So what about them plastic bullets...

M

marine6680

New member
The newest guns and ammo had an article about them.

I remember seeing them somewhere else, I kind of want to say it was at a store... But it could have just been online and my mind is Messing with me.


Either way... It looks like the plan is to offer rounds that are fully plastic but for a small cup where the case head is and the primer. They are offering brass cased stuff now.


I think if they could mass produce the stuff and bring out cheap target ammo for less than steel cased... I would try it and maybe use it a lot if it works well. I would love to see it offered for $6-7 for a 50 round box of 9mm.

Right now the only load I have seen in 9mm they have us defensive oriented. (same idea and design of some of the Lehigh stuff) it costs $30 though. :eek:


Anyone else see this as having potential?
 
They're a neat novelty item, but they won't ever cost less than traditional bullets due to economies of scale.
All the same laws and rules apply when shooting them and practice wouldn't necessarily carry over to actual live rounds.
 
According to the Guns & Ammo article, Polycase bullets are a mixture of copper and polymer. Seems I recall from the article that the case is polymer, too. Is there enough copper in these rounds to be detected by airport scanners???

I hope so! :eek:
 
They're a neat novelty item, but they won't ever cost less than traditional bullets due to economies of scale.
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Exactly... which is why I said mass produced. A big manufacturer gets behind this, and it could really bring costs down.


Okay, I'm confused...or you are.

Are you talking about plastic bullets, or plastic cases?
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Both... case and bullet are plastic.


Speer has been selling plastic cases and bullets for a few decades... primer powered only and intended for indoor practice.
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Neat, but thats not the same as a full powered load like I am talking about.



I'm all for alternative materials so long as price is lower. Seen some Nylon coated lead bullets in aluminum cases made by Blazer (Speer) and I was interested, until I seen the cost was the same as some of the Brass cased stuff.
 
I was laid up a few years back. I set up a target in my basement with a backing and I used them indoor over the winter. Still have a bunch...never wore them out.
 
There is no comparison between the new "plastic" bullets and cases and the old Speer practice rounds, so I hope folks don't get them confused.

The new bullets and cases have not reached the market in any real quantities, so it is (IMHO) far too early to determine how well they work. For one thing, most SD pistols of 9mm and .45 are recoil operated, so bullet mass plays a large part in gun functioning. And cost will be a factor; the bullets described in the G&A article get weight by using copper, an expensive material today, so they will not be simple cheap plastic.

Another factor is that the exercise was begun by a desire for "one shot" ammunition. I don't know if the company will offer its ammunition in reloadable cases or in a "one shot" configuration. The latter would probably keep costs down for police and others who don't or can't reload, but the idea of "one shot" ammo is being pushed by the Brady Campaign and others who want to see the ammo supply strictly controlled and regulated, something that will be hard to do unless reloading is banned or made impossible.

Jim
 
Back in the 80s there was a company who briefly offered nylon cased ammo... but they were reloadable. Re-sizing was done by boiling the cases, then you could hand load them (the bullets were a heeled design that had a tongue and groove relationship with the case). They offered a little hand press to pop the new bullets into the case.

The ones I had were .38 Special, but I gave my last ones to an ammo collector friend in OKC back in the late 80s.

Those Poly Case Inceptor rounds are just the latest high speed low mass offerings to come along. Taurus offered all copper projectiles awhile back and they didn't last... before that there was the copper cylinders that had a plastic plug to effect a seal in the barrel, etc.

Lots of examples over the past several decades... none ever seem to last in the real world.

What's that old saying for engineers: When projections conflict with reality, reality isn't wrong. :D
 
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I'm more interested in cheap range ammo than defensive uses.

For the range, especially ones that do not allow you to collect brass, I wouldn't mind using cheap disposable cased ammo. It would also be good for shooting in backyard ranges, as the plastic cases won't cause issues if you run them over with a lawn mower. A friend has a shooting area attached to his yard, and stray cases sometimes go flying when he mows.
 
Well if it's plastic it better be recyclable or bio-degradable. If it isn't, the environmentalists will have something else to complain about. :rolleyes:
 
While the concept is interesting and it may turn out to be a good idea, the G&A article was more notable for the shameless shilling of the author. This really reinforces my opinion that the only real qualification of a gunwriter is a flexible large colon, so the Corporate sponsor can easily reach up and flap its jaws.
 
Yeah... Most gun mags are like that.

They are good for learning about new things, which promts more research... But I don't take the reviews seriously.
 
Slamfire's post may be a bit on the crude side, but is right on. The gunzines are more and more divided into two types of articles. The most useless is the "my dad and I went hunting"; sentimental but hardly informative and often written at a 10-year old level. The other type is "shameless shilling" for some kind of new gun or ammo (often something tried and tossed 80 years ago). If the writers are not getting paid off for that stuff, they should be - at least that would explain why they bother.

Jim
 
I would love to see it offered for $6-7 for a 50 round box of 9mm.


I'm more interested in cheap range ammo than defensive uses.
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Start to reload, if you dont already. I load a box of 50 "warm" 124 grain FMJ 9mm's for right around $6 +/-, depending on the components of the moment.
 
I do... but its the time factor that gets me. Even though, once prep'ed, I can do 50 in about 15 minutes. The prep takes a bit of time, but is in mass, so it spreads out.


Plus the lack of suitable powders around me. They pop up from time to time though. I managed to get several pounds of the CFE pistol, which works, but prefers to be loaded at the top of the pressure range.
 
Sounds like we prep about the same. I usually shoot on average, 300 rounds of 9mm a week. They go in the tumbler the day they are shot, get sized the next day or so, expanded, maybe even primed the next, and by the end of the week, are loaded and rotated to the back of the lot. 15 minutes or so a night after work is all it usually takes. Once I have primed cases, it takes me about an hour to load 300.

Reloading really doesnt save me any money, but it does let me shoot a LOT more for the same money.

Yesterday, I got a rain day and made a run down to a shop I always have good luck with getting reloading supplies. I keep hearing theres a shortage, but they always seem to have something to get me through, and at reasonable prices. I picked up 8# of Unique (it had to do, I usually get 231) for $125, 4000 CCI small pistol primers for $30/1000, and a couple of boxes of .357 XTP's for $20 a box of 100. I usually buy my bullets in bulk online, as the deals are better, but that wasnt bad, and no shipping.

Back in the 90's, surplus was readily available and cheap, and actually cheaper than just buying the components to reload. Other than HP/DCM match ammo, I didnt reload much else back then. Sure do miss those days. :rolleyes:
 
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