Finally, someone answered the question of whether bitmetal jacketed ammo is bad

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 4/24/2011 11:32am

This morning I woke up, sat up in bed, and read the most recent issue of Front Sight, the USPSA magazine.

Someone finally did an intelligent article on Russian bimetal ammo that is so popular nowadays. To make a long story short, using such ammo may shorten the life of your barrel. This is because the copper jacketing covering the steel jacketed bullet is extremely thin and tends to get entirely rubbed off in places while still in your barrel, so your barrel ends up being exposed to steel from the bullet.

The author used some university laboratory equipment to ascertain the composition of various Russian manufactured bullets, and also to determine how much material had been removed from bullets after they were fired from various firerams into a medium from which they could be recovered intact. According to the author you can see the thinness of the copper jacket for yourself if you take a piece of sandpaper to some of these bullets.

Sellier and Bellot, which is what I shoot through my .45, is okay, though, because the way that they economize is by using 30% brass and 70% copper in their jacketing, as opposed to 100% copper. So if you want to shoot cheap Eastern European ammo without running steel down your barrel, that could be the way to go.

I encourage everyone to read the article. Interesting stuff.

**Roaming East** · Posted On: 4/29/2011 2:46pm

is bimetal the same as 'blended metal' bullets that were being hyped up a decade ago?

**adouglasmhor** · Posted On: 4/29/2011 5:35pm

30% brass and 70% copper is 100% brass. Brass is any alloy of Copper and Zinc.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 4/29/2011 8:29pm

Originally Posted by Roaming East

is bimetal the same as 'blended metal' bullets that were being hyped up a decade ago?

I don't know. It means cheap Eastern European ammo that is popular now, such as Wolf and Brown Bear.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 7/15/2011 12:42am

im reviving an old thread, but does this apply to both rifles and handguns, or just handguns? I've been firing a LOOOOT of tula through my M9

**Bodhidharma** · Posted On: 9/07/2011 10:41pm

I've put many tens of thousands of rounds of cheap Russian steel jacket crap through Glocks, mostly 9mm and .40 without issue, no premature wear on factory or aftermarket conversion barrels. A ton of Wolf, Brown Bear, and probably Tul now a majority of it since it's less than $10 a box at the Wal-Mart for 9 and $12-13 for .40.

My experience is that AKs will happily run without issue on the stuff.

But Wolf and the like were an absolute nightmare in both ARs I had.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 9/09/2011 10:14am

I have to fire the wolf ammo on my AR first, before the gun heats up. Once it is heated up it gets stuck on teh chamber all teh time.

**tgace** · Posted On: 9/13/2011 10:22pm

Originally Posted by Bodhidharma

I've put many tens of thousands of rounds of cheap Russian steel jacket crap through Glocks, mostly 9mm and .40 without issue, no premature wear on factory or aftermarket conversion barrels. A ton of Wolf, Brown Bear, and probably Tul now a majority of it since it's less than $10 a box at the Wal-Mart for 9 and $12-13 for .40.

My experience is that AKs will happily run without issue on the stuff.

But Wolf and the like were an absolute nightmare in both ARs I had.

Can depend on the brand of AR. Was the chamber .223 or 5.56? Blue or black extractor insert? Were you firing 100% steel cases or were some brass cases in the mix?

**Devil** · Posted On: 9/26/2011 2:03pm

It would be interesting to see some solid figures on how much barrel life is reduced by shooting cheap ammo.

I shoot the good stuff, but if you're looking at it from purely a cost standpoint, my guess is the extra wear from the cheap ammo won't justify the more expensive ammo. You can get a new AR barrel for the price of a case of Federal 5.56.