I just picked up some .223 made by American Ammunition.   The box says "full copper coat".  Is this the same as FMJ?  

What brand of ammo is? More info is needed.

Well, does the bullet have a copper jacket and the nose of it is round?

The brand is American Ammunition of Miami, FL.

It appears to have a copper coating and a rounded tip.

It's a 50 round box, blue with diagonal red and white stripes.  

Here's why I'm concerned:

[url=]http://communities.prodigy.net/sportsrec/glock/gz-g36kb.html[/url]

[url=]http://www.frontsight.com/safety.htm[/url]

I also found this (has picure of thier box):
[url=]http://www.turners.com/turners/news_ammorecall.php[/url]

This appears to relate to some bad .45 ACP, any one know anything more about this ammo?

I don't know about that brand/company BUT if you are concerned don't shoot it? Can you return it? How much ammo did you buy? If it's only a box or two, why not just let it sit if you can't return it? "Full copper coat" sounds like a wash or plating.

No, bought it at a gunshow so I can't return it.

Only bought a couple of 50 round boxes, but I'm out of plinking ammo otherwise.  

I'm trying to figure out what the ramifications of shooting it through my Bushmaster are.  (Didn't make that clear!)

Anyone have any opinions/experience?

Cut one of the Bulets in half with a hack saw or line pliers and see if its a copper jacket or a bimetal w/copper wash.
*** Pull the bullet from the case first !!!

Several thoughts... Do you or any of your friends reload? If so, pull several bullets and weigh the charges. Also, check the powder, I forget if 5.56/.223 is loaded with ball or extruded powder but if you have a reloading manual handy you will know what is called for. If the charges are radically too heavy or light forget it. If the books indicate ball and they are loaded with say, flake powder, check to see if any factory loads have that type of powder. Pulling some GOOD factory rounds might help ID the powder.

Also, measure the diameter of the bullets. If they wash or plate their bullets, could they be too fat?? Poor QC??

Would a washed bullet survive the muzzle velocity of a 5.56/.223 round?

Mike, it is nearly impossible to ID powder by looking at it.  There are many different powders that may be used in any particular chambering.

I have used 5 different "looking" powders in my loads, and all of them function well.

No, the diameter is measured after production.



Yes, there is nothing wrong with copper washed bullets.  Some people don't like to use them in a stainless barrel, because the wear may be accelerated.

It appears to be a cast lead bullet w/ copper coating.   Their website says they cast lead bullets, the electroplate them with copper.

The main thing I'm worrying about is the chance of lead building up in the barrel/chamber.

What about plated?

Trying to identify powder by the way it looks is never a good idea...

Ball powders suitable for .223/5.56:  Win 748, Hogdon H335, Ramshot TAC, Accurate 2230
Extruded powders suitable for .223/5.56:  IMR 3031, IMR 4198, Hogdon H322
Flake powders suitable for .223/5.56:  Alliant Reloader 7

Those are off the top of my head.  I couldn't give you useful charges for any of them without consulting a loading manual, but all should work in .223 Remington/5.56mm NATO.  There is NO WAY TO TELL WHICH POWDER IT IS.  You may be able to tell which powder it's not, but even that doesn't really help you.

If you are going to disassemble a few rounds to test, the best thing you can do is test for consistency.  Weigh the powder charges.

Pull 5 rounds from each box and weigh the charges one at a time.  After the charge is weighed, record it and then dump the powder back into the case (use a funnel), but don't reseat the bullet yet (make sure to keep the cases separated, too so you don't accidentally double charge).  IF you come up with any rounds that are more than 0.1 or 0.2 grains off, that round is junk.  If you get more than 2 of these junk rounds, pitch the whole lot of them.  

If you want to deactivate the rounds first, you should be able to soak them in water overnight to deactivate the powder and primers.  If they are sealed, this probably won't do any good, but I doubt they are.  You'll find out when you pull them.  You might even consider pulling the bullets first and saving them if you reload.

For what it's worth, the general consensus on most of the boards I read is that A-Merc (which is what you have) is OK for blasting ammo, but the brass is crap for reloading.

NOTE:  The ammunition recall link you posted is for .45 ACP specifically.  That is not what you bought and I doubt that you'll have a problem.  If you're worried enough to go through all of the trouble I've suggested, though, just pitch it as crap ammo and buy some Winchester White Box at Wally World to get by for a while.

Plated is better than washed.  As long as the bullet diameter measures .224", it is fine.  The washing and plating and molying and all that just serves to protect the bore.  You simply don't want unshielded steel moving down the barrel, my old BB gun notwithstanding.

I just read another of your posts.  The copper plating is called a jacket.  It prevents the lead from fouling the bore.

Copper washing is what bullet makers do when they want to save money on their materials.  Copper is more costly than steel, so some bullet makers use steel jackets.  In order to protect the guns that fire them, they copper wash steel bullets.  This actually places a thin copper coating on the bullet.  The cores of these bullets are still made out of lead.

The bullets you have sound like typical FMJ bullets that probably underwent a different manufacturing process than typical FMJ bullets.

Usually FMJ bullets have a jacket pre-drawn, and then filled with lead.  Electroplating seems like the opposite process.  You would start with a lead slug, then create the copper around it.

Thanks Troy, I think that ought to address the concerns!