Does anyone see an appreciable difference in barrel fouling (leading) from shooting exposed base bullets as opposed to the jacketed hollowpoint bullets that usually do not have exposed lead at the base?  Did that make sense?  .....does the exposed lead in the base of many FMJ bullets cause problems with leading in the barrel?  This may influence my choice of bullets.  By the way, I'm a first time rifle handloader, any tips or even suggestions for reloading component sources......h.gifTIA

Perrito

It seems the pistol calibers are more likely to have exposed lead at the base, I've never seen any problems in a pistol.  I can't recall seeing much in the way of exposed lead on the base of rifle bullets, there might be some out there, but I've never seen any.

Almost all jacketed ammunition shows lead at either the base or the point.  If it is FMJ then the base is probably open; if OTM, HP, or soft-point it isn't.

I shoot cast bullets in other calibers, using Lee tumble lube.  I rarely see the lube, a medium wax, burnt off of the base of the bullet; there is simply no way that the base of a FMJ bullet is being vaporized.  The contact time is too short for the temperature transfer.

Larry

If you like to dump Beta-C mags full auto while suppressed then you may have a problem. Not worth worrying about for semi-auto shooters.

To quote Gem-Tech:

... 5.56mm is a unique cartridge. The projectile is physically small and lightweight. The relatively high muzzle velocity causes excessive barrel heating from friction, with outside barrel temperatures exceeding 700° F in a 100 round burst. Bore temperature is considerably higher. The projectile contains a small quantity of lead, which after a 90 round burst starts to soften and/or melt. The softening of the lead core results in geometric instability of the projectile, causing excessive yawing, tumbling, and suppressor baffle contact.

Quoted: I can't recall seeing much in the way of exposed lead on the base of rifle bullets, there might be some out there, but I've never seen any.

Are you posting DRUNK?

Thanks for the replies, I won't worry much about it then....now for a good source of economy bullets.