Handgun ammo Q

[M. Sage]

When I get my CZ52, I'm going to wind up burning a bit of Commie SMG ammo in it. Looking at the rifle ammo I've had for my Mosin, the Communist Bloc seemed awful fond of steel-jacketed ammo (with a copper wash on the jacket).

I know that steel CORED pistol ammo is verboten, but what about steel-jacketed?

I'm not going to go seeking steel jackets, I just want to know in case I stumble across some.

[blkA4alb]

From my reading of the law it doesn't sound like it would fly too well.

(b) "Handgun ammunition designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor" means any ammunition, except a shotgun shell or ammunition primarily designed for use in rifles, that is designed primarily to penetrate a body vest or body shield, and has either of the following characteristics:

(1) Has projectile or projectile core constructed entirely, excluding the presence of traces of other substances, from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium, or any equivalent material of similar density or hardness.

(2) Is primarily manufactured or designed, by virtue of its shape, cross-sectional density, or any coating applied thereto, including, but not limited to, ammunition commonly known as "KTW ammunition," to breach or penetrate a body vest or body shield when fired from a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.

[luvtolean]

Steel cased ammo is fine dude, don't worry about it.

[jmlivingston]

He's not worried about the case, a lot of the eastern block ammo has steel-jacketing inside the bullet itself. For pistol ammo though, I'm not certain but I don't believe steel-jacketed is a problem. I'm pretty certain that some of the 9x18 Barnaul I've bought at Turners will attract a magnet. If I remember I'll test it when I get home tonight.

John

[ohsmily]

Steel cased ammo is fine dude, don't worry about it.

He didn't mention steel cased anywhere in his post. He isn't worrying about it.

[M. Sage]

Lol, OhSmiley. That gave me a good laugh, thanks. :D

Let me add a bold or two to your post there, blkA4alb, let's see what we think after that:


(1) Has projectile or projectile core constructed entirely, excluding the presence of traces of other substances, from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium, or any equivalent material of similar density or hardness.

Thanks for the post, BTW, that helps me think it through.

If we look at the bolds, "projectile (or core), constructed entirely, (from) steel" and excluding the presence of other substances... If it's like the rifle ammo I have in 7.62x54R, they'd probably be copper-washed steel wrapped over lead. Probably about 80% of the bullet will be lead, so it shouldn't be covered under this.

Oddly enough, that should exclude regular "steel-cored" if they're built the way the rifle bullets are, since those are lead-over-steel cored...

Unless someone has something to add that's scarier, I don't think I'll freak if I get a box of ammo and a magnet sticks to the bullets.

Thanks!

[rayra]

The only 'freak' you should worry about re steel-jacketed or -cored CommBloc ammo is that many CA outdoor ranges will not allow it out of fear of the fire danger from sparks, and indoor ranges don't want it because their backstops aren't up to long-term abuse from it or the chances of customer injuries from spall / ricochet on their short ranges.
You'll have a lot of ammo that you can't shoot anywhere but some isolated spot in the desert.

[M. Sage]

I haven't run into any ranges in the Bay Area who don't allow steel-jacketed.

If they did, I'd be in a lot of trouble, since even a lot of the soft-point ammo for Mosins has steel jackets. :eek:

[762cavalier]

I don't think ATF even allows pistol ammunition that might be considered as armor peircing to be imported into the country. IIRC AIM had a large shipment of Romanian 7.62x25 held up in customs until a determination about its "armor piercing" capability was made. Aim had this stuff on backorder for a year or so until it was allowed in.

[M. Sage]

Apparently the 7.62x25 is inherently better vs soft body armor than the average pistol round.

http://theboxotruth.com/docs/bot29.htm

Class II body armor is only rated to .357 JSP, IIRC. If this result is typical, pistols in 7.62x25 might be able to defeat Class II or up to IIIA body armor. Bizarre.

I might have to write OP and see what the makeup of the bullets he used in that test was; if they were steel-jacketed.