Aluminum Bullets

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Gentlemen,

I recently read an article that said Federal is coming out with a new line of Aluminum Bullets that have been developed for the US NAVY for test firing into bodies of water. (Unsure of caliber, I would safely assume .50 or bigger).

There has been some environmental concern that during practice operations firing lead bullets, they lead will eventually leech into said water and contaminate it over a period of time.

#1. Other than the environmental benefits of lead-free bullets, why would they be considering aluminum bullets as opposed to an all copper bullet? #2. How would an aluminum bullet affect the rifling of a barrel?

Thanks.
 
Aluminum would be perfect, expensive and much heavier then lead, and would offer same advantage as TSX, ineffective and expensive.
 
Interesting idea. Someone needs to turn some on a lathe and test it out. Penetration would probably such ass unless you made a LONG bullet, but they might make decent 'plinking' loads.
 
I very much doubt that the bearing surface would be AL.
It would probably slip the rifling, so would not be spin stabilized. Also, it would gum up the barrel as it left a smear on the inside.
As it is far lighter than steel, a bullet of the same length would be much lighter, so would not have the same sectional density, and would loose speed right away. Although it would start out faster.
And if it was made about 3 times as long as a lead/copper bullet, to match the weight, it would have ahuge bearing surface, which would dramatically change the pressure curve during firing.

IMHO, of course....
 
Aluminum is too light to be useful for bullets for hunting or target shooting. By comparison, here are the approximate specific gravities of some metals:

Lead - 11
Copper - 8.5
Steel - 7
Aluminum - 3

You'd be limited to about 60gr bullets in a 30 cal, and 20 gr in a 223.

It has been used in bullet tips (e.g. Winchester "Silvertip"), but not in a serious fashion for general purpose bullets that I've heard of.
 
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I recall that there was interest at one time in casting pistol bullets from pewter. The light weight meant that 2000 fps could be obtained from a 4" .357, and like the aluminum bullets, massive shallow wounds were observed at close range. Accuracy and terminal effects drastically declined as range increased.
 
Any idea how expensive Bismuth is in quantity?
It is very close to the weight of lead, but is not toxic.
 
Suputin said:
I actually have a couple of aluminum 9mm bullets. They have a HUGE hollow point and are scored to break into severl pieces. The point was for a very high velocity but short range bullet for maximum wound potential.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see a picture if you can get one!
 
tootall said:
Any idea how expensive Bismuth is in quantity?
It is very close to the weight of lead, but is not toxic.
Click to expand...

Bismuth: $12 to $16 per pound.
Lead: $1 per pound.
Aluminum: $1.30 per pound
Copper: $3.50 per pound
Tin: $7 per pound

Boomer - pewter is around from 80 to 98% tin
 
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