steel core ammo-why use?

A

Apple a Day

New member
I have a little question:
I was at a gun store looking for some ammo. Some of it was steel cored. Why use a steel core? Better penetration? Is it much better than simple jacketed rounds? Work at handgun velocities? Any info would be appreciated.

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Those who use arms well cultivate the Way and keep the rules.Thus they can govern in such a way as to prevail over the corrupt- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
 
???: I thought that steel core was considered armor piercing and considered verboten for handguns (or even AKs which were at some point deemed handguns).


Battler.
 
If you ever want something to pierce a vest when they try to take your guns away, that's the ammo you will need. :-)
 
Though not for handguns, I like the steel cored SS109s for when the burglers hide behind the refridgerator. I HATE it when they do that!
anodes.
 
There will be no discussions of armor piercing bullets on The Firing Line whether you can buy it legally or not.

Please reference [Link to invalid post]

and [Link to invalid post]

And please, freedom of speech does not affect the decision. I'll leave this thread open to see which direction it takes.
 
Hey Mal, I don't mean, or want, to "poke the bear with the pointy stick," but it seems a little hyper-reactionary to say "no discussion" of a subject.

What if we wanted to discuss the history of the "Cop Killer" bullet fiasco, and ABC News' role in it, which occasionally crops up in the media?

Or if we wanted to try to educate someone as to what constitutes "armor piercing" if they have the wrong information that they got from some other site, or news organ?

I guess my point is that if we shy off of this subject because it's so "controversial," what will the next subject be? Automatic weapons? Handguns? Self-defense?

Yep, you're right, First Amendment doesn't apply. This isn't a government run organization.

I just get kind of nervous at getting kind of nervous because something's "controversial." When you get right down to it, EVERYTHING is controversial to someone.
 
AW, Shucks. I'm new to this forum and I want to say that I obviously DIDN'T read the fine print (I just clicked OK, duh me). As I like this forum, I don't want to upset anybody. So I promise I won't post controversial replies or topics anymore. I will comply. Curious we shouldn't discuss lawfull interests, though.
anodes.
 
Though I would love to talk about these bullets in theory and because I'm a curious creature, I have no problems with TFL's decision on this and think we should abide by it. They have treated this post respectfully by not closing it, and the clarification of a proper use that is not AP would seem to be allowed.

Asking what to use to shoot a alligator and mentioning that armor piercing bullets are illegal isn't what TFL seems to be worried about. Discussing "Cop Killer" bullets and how to stop someone in a vest is damaging to the list. This doesn't seem like a difficult point to get for me.

Kiffster

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Sig 229 .40 - When you care enough to shoot the very best!
 
Kiffster got it precisely. I trust everyone read the referenced posts. I cannot add anything more to what LawDog has already explained so well.

[added]
I wanted to be sure Apple a Day understands that it was not his question that spurred the response. Some threads start off in complete innocence but degenerate as time goes on and I wanted to nip it in the bud.

[This message has been edited by Mal H (edited June 07, 2000).]
 
While Steel cored bullets exist - the issue here is AP rounds...

If any AP discussion continues - this will be locked.

If anyone would like to talk about the use of steel in bullet making or something or other... then go ahead.
 
To fellow posters and admins,
I wanted to clarify my question a bit- I have no interest in persuing anything that might be even questionably legal. I was confused that the bullets I mentioned were available at a normal, reputable store. The reason that I DIDN'T buy the cartridges and asked the question on this board was to AVOID doing anything I might regret later.
I appreciate the info y'all have shared and the tolerance of the board admins.
Regards

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Those who use arms well cultivate the Way and keep the rules.Thus they can govern in such a way as to prevail over the corrupt- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
 
There was a lot of steel core ammo imported out of China and Russia before the Klinton administration stopped much of the import.This ammo really meant nothing as it was just used for banging ammo at the time,It was just with the advent of this great PC movement that the banging ammo became evil.
It in itself means nothing that it is steel core,just like firearms it is only the purpose it is used for.

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beemerb
We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world;
and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men
every day who don't know anything and can't read.
-Mark Twain
 
Then we have the milspec .223 with steel insert. I have been told that the purpose was to allow a longer bullet for a given wt, plus moved the center of gravity aft. Gave the mouse gun bullet more stability.

Sam
 
in a nut shell steel jacket rounds with a mallable steel core is just plain cheaper to produce. Chi-com steel jacket/steel core, steel case ammo for the AK/SKS battle rifles are deadly accurate and very cost effective to produce. they do not use expensive stockpiles of strategic materials like brass, copper and lead.
add to that the fact that it will zip thru a car body like it's hot butter and you have got a winning combo for a battle rifle.
also the lead core steel jacket hollowpoints coming in from Russia and eastern Europe are deadly. they fragment into razor sharp shards of steel and lead core parts.
P.S. armor piercing is an invented term like the "assualt rifle". any bullet that comes from a centerfire rifle cartridge will zip thru almost any thing armored or not.

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.
 
Maybe I misunderstood. I thought that the Russian ammo was constructed with LEAD cores having copper plated steel jackets?
I mean Wolf and other combloc stuff.
 
I'm a independant contract welder part time, so here's another reason WHY NOT, your range opperators won't like the extra wear and tear on their steel backstops.
I've welded in new plates of the backstops on two of the public ranges, each after local gun shows where "Surplus" ammo was to be had for real cheap. Problem was, it was all steel core. The lead and copper jackets of steel core, be they rifle or pistol, will smash and deform, thus expending their energy. Also, due to the angle of the backstop, it will go up into a spin chamber to expend the remaining energy. The steel core will not deform as readily, thus more energy gets transfered into the backstop, often quite a lot more, especially from rifle cartridges.
Usually, when examining backstops, I can tell which lanes have been used for high power rifle extensively, because of plate wear/errosion.
There's lots of .223 and .308, as well as 9mm and .45 out there that is steel core, and it all goes bang, but here in my area, it's clearly posted as a "NEVER BRING IT IN HERE" item at all of the local ranges, and I've seen people have their memberships revoked because of it.

Tom


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A "Miss" is the ultimate overpenetration!
You can never be too rich, too skinny, or too well armed!
Wake up and realize that you have the moral imperative of action..!!!
 
Wouldn't an aligator get its 'armor' pierced by a high velocity FMJ bullet? Of course, I have never ran into an aligator here in NYC. Maybe I should wander the sewers more.
 
gaz...don't tick off a gator. If comin at you it is a very small target and VERY fast. 'Sids, they don't always know they are dead for a while.

Sam
 
Our SS109 round just plain stinks when it comes to stopping power. Read "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden and you'll see why. True, it may penetrate cars and thick vests but it sails right through humans. There was one shooting in the book inwhich a Somali fighter took numerous burst from a M249 (5.56mm SS109) and M-16A2's (5.56mm SS109) and still managed to fire off a full magazine at the Rangers. I think the Rangers also had SLAP rounds for their M-60's (7.62mm) which suffered from low stopping power.

Just keep in mind if you light some bad guy up with your "green-tips", be ready to fire additional rounds at him.
 
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