Nickel plated bullets?
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Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
I'm scared of them.
Not much at all on internet about it. My gun slick solvent says removes metal fouling so I assume it would clean it out ok. The only article I found said it fouls less than copper because its harder, but is harder to remove also? But seems like it would all depend on their formula? I can not find where federal or Sierra talk about it one way or the other.
elkaholic
Well-Known Member
I always thought nickel was harder than stainless steel. Wonder what affect it has on the barrel?
therifleman556
Well-Known Member
I've got nickel plated jags specifically to not get eaten by solvent if that tells you anything.
elkaholic
Well-Known Member
I think it may be a case of "the barrel sticking to the jacket" rather than the jacket to the barrel!
They claim the throat will still wear out way before rifling. There is different formulas for nickel too just like copper!
Have a hard time believing Federal or Sierra would put a product out the would hurt the barrel. My main consern is how hard to clean is it! Surely someone has shot them?
Have a hard time believing Federal or Sierra would put a product out the would hurt the barrel. My main consern is how hard to clean is it! Surely someone has shot them?
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elkaholic
Well-Known Member
I hope you're right! It seems like the lead would be affected as well as the rifling farther up the barrel though. I guess time will tell.
birdiemc
Well-Known Member
Did some interweb searching and nickel has a hardnessof 4 Mohs, iron 4.5 Mohs Steel 4-4.5Mohs according to a jewelry website.
Wikipedia says iron is 4.
Another place I found them staring the Rockwell hardness of 99.5% nickel is 44 where iron is 79 and stainless is 70...that's just a couple minutes of browsing...who knows how accurate any of it is. And it's all talking about pure nickel which is highly unlikely, more likely an alloy, which in all actuallity stainless steel could perhaps be considered a nickel alloy ( I build houses, definitely not a mettalurgist) so without more information we're all just guessing unfortunately. It would be nice to believe they wouldn't be making bullets that would be known to destroy barrels....unless maybe shilen and Krieger teamed up on the project to get more sales lol.
Wikipedia says iron is 4.
Another place I found them staring the Rockwell hardness of 99.5% nickel is 44 where iron is 79 and stainless is 70...that's just a couple minutes of browsing...who knows how accurate any of it is. And it's all talking about pure nickel which is highly unlikely, more likely an alloy, which in all actuallity stainless steel could perhaps be considered a nickel alloy ( I build houses, definitely not a mettalurgist) so without more information we're all just guessing unfortunately. It would be nice to believe they wouldn't be making bullets that would be known to destroy barrels....unless maybe shilen and Krieger teamed up on the project to get more sales lol.
adam32
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure the dumbest bullet guy at Sierra or Federal is still smarter than anyone here...they wouldn't produce something that would hurt your barrel.
birdiemc
Well-Known Member
No they just have better computers and access to proprietary data
Riflehunter1776
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for comparison. obviously there are different testing parameters in play, but the common denominator of harder-than-copper jackets is worth considering.
http://www.us-shooter.com/russian-bimetal-bullets-and-barrel-wear-is-it-worth-it/
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
http://www.us-shooter.com/russian-bimetal-bullets-and-barrel-wear-is-it-worth-it/
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
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elkaholic
Well-Known Member
If that article can be compared to the bullets in question, it would scare me!! 6,000 rounds vs 10,000 is pretty significant. That would mean a 2000 round rifle would last 1200. Just sayin'
We don't know if those bullets we're comparable at all but I think it bears questioning.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
It is true and has been proven by several folks that bi-metal bullets do in-fact degrade your rifling and barrel much faster than cup & core lead/copper bullets. So I trust the results proving those other test to be correct.
On a side-note... I know this test wasn't done by them, but they say that it was based on a test by Lucky Gunner Ammo. I don't trust much that Lucky Gunner has to say, since they proclaimed the .357 Sig to be useless... They're 9mm supporters, so of course they'd say that.
Truth is in the numbers, and the .357 Sig destroys the 9x19 in every single way, except for the cost and variety of factory ammo. Reloading for .357 Sig, brass will still cost more, but you can use any 9mm bullet you want in those reloads. Also, it's not the best business model for an ammunition manufacturer/seller to make a youtube video talking crap about a particular cartridge that they sell ammo for in their store! That's like punching yourself in the nuts just for the hell of it...
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