MC/FMJ ammo question

D

dbala

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I was buying rem .223 UMC - these are metal cased (which I assume is the same as FMJ) to use for target shooting in my Rem VLSS -

These are pretty inexpensive rounds & shoot well in my gun - here's the question:

A guy at the shop saw me buying them & told me that they are military rounds & the metal case would "open up" my barrel & I assume ruin the gun.

I'm a total novice, so I have no idea if this is true. If so - I have put about 250 rounds through my gun already.....have I screwed it up?

Thanks for any info guys -

D
 
I suggest you NOT going back to that particular gunshop EVER AGAIN because that guy has absolutely NO CLUE what-so-ever.

What a tool. If he told you stupidity like this, what other stupidity is it up in his sleeve? Move your business somewhere else.

dbala said:
I was buying rem .223 UMC - these are metal cased (which I assume is the same as FMJ) to use for target shooting in my Rem VLSS -

These are pretty inexpensive rounds & shoot well in my gun - here's the question:

A guy at the shop saw me buying them & told me that they are military rounds & the metal case would "open up" my barrel & I assume ruin the gun.

I'm a total novice, so I have no idea if this is true. If so - I have put about 250 rounds through my gun already.....have I screwed it up?

Thanks for any info guys -

D
Click to expand...
 
Rest easy... there's no difference from your barrel's point of view whether or not you shoot FMJ, hunting or match type ammunition. Think about it - the only basic difference between the FMJ rounds you're using and match hollow point rounds is a small hole in the nose of the HP bullets... The jacket material is identical, and pressure and velocity will be roughly the same too.

You don't say if the guy at the store was an employee or not, but if he was, I'd steer clear of taking any advice from them again - that's a pretty shocking level of ignorance from someone who should know at least the basics of the products they sell. Perhaps he was thinking of steel jacketed Russian or Chinese type ammunition, but even those won't damage you barrel (the jacket steel is of course far softer than barrel steel), and he ought to know the difference anyway. If he was another customer, you've learned why it's a bad idea to take advice from people in gun stores and at gunshows as a sole source of information =)
 
I shoot IVI all the time in my 2 Savages. All FMJ....the only part of the bullet that touches the barrel is the sides and every jacketed bullet has the same material on the sides. What a cabooza...he is looking to lose a lot of customers due to his lack of knowledge. Try a store that has experienced staff...
 
heh, I put thousands of FMJ rounds, THOUSANDS down the barrels of my issued weapons, the C7 and the platoon C6. Guess what? They did not "open up" the barrels on them. This guy seems to be under the spell of some old wive's tale or another.
 
dbala said:
I was buying rem .223 UMC - these are metal cased (which I assume is the same as FMJ) to use for target shooting in my Rem VLSS -

These are pretty inexpensive rounds & shoot well in my gun - here's the question:

A guy at the shop saw me buying them & told me that they are military rounds & the metal case would "open up" my barrel & I assume ruin the gun.

I'm a total novice, so I have no idea if this is true. If so - I have put about 250 rounds through my gun already.....have I screwed it up?

Thanks for any info guys -

D
Click to expand...

Please do me a favor and tell me which gun store.

This guy should be fired on the spot.
 
Hey guys - thanks for the info -

To clear things up - it was NOT an employee at the gunstore - it was another customer who saw me buying the ammunition. I asked the sales guy about what he said & he told me he had never heard of that before (I asked you guys to get a second opinion - just in case...)

Another example of someone thinking he's an "expert" and talking crap.

Cheers - I'm off to the range :)
D
 
yeah, that guy was retarded, i've put a ton of rounds thru C7, C9, C6, and all remain really accurate with how old they are (my issue C7 was made in '87........) and I still manage a 1.5" group at 100m....... he's makin stuff up
 
It sounds to me like he was trying to warn you against using 5.56mm ammo in your .223, a position that has some merit. He just might not understand what the real difference is between the two, and assumes it is in the bullet.
 
33hoffman said:
yeah, that guy was retarded, i've put a ton of rounds thru C7, C9, C6, and all remain really accurate with how old they are (my issue C7 was made in '87........) and I still manage a 1.5" group at 100m....... he's makin stuff up
Click to expand...

I can beat that I put a shed load of rounds through my issue Bren and it was made in 1954. It still managed nice tight groups like that at 100m.
 
I had the same question regarding 308 winchester, and had answers all over the map. I had purchased some south africn hardball and some winchester white box fmj and found both of them were steel jacketed covered by a copper wash. IVI FMJ was a copper jacket. You can tell this by using a magnet. Apparently the steel in military barrels is more wear resistant than commercial winchester and remington barrels and isnt affected greatly by the steel jacket material . The comments I received were from "it wont hurt your barrels" to "I dont use it at all." So as a result I dont want to take a chance in my pre 64. I only offer this on the research ive done and ha ve no idea whether it is factual.
 
Standard load for 45 ACP is a 230gr FMJ (hardball). If FMJ's "opened up a barrel", think they would have stopped using those rounds about, oh I don't know, almost a hundred years ago. Guess pecker heads are everywhere.
 
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