Armor Piercing

S

Sorrowful Jones

New member
I bought an estate and happened to pick up several boxes of .30 Cal M2 Armor Piercing ammo. I have 5 unopened boxes (and one open box) from Twin Cities Ordnance Plant and one unopened box from Utah Ordnance Plant. Also got 9 full Garand clips. I am wondering if this stuff has any collector value? Thanks for any insight.
SJ
 
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At this point it is still pretty common ammo, and not worth a lot unless you find a sucker. You could probably get $1/rd for it, give or take.

But it is, however, an interesting chunk of history, and I suspect the value will only go up. I would hold onto it.
 
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Check the laws, carefully

I know that there are some laws that cover AP ammo. It is not sold on the open market anymore. At gun shows you can get AP bullets, but not loaded ammo.

At one time there was a law that prohibited selling, trading, or even giving away AP ammo to anyone but a licensed dealer. You could own it, and even shoot it (not hunt with it), but nothing else. I do not know if this law is still in effect. You can get AP projectiles (bullets) but not loaded ammo, so it might be. I recommend you do some research if you want to sell the stuff. It might still be regulated.
 
AP

A Tungston Carbide insert makes them penatrate armor.
The bullet weighs about the same as the 173 gr match bullet.
It does shoot better than Ball but most Ranges will not allow it's use.
Keep a box of the Utah AP.The multi colored boxes are nice. The plain cardboard boxes look like repack.Shoot them up have fun.
 
Armor piercing is always about tip design, pointy. Sometimes they are teflon coated to reduce friction in the bore. They do seem to be more accurate than conventional projectiles :-) This would be due to the fact of the weight of the projectiles being more uniform than lead.

The way I read the law, one is not allowed to manufacture AP bullets, that is...the projectiles. It is legal to posses and use them in non-criminal ways...

and even if you are paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not really out to get you. I think ap bullets have a place on the shelf, once there was this armored raccoon tried to sneak up on me...
 
It is interesting the way AP bullets really work. They don't just punch a hole in armor plate like they would in a tin can. What happens is that when the bullet strikes the steel plate it stops and all of its kinetic energy is immediately transformed into heat. That heat melts the steel at the contact point, and allows the carbide core to penetrate. If the steel is too thick, the heat will dissipate before the core can penetrate, but up to 1/4" or so, AP bullets work fine. They were issued in combat in lieu of ball ammo because they were better at penetrating thin skinned vehicles, like trucks. No AP bullet will actually penetrate the armor of a tank, but at Aberdeen there is a German tank turret which has several AP cores stuck in it where the molten steel hardened around them.

Jim
 
This is M2 ball of WW II vintage.

As far as I know it did NOT have a tungsten carbide penetrator -- it was hardened steel.

TC was far too expensive and in too short supply to put into rifle cartridges.
 
http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIG1.html
The laws on AP ammo only apply to ammo which may be used in a handgun unless specifically listed by the ATF. I don't know how something like the TC Contender works out, but in any case the ATF has specifically exempted .30-06 M2 AP, so this ammo is OK to buy/sell/trade unless you are in a state that mandates otherwise. About $1 per round is what I have seen for this.
 
You are right, Mike. The original AP M2 had a tungsten steel core (not tungsten carbide) but that was replaced by different types of hardened steel. Some box labels even said "non-strategic steel core."

Jim
 
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