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Bimetal ammo: Using it, and not knowing it?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:34 am
by Greybeard
Something i stumbled on to last night and sent to a few "techie" buddies, at least one of which did not go completely glassey eyed and suggested I post it here.
http://www.uspsa.org/front-sight-magazi ... tal-Ammo-8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Bimetal ammo: Using it, and not knowing it?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:17 am
by Jumping Frog
Interesting article.
Re: Bimetal ammo: Using it, and not knowing it?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:19 am
by Greybeard
Yep. Sounds like a very good way to degrade precision quickly. I suspect if the blast could be eliminated, we might hear the grinding of metal on metal - at 1,000 fps.
Re: Bimetal ammo: Using it, and not knowing it?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:56 pm
by TDDude
When I first started shooting around 10 years ago, I'd say I went through a couple cases of Brown Bear a month. I've probably put 20k rounds of the stuff through one of my Berettas. I have a 2nd Beretta of the same make that has seen no Bi-Betal rounds go through it at all. In addition, its total round count is probably a third of the first pistol.
I still have both pistols and shoot both regularly. The first pistol is the Cougar Mini, and the second is a Cougar full size. The only difference between the two is the length of the handle. The full size is Inox but that's probably irrelevant.
I can tell no performance difference between the two pistols in any category. They both just keep on operating with the same accuracy as when they were new.
I don't use Brown Bear anymore because practically all of my pistol shooting these days is IDPA and the ranges I'm at are indoors. But if I could go back, I would have no problem using Brown Bear again to take advantage of the lower price.
Anyway, the article makes perfect sense but that was MY experience with Bi-Metal ammo.

Re: Bimetal ammo: Using it, and not knowing it?
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:20 pm
by CEOofEVIL
Good article, I've run across it before. Thanks for posting it for all to see! It really helped answer a lot of the questions I had about Bi-Metal ammo that I previously had. I'm glad you posted it - a lot of folks seem to be confused over what exactly it is.
I still use Bi-Metal ammo regularly because of it's affordability, mainly Monarch Steel 9mm (made by Barnaul). I've put so many rounds of that stuff downrange through my Glock that I lost count. I can totally understand why folks wouldn't want to use it in their weapon, especially if you have a high dollar gun and want to make sure it's taken well care of. My Glock isn't picky over what it shoots at all, and hasn't shown any adverse affects from using Bi-Metal ammo so far. If, by chance, in the future my bore seems so degraded that accuracy becomes so poor, a replacement barrel isn't a huge deal and doesn't cost a lot of money. I also don't personally believe that these particular steel cases are wearing my extractor down horribly (don't have any ejection issues). I also shoot Bi-Metal ammo through my Saiga .223 without issue, granted I haven't put a whole lot of rounds down range with it yet. It's an AK, and it doesn't have an issue with digesting cheap Bi-Metal/steel cased ammo.
Mainly, It's great that folks learn about what the ammo actually is, that way they can make an educated choice over using it or not. You know what the old saying says: "Now you know..."
