that was going to fuck up my barrel... then I guess I would have a fucked up barrel... Couldnt be any worse than the lifetimes they claim for some of these new high velocity short magnum rounds... that they say after several thousand rounds your barrel is "worn out"... but to an average shooter... what is worn out? when it WONT shoot 1/4" groups at 100M but will "ONLY SHOOT" a 1/2" group instead??? I guess that would be up for debate... and personal notions.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AegisDei 2 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Ok, time to try to gain a better education about ammunition. This bi-metal bullet question has me curious...I have a chrome-lined AR-15 with 1:7" twist, thus I need some heavier bullets. I went with the 62gr. steel core green-tipped Natos. I'd assume this won't hurt my barrel, but what is a steel core? Exactly what it sounds like? Steel surounded by lead? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AegisDei 2 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Sometime over the summer there was an awesome website that covered the difference b/t 5.56 and .223 on this forum and EVERYTHING else about ammo. I'm desperately trying find that post, does anyone have any ideas? Thanks. PS-I think Indy posted the link... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TWGLADF 0 Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 actually i was referring to box price for local purchases. $1.97 is a damn good price on 223! but is it hollow point or soft point? wish i could find it locally at that price per box. not in a $100 case lot. don't want to spend that big a chunk of money all at one time. i wouldn't be bumping it. just a day of good steady shooting. steel core is just as it sounds. a steel core surrounded by lead inside the copper/bimetal jacket. no steel contacts the bore except for the steel content in the bimetel jackets of some bullets. i've been told and have had experiance that bimetal bullets will cause very little to no excessive wear in a chrome lined bore. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Onepoint 0 Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 The bimetal bullets have a copper coating over the steel casing that contacts the barrel and prevents barrel wear. It's supposed to not be an issue for barrel wear. Some say the issue is wear on the chamber from the steel case, I am not worried about it myself, you can save enough on ammo to buy barrels several times as you wear them out. Around here Wolf is up to 3 bucks a box for 223 and any mil spec surplus stuff is $4+. My favorite cheap ammo is Barnaul 62hp. 1/7 twist will work on 55 grain bullets, 62 gr. is better but its not too fast for 55 gr. Some info on bullet types http://world.guns.ru/ammo/bullets-e.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J A 0 Posted October 1, 2005 Report Share Posted October 1, 2005 The NATO green tip bullets don't have a steel core but a steel penatrator inside the bullet jacket on top of the lead core. The penatrator is a flat nose cone shape and is the same size as this capital letter "A". The Silver Bear ammo has a steel case that is plated with zinc that is polished to a smooth shiny finish. Zinc is a very soft metal and steel is 3-4 times harder. The bi-metal bullets have a copper plating over the steel bullet jackets. The copper is what comes into contact with the barrel. So I wouldn't worry about excessive wear from the use of Silver Bear ammo in your Mini-14 unless it will shoot sub 1" groups at 100 yards and you plan to shoot 20 cases of it in the next couple of years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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