ParaLarry Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Has anybody tried loading these solid copper .223 bullets? http://www.theamericanmarksman.com/CopperHead-223-Remington-55gr-BT-SOLID-COPPER-silghtly-blemished-bullets6000-count-Buy-5000-and-1000-Free-Free-Shipping_p_346.html Any comments? Sent from my reloading bench using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I bought their 1000 pack (1250) and loaded some 100 or so of them. They shoot ok, just know they are really long for 55gr. I'm tempted to get some more and use them for short range ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickoli Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Well, I ordered them to test out with some of my friends. I figured at that price, if they don't group well enough, they will be perfect for local 3gun matches and offhand practice at 50 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRM83 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Avoid these bullets. The diameters are all over the place. I saw bullets from .2215 to .2235. The accuracy was garbage as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Solid copper is going to drive up pressure and wear out a barrel faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickoli Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 What size groups and is there any date proving increased pressure and decreased barrel life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Avoid these bullets. The diameters are all over the place. I saw bullets from .2215 to .2235. The accuracy was garbage as well. I was intrigued by this so I just measured about 15-20 bullets. All of mine were between 2.235 and 2.240 and that might have also been me not measuring them EXACTLY the same. Their profile is a bit odd, so make sure you measured them exactly at the same point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 AP bullets, bi metal jacket bullets and Solid bullets will all wear out a barrel faster. The reason is that they don't compress as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 AP bullets, bi metal jacket bullets and Solid bullets will all wear out a barrel faster. The reason is that they don't compress as well. Err are you saying that the ENTIRE bullet compresses while in the barrel? I'm not sure thats how it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustangGreg66 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Ok, here's some real experience with these, albeit a very small sample. I bought some of the blemished ones since they looked like such a good deal. I had to confirm my load with my other bullets since I got a new lot of H335 anyway, so I loaded some of these up. I started low, and with just one charge since I wasn't sure if these would work and it's a back burner project. When loading, I noticed that the bullets are a lot longer than my standard go to bullet, the Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT. I tried seating the Copper bullet into the case with the seating die in the same place and the bullet fell into the case. I thought maybe they were too small a diameter, as seen above, but I had to use a kinetic bullet puller to get the bullet out of the case. I measured a sample of bullets and they all came in at 0.2215-0.222. I measured some Hornady's out at 0.2225-0.223 and the inside of the case neck at 0.220. I figured the Hornady's should be at 0.224, so I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of my caliper. It's a digital one from RCBS. With the diameter confirmed as having some neck tension, I went about adjusting the seating depth. I had to seat the copper FMJ bullets out to 2.250" in order for them to have enough neck tension. The Hornady's I was seating to 2.200". In both bullets, that length leaves junction of the shank of the bullet and boat tail, right at the end of the case neck inside the case. Which is probably right where it should be. I shot the loads through two different guns. The first is an upper I just built this year with parts I scored from Black Friday. 16" melonite treated, midlength gas barrel with 1:7 twist and Surefire Brake(16"gun). The other, a match ready JP with 18" rifle length gas barrel(JP). I used a Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph. It was an overcast day, 60 degrees, target was at 40 yards with the chrono 5 yards in front of the muzzle. I loaded 10 of each and since I had two guns, that only left 5 for each gun. I probably should have loaded more, but I was short on both loading and shooting time. 55gr Hornady FMJ-BT seated to 2.205", WCC'10 cases, FL sized/trimmed on the dillon 650 and inside deburred. Win SR Primer, 24.0gr H335 charged with an RCBS Chargemaster. 3Gun Rifle 5 shot Average: 2630fps, Extreme Spread: 184, Standard Deviation: 70.31 JP 5 shot Average: 2798fps, Extreme Spread: 107, Standard Deviation: 40.36 55gr Solid Copper BT, seated to 2.255", WCC'10 cases, FL sized/trimmed on the dillon 650 and inside deburred. Win SR Primer, 24.0gr H335 charged with an RCBS Chargemaster. 