Does russian ammo wear out the barrel quicker

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  • gunman41mag

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    I was shooting some russian ammo, when an old-timer tells me that a friend bought 1,000 rounds of russian 223 & after shooting it his friend MINI-14 had no rifling left. Can this be true or was he BULL-:poop:ing me:dunno:
     

    windellmc

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    They way I have heard older Mini-14s shoot how would he know it lost the rifling? :)

    If it were to cause any wear it would be in the chamber due to the steel case. It should be a lot softer than the barrel though so I would not expect excess wear.
     

    xring62

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    Maybe the guy is thinking of the older Mil surplus ,corosive primers ,if you dont clean the bore ,yep ,no rifling pretty fast.
     

    windellmc

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    The Russians do use a steel jacket over the lead on a lot of their ammo, but I think it still has a copper jacket over that. A lot of European ammo is that way too.
     

    IndyGunworks

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    steel core ammo is illegal. the russian ammos bullet is a lead core w/ copper jacket the same as EVERY other bullet you will fire. steel ammo is mearly the casing and neither will cause exessive wear on the rifling.

    corrosive ammo when fired and the bore not cleaned WILL erode the rifling.
     

    need4speed255

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    steel core ammo is illegal. the russian ammos bullet is a lead core w/ copper jacket the same as EVERY other bullet you will fire. steel ammo is mearly the casing and neither will cause exessive wear on the rifling.

    corrosive ammo when fired and the bore not cleaned WILL erode the rifling.

    Kind of. The steel core cannot be above a certain percentage in weight compared to the total weight of the bullet. Something like that.
     

    printcraft

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    I was shooting some russian ammo, when an old-timer tells me that he heard in a gun store that some guy bought 1,000 rounds of russian 223 & after shooting it his MINI-14 had no rifling left.


    Edited to be closer to reality.

    Also, lifetime licenses are going away next year.
     

    indykid

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    Sure glad I don't have a Mini-14. I do have a Romanian SAR-3 that I have put almost 10,000 rounds through and the bore still looks new.

    Also heard about the fancy assault rifle that uses banana clips that never run out of ammo........
     

    Titanium_Frost

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    Russian ammo is steel cased with a bimetal jacketed bullet. The core is lead, the jacket is soft steel and it has a copper coating on it. It WILL attract a magnet and is NOT the same as "every other bullet."

    It will spray some crazy sparks on steel at night :D


    ETA: It will not wear out your barrel faster IMO.
     

    NullSyndrome

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    SS-109 is steel core and can be bought all day legally..

    Exactly. Steel core HANDGUN ammo is were you run into problems.

    I'm not sure, though. You can shoot SS-109 in an AR pistol, though?

    And what about all the Chinese steel core 7.62x39 you used to be able to buy so cheap? I used to buy that at gunshows for $1.99 for 20 rounds. Could you shoot that out of a Draco? Just wondering.
     
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