Strange ammo

[Dirtbiker]

I have two Swedish Mausers. Several years ago I bought a 200 round sealed battleback of surplus Swedish 6.5X55 because it was cheap. I don't have photos, but upon unpacking I found that the bullets themselves where shiney silver and highly magnetic Has anyone seen these before?

I'm assuming they are armor piercing but why would anyone produce a steel coated bullet? I would think they would quickly destroy any rifle barrel they were fired in. Thoughts?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

That is very common for surplus ammo. They are most likely steel jacketed with a plating of cupronickel. Steel jacketed bullets are cheaper to make than copper jacketed bullets. A lot of US surplus ammo has steel jacketed bullets plated with copper. The steel used for bullet jackets is very soft compared to the steel used for making barrels. Tests done by the US Army found that steel jacketed ammo wore out barrels about 10% faster than copper jacketed ammo.