06/04/2012
Mr. Tyler Mallard wrote this letter to Mike Thompson, about the use of steel ammo...Read the entire message and Mike Thompson's response. First thank you Mr. Mallard for writing it gave us the opportunity to explain why we make the decisions we do. Sometimes we forget, to tell why we make the decisions about ammo. Mr. Mallard gave us the opportunity to explain and we thank you very much.
Allen Miller
Tyler Mallard Writes:
My first visit to this range was impressive at first site. I was able to shoot my .223 savage all day if I wanted to although when I pulled out my Saiga .308 it was a different story. I was only able to put 30 rounds through it when I was asked to stop firing after having one of my bimetal (.308 145 grain wpa military classic) rounds were put to a magnet test. I was informed that it would damage the steal targets, causing fires from sparks, and damage my chrome lined barrel. After that there was no reason for me to stay so after 30 minutes of shooting I was forced to leave after paying $15. I am most often well informed about what I am doing with my fi****ms although there was no reason for me to argue with the range staff and owner so I followed up with some research when I got home. Below is what I found; If you could please get back to me for future reference I would really appreciate it because I would also like to continue shooting here if possible.
Will the steel components hurt my rifle?
The answer - unless someone can specifically show me something to the contrary - is "probably not" or even an outright "no." For a better explanation, let's examine the individual components used:
Cases: The most common item made is steel is usually the case. The steel is a mild steel, not hardened steel, and much softer than the hardened steel of the chamber. It's even less of an issue when the chamber is chrome lined. One frequent culprit is supposed to be that steel cases wear out the extractor faster. There's no specific evidence for this, but even if it's true - an extractor is exceedingly cheap, and the cost is more than offset by the savings of shooting steel ammo.
Jackets: Most Wolf .223 has been made with copper/gilding metal jackets, just like US ammo. Some 7.62x39 ammo also had all-copper jackets, and were sold in the usual black box but with a yellow band in one corner advertising it as copper-jacketed. Barring these exceptions, jackets are MILD steel with a thick copper plating. For this reason alone - if the only qualifying test is to use a magnet - virtually all combloc ammo will "fail". While Wolf .223 has been an exception, the latest production material is steel jacketed also: "None of our ammunition is steel cored, it is illegal to have any steel cored ammunition imported, and we have all our ammunition imported. All our ammunition has lead cores, and does not spark! Probably the only reason they think this is from a magnet test which shows the magnet sticks to the bullet, not because of a steel core like assumed, but because the jacket is a copper/steel mix, (one layer of copper on top of one layer of steel), which is why it's called a bi-metal jacket. If the magnet didn't stick to some calibers it's only because the jacket was all copper instead of bi-metal. We are phasing out the all copper jackets and having only bi-metal because it's more cost efficient."
Steel jackets usually mean poor terminal performance. They will not fragment and behave like a true FMJ. Even SP bullets usually do not perform as well as SP bullets made with traditional gilding metal. There are some exceptions to this. The 7.62x39 HP made by Ulyanovsk (Wolf Military Classic), the Silver Bear 62gr HP, and the Wi******er M80 ball make with a steel jacket all seem to fragment and produce good terminal performance.
Cores: Most ComBloc ammo is lead core, just like any other US ammo. There are some exceptions to this rule. The most common is surplus 7.62x54R, which contains a MILD steel core. These mild steel cores do not make the ammo AP. There is also some old Chinese and East German (and probably others) 7.62x39 ammo that has steel cores. There is no steel core .223 ammo that I'm aware of. If you have some older 7.62x39, you'll have to do some research to find out if it's steel core. A good reference site to check on 7.62x54R is here, while info on 7.62x39 can be found here. Other common calibers with steel cores are M855 (5.56) and 7N6 (5.45x39). Neither make the ammo AP, but the steel cores are supposed to provide enhanced pe*******on of hard targets.
So why won't my range allow me to shoot this ammo?
Questions have repeatedly surfaced about the use of ammo containing steel on ranges which don't allow it after subjecting your ammo to the infamous "magnet test". Most range owners are not interested in accurately knowing what the ammo really contains; either they chose to remain ignorant, or do so on purpose in order to sell you more expensive ammunition. Even though this guide will be informative to you, don't be surprised if any explanation will fall on deaf ears of the range owner. The reason given by the range is usually that since it attracts a magnet, it has steel in it. The only place that can come from is the bullet core, and that obviously means armor piercing, which will hurt the backstop. As was discussed in the previous section, you can count on at least the case to contain steel. That fact alone would make the "magnet" test useless. Even if the jacket material and/or core were to contain steel, they would be of the "mild" steel variety and extremely unlikely to damage the backstop.
There's very little you can do at this point in time - either change the ammo you shoot, or change which range you go to.
Mike Thompson's Response...
Good morning Mr. Mallard, thank you for your e-mail to Alan Miller. My name is Mike Thompson, along with my family we own and operate the fire rifle range I will try to address your concerns about ammunition. In the past 25 years we have had 2 fires, started by steel core steel jacketed ammunition, the 1st fire burned 3000 acres and cost one man his life. Therefore the only test that I have 2 check ammunition is with a magnet. Most foreign ammunition as you stated has a bimetal composition. Often the bullet itself is of steel with a copper wash, very much like anodizing aluminum. The other item that you touched on, being the case are steel that really does not concern me, however the polymer coating that they put on that steel can and has caused numerous problems. Sufficiently heated in a chamber the Palmer adheres to the chamber as you said it that if you break an extractor therein expensive, if you break the head off the cartridge you have a real problem the polymer tends to glue the case in the chamber, we have seen this problem before. Obviously you have an investment in your rifle, and I believe that by buying a better quality cartridge your rifle will last much longer I sincerely hope that you will will return your range with some different ammunition that you may shoot all day long there are avenues to pursue for an expensive ammunition and battle packs of English manufacture that are inexpensive. I sincerely hope this answers your questions and covers my concerns for the continuation of my range. Again I thank you for your inquiries and I hope I've answered your questions. M. T.
