Steel Penetrators??

[C.G.]

Are your bullets tracers or HEI ? or as to tip color are they RED, ORANGE,BLUE, OR SILVER ?

how will a AP or ss109 start a fire. do you shoot into wood shavings and have tinder in hand ?

According to the range, when steel core hits metal it can cause sparks which can cause fire. The tips are green (as is most, but not all ss109/M855, except that some countries that only used 1:9 or faster rifling will not mark it at all) and when the rangemaster sees green tip ammo, he will tell you to stop using it.
I think many BLM lands, if not all, also forbid steel core ammo.

[eviioiive]

the range ammo at lax for 7.62x39 used to be steel core.... and ive been at angeles for a fire from someone using steel core... they hustle to put it out before the fire trucks show....

[chiefcrash]

except punch through mild steel at 700 yards.

assuming that it'd punch through mild steel at 700 yards, what then? you have this tiny little hunk of steel that's not gonna do much.

but would it even punch through steel? The SS-109 bullet (the kind on Radway ammo) is not designed as armor piercing.

It is true that M855 was designed to increase penetration at longer ranges (500-600 meters) primarily to deal with the SAW issues, but don't mistake this "enhanced long-range penetration" design for "armor piercing." M855 is officially considered "ball," or standard ammunition by the military.

The ATF has even removed the M855/SS-109 from the definition of Armor Piercing Ammunition, but that doesn't really say much

[rollyourown]

I guess that my point is that lots of people seem to be slamming this high quality, inexpensive ammunition, and I cannot understand why. It works, does what it is designed to do, and does it well. I guess if you really need LC or Federal M855 you can spend $299 a 1000 and get it. If you like the ballistics of 55gr M193 then by all means buy as much of it as you can. For myself, this RG 62gr stuff is just right, and I thought I would pass along the info for others who might be interested. Its good for target practice and defense against southern Hottentott border jumpers.

For all the naysayers that slam this stuff because of what they read on gunboards and bbs sites, I would suggest you get your hands on 100 rds of the stuff and try it in your ARs. I feel you will be happy with what you see downrange. If the bullet was such a crappy performer, why in the world is the government buying and distributing it to their troops. They have been tooled up to make M193 for decades. If 55gr worked so well, why is it not still the main round for the M-16/M-249 series of weapons?

When the war in Iraq is over, and it will be over some day, there will be plenty of federal and LC M855 on the market at cheap prices. And I will be buying as much of it as I can get my hands on. The days of cheap M193 55gr are as dead as JFK. Just look at how much WOLF gets for M193 brass case ammo made in Serbia of all places. $200 a thousand! Winny White Box Q3131 is over $200 a 1000. S&B M193 is over $200 a thousand. ETC ETC. Nope...its cheap RG for me.

[C.G.]

Rollyourown, I am not knocking it, personally, the stuff shoots well for me. I just don't have places to shoot it around my locality if I want to stay on friendly terms.

[chiefcrash]

I guess that my point is that lots of people seem to be slamming this high quality, inexpensive ammunition, and I cannot understand why. It works, does what it is designed to do, and does it well. I guess if you really need LC or Federal M855 you can spend $299 a 1000 and get it. If you like the ballistics of 55gr M193 then by all means buy as much of it as you can. For myself, this RG 62gr stuff is just right, and I thought I would pass along the info for others who might be interested. Its good for target practice and defence against southern Hottentott border jumpers.

For all the naysayers that slam this stuff because of what they read on gunboards and bbs sites, I would suggest you get your hands on 100 rds of the stuff and try it in your ARs. I feel you will be happy with what you see downrange. If the bullet was such a crappy performer, why in the world is the government buying and distributing it to their troops. They have been tooled up to make M193 for decades. If 55gr worked so well, why is it not still the main round for the M-16/M-249 series of weapons?

When the war in Iraq is over, and it will be over some day, there will be plenty of federal and LC M855 on the market at cheap prices. And I will be buying as much of it as I can get my hands on. The days of cheap M193 55gr are as dead as JFK. Just look at how much WOLF gets for M193 brass case ammo made in Serbia of all places. $200 a thousand! Winny White Box Q3131 is over $200 a 1000. S&B M193 is over $200 a thousand. ETC ETC. Nope...its cheap RG for me.

Don't get me wrong, i love this stuff. i've put 600 rounds of it through my bushie so far without one jam, misfire, hangfire, or failure to cycle. I love it.

in theory, the Radway stuff is underloaded for use in the British L-85A (SA80) bullpups. There's been a few reports that it won't cycle a AR, but i must be lucky.

I just hear people try to call it armor piercing. It's not. There's even been a few gunshow vendors that bought a bunch of Radway stuff, painted the tips black, and try to sell it as M995 armor piercing rounds at an inflated price....

But to cut to the chase, it's great stuff.

[jeffrice6]

Does the steel tip have any ill effects on the barrel or barrel life?

[chiefcrash]

Does the steel tip have any ill effects on the barrel or barrel life?

unless you're shooting bullets with the copper jacket torn off, nope

that's why wolf takes their steel jacketed bullets and copper-plates them

[-hanko]

Does the steel tip have any ill effects on the barrel or barrel life?

The steel core (it's not the tip of the bullet) is covered by the copper jacket...your barrel wil be fine.

Radway is great ammo...not as speedy as M855 or Q3131A, but only a hundred fps or so, based on a few I've timed. Guatemalan is also great ammo if you're looking for 55gr bullets. They're down to selling cosmetic seconds, but the shoot great, they're accurate to nato specs, and they're cheap.


[quote=SemiAutoSam] Are your bullets tracers or HEI ? or as to tip color are they RED, ORANGE,BLUE, OR SILVER ? [quote/]
Opening post says M855 and SS109. SS109 is the bullet, M855 the assembled cartridge. Tracers have a red or orange tip; blue is (I think) APIT, it's a variety of .50 bmg ammo. Silver is incendiary and also not supplied in 5.56mm.

Read the ammo oracle

-hanko

[shonc99]

People often mistake the 'penatrator' part as armor piercing. The whole design of the steel core is to penetrate a steel helmet at something like up to 600 yards. At that point it whizzes around in your brain turning your head into a bucket of grey scrambled eggs. YRMV