Need opinions on .308 147gr magnetic bullets

[USMC87]

I was wandering if anybody has used any .308 147 gr jacketed magnetic bullets, If so what is the difference between magnetic and non magnetic? Would these be okay for target shooting or would they wear a barrel too fast? Thanks a lot for any help.

[Outpost75]

Gilding-Metal-Clad steel jackets are used for 7.62mm M80 Ball ammunition intended for linked pack for machinegun use, vs. plain 70/30 gilding metal for clipped or boxed "rifle pack" ammo. The GMCS jacket is less likely to "strip" when fired in hot barrels in the M134 minigun and other high fire rate applications.

The difference in accuracy barrel life when used in the M14 rifle is not significant.

[USMC87]

So they would be okay to use in an AR 10 for target shooting?

[Outpost75]

So they would be okay to use in an AR 10 for target shooting?

Absolutely!

[USMC87]

Thank you very much Sir!

[nicholst55]

Many public ranges ban the use of bullets that attract a magnet. Something to check before you invest in a large quantity of them.

[bob208]

I would take a bunch to load for my m1 in 308.

[USMC87]

I have a range that permits the bullets that attract a magnet, American reloading has the pulled bullets 500 count for 58.50 shipped!

[Larry Gibson]

I shoot a lot of the M80 bullets (soft steel copper clad jackets) in my M1A and have shot a lot of them in other milsurp rifles such as the M1903 and my M98 7.62s. The quality varies and as such so does accuracy. Most of the bulk "pull down" M80 ( and M2) bullets will be from numerous different lots produced on different machines and even at different plants. in 10 shot groups about 2/3s to 3/4 will go into 2 1/2 to 3 moa but 2 - 3 "flyers" will open the group, sometimes drastically. BTW; I have weight sorted and measure sorted them every way from Sunday with no improvement in accuracy. That's ok with me as these are my casual "blastin" or rock shooting bullets. I also used them for position and shooting cadence practice (NRA National Match) understanding that at 100 yards they should (if I was shooting correctly) hold the 6" bull. I used my practice rack grade M14 for that "back in the day".

On the other hand; US M80 Ball in 20 round boxes or stripper clips and bandoliers intended for the M14 usually give 2 - 2 1/2 moa accuracy in M1A/M14s....sometimes better. I have found, in later production, the soft steel copper clad bullets loaded in M80 intended for M14s. I also have found a lot of M80 stripped from linked machine gun ammo that had just copper jacketed bullets. I had one lot of TW68 that delinked and shot in my Match M14 would shoot MOA. I used it in reduced 100 and 200 yard matches with very good results.

Additionally, when we could get Winchester and Hornady 147/150 gr FMJBT M80 bullets in bulk I found them to give excellent and consistent accuracy, much better than "pull downs". Of course they were copper jacketed and all produced as one lot and appeared to be from one machine/dies.

[Outpost75]

Adding to what Larry said, a few years ago Wideners and others had cheap bulk Yugo 144-grain 7.62mm ball bullets and these were OK, but no better than 3 moa. About 20 years ago I got several M2A1 cans of UK Radway-Green and German DAG pulls with GMCS jackets, and in a new or tight barrel they were super! However the bullet diameters ran small and they didn't shoot better than "average" in typical worn M14 barrels. I found some archived photos of 200-yard test groups I shot at Quantico in 2009 with the ball ammo, not pulls, which help tell the story. Rifles were a Winchester Model 70 bull gun with 10X Unertl and a custom Mauser target rifle with 10x36mm Zeiss Diatal-C, both guns 12-inch twist. A slower twist like 1:14" would have probably done better with the light Nato ball ammo, but not as well with the LC77 M118 60-12 we used for a control.

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[USMC87]

I will be happy with any of the results you guys mentioned here, I just want to spew them out and have fun while I am at it. I shoot SMK's if I want accuracy. Thanks guys you all are the best source of information I have.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have fired nothing but M80 Ball 147gr BT Pulls in my Ruger Scout after I shot 100 Fed AE rounds to obtain cases. These were lead core and have proven to be sub MOA (7/8") in my gun repeatedly. I think I paid .13 each for them from one of the recycling outfits. You can't tell that they were ever loaded.

I have shot about 1300 so far. IE: reloaded the original cases 13 times. Never lost even one! Getting ready to shoot them again next Saturday.

I didn't know M80 BAll ammo was loaded with Steel Core bullets? Are those cores turned from round stock? Sounds like a Screw Machine part to me. And if so they should be ultra accurate.

Randy

[Outpost75]

I have fired nothing but M80 Ball 147gr BT Pulls in my Ruger Scout after I shot 100 Fed AE rounds to obtain cases. These were lead core and have proven to be sub MOA (7/8") in my gun repeatedly. I think I paid .13 each for them from one of the recycling outfits. You can't tell that they were ever loaded.

I have shot about 1300 so far. IE: reloaded the original cases 13 times. Never lost even one! Getting ready to shoot them again next Saturday.

I didn't know M80 BAll ammo was loaded with Steel Core bullets? Are those cores turned from round stock? Sounds like a Screw Machine part to me. And if so they should be ultra accurate.

Randy

M80 was not steel core bullets, but gilding-metal-clad steel JACKETS. The early Ball M59 was steel core, but they quit loading M59 in the early 1960s. The DAG linked pack for the G3MG is mild steel core similar to the M59 and Soviet 7.62x54R Type PS used in the PK series machineguns, as it does a much better job of chewing holes through masonry walls in MOUT.

The steel cores in M59 were not screw-machined, but were made on a double-blow rivet or bolt header. End of the wire reel is fed into an induction coil and heated red hot as a horizonal knife shears off the plug, and the first blow punch upsets the plug to rough shape. Final shape is formed with a different reciprocating tool in a second blow, and the formed core is ejected from the die into an oil quench bath. The machine is really neat to watch. It operates in 7.62mm at about 600 strokes a minute, and there is just a steady stream flowing out the chute! The 5.56mm M855 penetrators are made the same way, as are the cores for cal. .50 M33 Ball.

[USMC87]

American reloading has them for 11.7 cents each, shipping is free if you guys need any. 1000 count is 116.99 delivered.