Federal Nyclad Ammunition

G

George Hill

Staff Alumnus
How come every time I mention Nyclad that someone out there ALWAYS mentions that its Armor Piercing?
These comments are coming from shooters that should know better.

Guys... you cant spray a coating on a soft lead pistol bullet that will let it slide through the woven kevlar fibers of a ballistic vest. If you think so - you must also believe in Alchemy... because Lead to Gold would be an easier magic trick.

No Police Officer has EVER been killed by a handgun bullet defeating the ballist pannels of his vest. There is no such thing.

What the Nylon coating does is despense with the stiff copper jacketing that can foul your barrel. It allows easy expansion even at low velocities. It allows for more reliable feeding. It's good ammo. But it aint magic.
 
I haven't run into this one in quite awhile.

Unfortunatly, the entire deal with the KTW ammo made people think that a bullet with a coating on it immediately makes it armor piercing.

It's always fun to explain to them at the teflon coating on the KTW wasn't to help penetrate vests, it was to protect the bore. I've only met a few, very few, people who know how the KTW's actually work.

Media hype is to blame.
 
Nyclad's

My wife and I both shoot non +P Federal Nyclads from our .38's. I've had people come up and ask where I got the armor piercing ammunition. I think it's because of the color of the bullets. I've never even seen ammo piercing ammo except on television, however it sees to be a similar color to the nylon coating on the Federal Nyclads.
That's the only reason I can come up with.

Kentucky Rifle
 
a follow up question....

In the original post it was stated that the coating on Nyclad bullets is meant to dispense with a copper jacket which could foul the bore. I was always under the impression that just bare lead bullets did the most fouling while copper jacketed bullets leave much less fouling, and the purpose of Nyclad bullets is to have a simple lead bullet that won't foul the bore. Can someone shed some more light?
 
Hello. Nyclad was originally an attempt for practice ammo that would be lead free for indoors training of federal agencies. I think the first was the 9mm round, but could be wrong on that part. Since then, it's been expanded (no pun) to include defensive uses.

Best.
 
I think the misconception of the teflon coated bullet being able to penetrate bullet-proof vests came from the gun control community. I don't know if they was getting it confused with the Black Talon ammo or what, but I have heard it several times even on news about Teflon coated bullets can pierce through bullet-proof vests. I get a chuckle everytime I hear it.

As far as color goes, isn't it usually a green tip bullet that is armor piercing like the old 30-06 armor piercing bullets?
 
Stephen Camp is exactly right....

The Nyclad was developed to reduce/eliminate leading problems in indoor ranges. That is why Smith & Wesson developed the load. It also happens to be a good defensive round today.
........SmithNut
 
The Nyclad bullet has had quite a few changes over the years. It started out as practice ammo with low lead exposure. Then moved into the defense ammo roll and was acquired by Federal.(Don't remember in which order that happened). An interesting thing about the original ammo was that the plastic coating was thicker than currently. It was discovered that the thick coating prevented the rifling from making distinct marks on the bullet. In order to prevent thier ammo becoming known as "Untracable bullets used by hitmen" the coating was thinned out sufficiently to allow the rifling to make consistant marks. It's good ammo but not many stores around me carry any:(

Don in Ohio
 
one last question....

Nyclads are just solid lead with a nylon coating and no copper jacket, right? If so, does a nylon-clad lead hollow point expand better at low velocities (i.e. from a .38 snubby) than a copper-jacketed hollow point?
Thanks for the info.
 
Hello. Yes, their "Chiefs Special" 125 gr standard pressure load expands in all test media I've tried. Average velocity is 886 ft/sec from my 2" J-frame. Best.
 
It's my first choice in carry ammo in 38 spl. The 125 gr. in J frames & the 158 gr. +P in K frames. It's good stuff.
 
You guys are correct - thanks for catching that error of mine.
Lead will foul a bore... so we put a copper jacket on it.
Copper can foul a bore as well. Indoor ranges can get a lot of lead particles in the air - so this nylon coating will jacket the bullet and reduce the leading. This benifits air and bore. Either way - its a cheap alternative to copper jackets.

