Okay boys, here's a quick update.  I received my Sapsan ammo from Sportsmansguide.com.  

The bullet is indeed bimetal (coppper over steel).  The bullet looks to be the same as the bullets used by Barnaul.  If they aren't the same, they are very close.  They DO use the red sealer on the primer and neck, hence expect to need to clean the chamber a little more.

I'll run a few hundred rounds out of various ARs and give you a range report this weekend.

My guess is that this will be top notch plinking ammo with no real defense use.

Cheers,
DD