Non steel core 7.62x39?

Boomer454

Boomer454

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I need to come up with a few hundred rounds of 7.62x39 that DO NOT have steel core bullets. I don't care if the cases are reloadable or not, they just have to be non steel core bullets.

I used to buy the American Eagle stuff to shoot at an indoor range, but can't seem to find it anywhere.

Whats a good alternative to that stuff? Remington and Wincester dont seem to be selling it in their surplus lines either...

Can anyone point me to a source of some reasonable priced ammo?
 
ciphery said:
Um....7.62x39 surplus ammo is lead core with a soft iron jacket that has been copper plated.
To my knowledge none of it has a steel CORE.
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Sorry, you're wrong.

The Czech, Polish, Romanian and Russian surplus is all steel core. Most, if not all, of the recent Chinese import is steel core, too.

Soviet M43 spec ammo is, by definition, steel-cored.
 
Stevo said:
Sorry, you're wrong.

The Czech, Polish, Romanian and Russian surplus is all steel core. Most, if not all, of the recent Chinese import is steel core, too.

Soviet M43 spec ammo is, by definition, steel-cored.
Click to expand...

Im going to take a zip cut and cut the bullets in half right now to see if there is a steel core inside of the ones I own.. They will be Romanian and Russian. Stay tooned.:)
 
Dude, I just did that. The last two pics show the slice of core that is sticking to my magnet.

There's a pile of online references to this ammo being steel-cored. It's why we get the Czech ammo and the Americans don't.

Here's the pics:

IMG_2030Medium.jpg

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IMG_2033Medium.jpg

IMG_2034Medium.jpg
 
Just finished cutting both Romanian and Russian 7.62 x 39 bullets in half.. sorry but no steel core but the jackets are about 1 mm thick and sparked the entire time I was cutting through, so the jackets are definately steel and the insides lead. I hope I helped.. :cool:
 
7mmlefty said:
Just finished cutting both Romanian and Russian 7.62 x 39 bullets in half.. sorry but no steel core but the jackets are about 1 mm thick and sparked the entire time I was cutting through, so the jackets are definately steel and the insides lead. I hope I helped.. :cool:
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No, you didn't help at all. Did you use a magnet on the core? It's generally quite soft steel.

Blanket statements about it all being lead-core are patently false.

At the very least you should email CanAm and tell him he's describing his Chinese 7.62x39 incorrectly.
 
Any M43 com bloc surplus will be steel core. Simplest way to tell is if it is a boattal bullet. Also, the steel core can be checked with a pin, nail etc at the base. Lead is soft, steel will scratch, but is hard.

Only lead core readily available is Yugoslavian M67.

I just use wire cutters to tell. Saves pulling the bullet.

The standard sequence on M43 is copper-steel-lead-steel, outside to inside.
 
7mmlefty said:
OOps.. there is a steel core inside a thin lead wall between the jacket..
I stand corected. Thanks Stevo..
I never would have believed... The Jackets are also steel.:)
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No worries. It's counter-intuitive to think of projectiles as being all steel.

We're fortunate that the ATF designated 7.62x39 as "armour piercing handgun ammo" after folks started to build AK pistols.

If not, we wouldn't see the ammo that we get as it would go to the US.
 
Stevo said:
No, you didn't help at all. Did you use a magnet on the core? It's generally quite soft steel.

Blanket statements about it all being lead-core are patently false.

At the very least you should email CanAm and tell him he's describing his Chinese 7.62x39 incorrectly.
Click to expand...

I can confirm your findings. I cut some Romanian, Russian, and Czech M43 ball and it is indeed steel cored (with a thin layer of lead surrounding that) and steel jacketed.
 
The steel cores and steel jackets are 2 piece so the jacket can more easily deform in the rifling without having to deform the core.

If it was solid, it would be much more difficult for the rifling to engrave the bullet and would likely substantially increase stress on the lands and not seal as well.
 
Thanks for all the interesting ways or finding the steel in the bullets, but none of this answers my question at all.

I'm going to a match in a month or so and I can not use steel core ammo. They aren't going to check it with a zip disk or side cutters or anything like that. Theyre going to stick a magnet on it. Steel, it sticks, no steel it doesn't.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced source of 7.63x39 ammo that will not stick a magnet to its bullet? What brand would that be?
 
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