For 9MM or .38 I couldnt think of a better bullet. Nyclad is also in .357 but I think that it the high speed would rip a nyclad apart.
I'ld love to see Nyclad in .45ACP 230 grains and 185 grains. This would work well in some of these finicky Colts and Argentine 1911 clones...
 
The Nyclad disinfo probably originated from ignorant New Joisey cops. I've heard many of them refer to Nyclads as "Armor Piercing".

"Dose nylon coated bullets are for passing true bullet proof vests..."

"Day put a nylon coating on dose bullets so day can chute true bullet proof vests."

"Dose nylon jacketed bullets are cop killers. Right, Charlie?"

There is nothing special about the Nyclad. Its just a soft lead bullet that expands wonderfully at subsonic velocity. The nylon coating is just there to prevent leading.
 
In the original post it was stated that the coating on Nyclad bullets is meant to dispense with a copper jacket which could foul the bore. I was always under the impression that just bare lead bullets did the most fouling while copper jacketed bullets leave much less fouling, and the purpose of Nyclad bullets is to have a simple lead bullet that won't foul the bore. Can someone shed some more light?
Click to expand...

I believe that the primary problem the Nyclads were designed to fix was airborne lead, not lead in the bore.

Conventional FMJ bullets don't really have "full" metal jackets; the lead core is swaged into the copper jacket from the rear so there's still exposed lead at the bullet's base. When hot propellant gases contact that lead, some of it vaporizes. What's more, when a FMJ bullet hits a hard surface (such as a steel backstop plate), the bullet can crack and release more lead into the air.

With a Nyclad bullet, the lead is completely coated so there's no vaporization on firing. The lead is also soft enough to squash rather than shatter when the bullet hits a backstop.

By the way, I'd like to see a .44 Special Nyclad load designed after the original revolver-only Hydra-Shoks: a 190 or so grain bullet shaped like an upside down HBWC at around 900 fps from a 3" revolver.
 
I used to have some S&W Nyclad bullets which were a 125 gr SWC HP. They worked very well. I now have a box of Federal Nyclad 125 gr HP, which are more RNFP style. In either case, they have a large hollowpoint/cavity which looks like it would expand quite well. I haven't shot anything larger than a jackrabbit with either, but they were dramatically efective on those.
 
Just to add to what has been said---I purchased these bullets for use at Police indoor pistol ranges.They definitely reduce the lead particles in the air and in the bloodstream of indoor range officers.
 
Purpose of the teflon coating

Mike Irwin wrote:
"It's always fun to explain to them at the teflon coating on the KTW wasn't to help penetrate vests, it was to protect the bore."

My research into this over the years shows that the purpose of the teflon coating was not to protect the bore.

KTW metal piercing ammunition was designed specifically to penetrate car doors and windshields, at the request of law enforcement. KTW was setup by police Sergeant Don Ward, police Lieutenant Turcus (I forget his first name), and scientist Dr. Paul Kopsch. It was never available to the general public -- police and military only.

The teflon coating surrounded a hard metal core, which is hard enough to penetrate body armor. According to one of the three inventors (the "K" of "KTW," Dr. Kopsch), the teflon was added to help the bullets go through smooth surfaces, like windshields and car doors, especially at
oblique angles. Kopsch also said the teflon cut down on the round's ability to penetrate the nylon or kevlar of body armor.

Starting around 1967, the initial metal used in the construction of the KTW bullets was a sintered tungsten alloy having a weight greater than lead and a hardness greater than steel. The material was lathe turned to proper shape, coated with the pea-colored teflon, then seated and crimped into a thin copper cup. The copper cup -- and not the teflon -- engages the rifling when fired.

By 1971, the tungsten was becoming cost-prohibitive to both purchase and machine. Under new owners, the company changed to plain machine steel and to a brass-like material. This caused a reduction in the weight by almost half. The company preferred this weight reduction as it also reduces
maximum range.

As correctly noted by others, Federal's Nyclad ammo has nothing whatsoever to do with KTW ammo.
 
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