Armory Sponsor
Posted: 10/23/2009 12:45:00 PM EDT
|
FMJ or lead, does it matter, pros cons?
Rifle is a 16" 9mm upper from Spikes, it loves commercial 115gr FMJ w/nary a hiccup. Time to start reloading for it. |
| If I wanna shoot something hot out of my 11.5 9mm AR I use Precision Delta 115's with a healthy load of power pistol. If Im trying to shoot on a budget I'll use MS lead 147's loaded with 3.3g's of Solo 1000, its a very quiet, soft shooting load, great for shooting steel with. |
|
If economy is your object, then I would try cast first. Second choice would be plated, if you can find it cheaper than jacketed, some times you can, and some times you can't.
If terminal performance is your goal, the 147 grain JHPs are your best bet. That long barrel accelerates the lighter bullets just a wee bit too much, and consequently limits their penetration. Both of my 9mm ARs work with just about anything I feed them, as long as it is close to full length. There was some Spanish surplus on the market years back loaded with a very short bullet, and that would not work too well. |
|
Quoted:
If economy is your object, then I would try cast first. Second choice would be plated, if you can find it cheaper than jacketed, some times you can, and some times you can't. If terminal performance is your goal, the 147 grain JHPs are your best bet. That long barrel accelerates the lighter bullets just a wee bit too much, and consequently limits their penetration. Both of my 9mm ARs work with just about anything I feed them, as long as it is close to full length. There was some Spanish surplus on the market years back loaded with a very short bullet, and that would not work too well. any downsides to using lead in an AR barrel? I've never reloaded cast before. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
If economy is your object, then I would try cast first. Second choice would be plated, if you can find it cheaper than jacketed, some times you can, and some times you can't. If terminal performance is your goal, the 147 grain JHPs are your best bet. That long barrel accelerates the lighter bullets just a wee bit too much, and consequently limits their penetration. Both of my 9mm ARs work with just about anything I feed them, as long as it is close to full length. There was some Spanish surplus on the market years back loaded with a very short bullet, and that would not work too well. any downsides to using lead in an AR barrel? I've never reloaded cast before. In a 9mm AR barrel you should have zero "problems" with lead. You may experience some leading, as with any lead bullet, but it's nothing that can't be handled, and better yet, lead bullets are significantly cheaper than jacketed bullets so you will save a lot of money too. |
|
I shoot primarily lead bullets thru my subguns. No issues at all with an Oly upper cut to 7.5" on the M16.
I cast my own using molds from Lee, RCBS and Ballisti-Cast. The AR15/M16 eats any of them no problem. However like AR said you will be scraping lead off the FH! |
|
I shoot cast lead bullets in my 9MM AR most of the time. I don't have any leading problems and the bullets I cast myself are more accurate than most jacketed bullets. I do see some leading in my flash hider, but it comes off easily and it doesn't hurt anything. The only bullets that shoot more accurately than cast in my rifle are the Hornady HAP bullets. Also the cast bullets shoot better than any of the various plated bullets I have tried. I also have found that loading the bullets as long as possible assures perfect feeding.
G |
|
Quoted:
As an avid reloader who also casts his won bullet I have to say cast is the cheap way to go an it works well but you will have a hell of a lot more cleaning to do. Your choice, spend the money for jacketed or plated or save money and spend time with cast. I shoot cast all of the time and I don't notice that they are that much dirtier than jacketed and I don't believe it is any more tedious to clean. That being said, blowback rifles are much dirtier than any other type. I size my cast bullets .001 over bore diameter and I get no noticeable leading. I did have problems .355 diameter commercial cast bullets, but the problems went away when I switched to .356 diameter. G |
Armory Sponsor