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Author Topic: Hard ball bullets  (Read 613 times)

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Offline Kansas Boomer

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Hard ball bullets
« on: March 13, 2010, 12:39:47 PM »
Years ago, I bought a bucket full of pulled 30 cal. hard ball bullets. Have finally used up almost all of the 150 gr. Have about 200, 165 gr bullets left. I would call them semi boat tail, hard ball. Only problem is, they are steel jackets. You can pick them up with a magnet. They are about 1.425" long. Will it hurt my old M1 Garand to shoot these bullets ? Or should I just dump them ? What were they originally designed for?  Thanks Boomer
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Offline cwlongshot

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2010, 12:43:01 PM »
I'll bet they are not steel jacketed. rather steel core AP projectiles...  Can you chop one in half?

CW
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Offline Kansas Boomer

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2010, 01:20:58 PM »
Tried cutting across the base of one, HOLY SMOKE took the teeth off my hack saw. Put it in the vise and split the jacket down both sides. The core is very hard steel. The jacket is magnetic, but appears to be much softer then the core, the saw went right through it. Will it hurt my Garand to shoot these?  Thanks,  Boomer
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Offline cwlongshot

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2010, 01:33:04 PM »
Personally, I wouldn't shoot them in any barrel I liked...  ;D

CW
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Offline billy_56081

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2010, 02:08:14 PM »
Might even be tungston cored AP if they took the teeth off the saw. Save em for SHTF. Might save your life. Either way they are AP bullets.
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Offline shot1

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2010, 03:17:19 AM »
The jacket on most all LC ammo for the M1 Garand has some mild steel in them. It will not hurt your rifle to shoot these. The bullets you tried to cut in half are AP bullets. They have a Tungsten steel core bullet about 22 caliber inside the Jacket. This bullet will shoot through the finder of a 1957 Chevy 2 1/2 ton truck and go through the engine block and out the other finder from 100 yards. I did this when I was a teenager with my 1903A3 Springfield.  :o
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Offline huntducks

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2010, 06:32:19 PM »
Quote from: shot1 on March 14, 2010, 03:17:19 AM
The jacket on most all LC ammo for the M1 Garand has some mild steel in them. It will not hurt your rifle to shoot these. The bullets you tried to cut in half are AP bullets. They have a Tungsten steel core bullet about 22 caliber inside the Jacket. This bullet will shoot through the finder of a 1957 Chevy 2 1/2 ton truck and go through the engine block and out the other finder from 100 yards. I did this when I was a teenager with my 1903A3 Springfield.  :o

Me too right thru the block on a old V8 they will also go thru 3/8" plate steel, I don't think there is any body armor to stop these guys.

I would save them for a SHTF day.

Do they look like either one of these.
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Offline Kansas Boomer

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2010, 02:33:23 PM »
I loaded 46.5 gr. of H4895 behind the 150 gr Hard Ball, and 46.5 gr of H4895 behind the 165 gr AP bullets. Both with a COL of 3.325". Do these loads sound OK? Here is a pick of the AP bullets, the cut jacket and core is in the middle.  Boomer
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Offline billy_56081

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Re: Hard ball bullets
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2010, 03:35:07 PM »
Looks like tungston cored. If I were you I'd keep em for SHTF.
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