3Gun Rifle 5 shot Average: 2675fps, Extreme Spread: 107, Standard Deviation: 37.69 JP 5 shot Average: 2708fps, Extreme Spread: 93, Standard Deviation: 33.82 Interesting enough, the Copper bullets had a better ES and SD. It gave a higher velocity in the 16" gun than the Hornady, and lower velocity than the hornady in the 18" gun. Neither grouped particularly well. I had a really poor rest and poor aiming point for the group with the JP in the lower right. The others I was using a 6x scope aiming at the corner of the black tape. The extra two shots on the lower left were the first two with the 55gr copper bullets. I wanted to make sure they weren't tumbling or having any other kind of issue. I had a few other charges of H335 and the Hornady bullets and the JP seemed to put them into a bug-hole with my pulling a flier out on just about every group. The 16" gun seemed to print 1-1.25" with the Hornady's. I don't think the 1:7 twist likes the 55gr bullets much and it printed some much tighter groups with 69gr SMK bullets. As for the Copper bullets. This is hardly a good test of accuracy, since the 16" gun doesn't particularly like 55s of any kind, and I had a very poor aiming point for the JP. As it sits, these would be suitable for hoser stages, but more testing would need to be done to see if they'd be good for some of the smaller targets we see at some of the local matches around here. Think 50 yard clay pigeons and mini-Metric targets with lots of hard cover... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Solid copper is going to drive up pressure and wear out a barrel faster. Sorry but no. Solid copper is softer than most jacketed bullet gliding material which is a mix of copper and zinc. If loaded properly for the length of the bullet solid copper bullets like Barns have no more pressure nor do they wear the barrel out early. Pat Edited February 8, 2015 by Alaskapopo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) AP bullets, bi metal jacket bullets and Solid bullets will all wear out a barrel faster. The reason is that they don't compress as well. Again sorry but no the reason so called bi metal bullets wear a barrel faster is because these rounds are really just mild steel bullets with a copper flashing (micro thin layer of copper) over the bullet. So in reality your running steel down your barrel and steel on steel is going to wear your barrel much much faster than soft copper on steel. AP founds with actual copper jackets do not wear your barrel faster. Pat Edited February 8, 2015 by Alaskapopo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 1. Yes, most bi-metal bullets are steel bullets with a copper wash, so yes you are running steel on steel in a barrel. 2. I said "don't compress as well" which is true, but not the best way of describing the lands engaging the bullet. In many cases, can be or is completely compressed with a smaller than .224 bore. .308 target barrels commonly reference the bore diameter as well, and with a .308 Palma barrel this is expressed as a .3075 bore or .298 depending on who makes the barrel but they are both "tight bore" barrels. This helps when shooting out of spec of inconsistent ball ammo. If you shoot a 55SMK in the same load as 55Hor FMJ, the 55 FMJ generates more pressure because the copper jacket is thicker. (this assumes the bearing surface is the same). With a pistol, it takes less powder to push a lead bullet to a given velocity then a jacketed bullet. 3. The force that it takes to compress a bullet depends on several factors including and not limited to the jacket material and thickness as well as the bullet "fill" material. 4. A more recent example as we don't shoot AP much any more: In order to make the M855A1 balistically the same as M855 ammunition the new M855A1 bullets have to be driven to the same velocity as M855. Because the M855A1 bullets are not lead core (keeping things simple), the result is higher pressure ammunition. 5. So, if you drive a harder bullet (AP, bimetal, Barnes, solid. etc) to the same velocity as a traditional bullet, you will raise pressure and therefore increase barrel wear. reference AP I am talking something along the line of .30-06 M2 AP or M955, not M855 which does have a steel penetrator but is NOT AP ammunition. **Do what ever you want BUT if you go from a traditional bullet to a Solid copper bullet and don't reduce your powder charge I suspect you will blow a primer or worse.** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Has anybody tried loading these solid copper .223 bullets? http://www.theamericanmarksman.com/CopperHead-223-Remington-55gr-BT-SOLID-COPPER-silghtly-blemished-bullets6000-count-Buy-5000-and-1000-Free-Free-Shipping_p_346.html Any comments? I bought 6K. They look good to me. I will use them for 0-200 yard targets for local matches and practice. Without further testing I'll still use conventional lead core FMJBT for my close range loads for big matches. I would not get these to use for your long range load. I wouldn't even bother for that purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickoli Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thats exactly why I bought some too, practice and local matches. trying to keep my cost down as much as possible since I have a plan to triple my shooting this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Ok I found a pretty big issue One of the bullets was a different profile and severely undersized. It was noticeably longer, it lacked the boat tail and it measured at 0.219. When sitting the bullet it felt very different, its OAL was way past mag length which was a great thing because it could be set back into the case with minimal finger pressure. The weight was correct at 55gr. So watch out for any bullets that don't sit correctly or look wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Interesting, I have found big name red box bullets with jackets malformed and folded over too.... it happens. Oh yea, I also found a .264 bullet in a box of .243 bullets in another red box. Good that you caught it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now