Post by goomba on Jun 11, 2009 18:04:04 GMT -5
Steel Cases Combined With Modern Expanding Bullets
Written by David M. Fortier
Wednesday, 03 June 2009
Written by David M. Fortier
Wednesday, 03 June 2009
One of the challenges for fans of Mikhail Kalashnikov's Avtomat has been to find loads with modern expanding bullets. While steel-core M43 and lead-core M67 ball ammunition have been available on the surplus market over the years, there's been a shortage of good loads intended for self-protection.
To a large degree, this was due to the glut of inexpensive steel-case ammunition available in 7.62x39mm. Hence, many ammunition companies ignored this cartridge simply because most shooters were only interested in buying the least expensive ammunition possible.
Today, however, many shooters are interested in a high-end load for self-protection. Hornady, well respected for its TAP line of .223 Rem., 5.56 NATO and .308 Win. LE loads, recognized this need. So the company recently developed a very interesting answer to this existing hole in the 7.62x39mm load market.
Switch To Steel
What's especially notable about Hornady's answer is that the new load's foundation is a steel, rather than brass, cartridge case. Sourced from Russia, the Berdan-primed case lowers cost, yet provides proven performance. Cost is certainly an important factor in today's market as ammunition prices skyrocket ever higher and higher.
The case is then loaded with modern propellants to provide both above-average performance at acceptable pressures and a reduced muzzle flash.
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this is very good, the popularity of the 5.45 has mainly been b/c of the low price and avalibility of the russian/eastern bloc surplus ($150 for 1080 rds). but it looks like this round will be sticking around for a bit longer. more ammo is always a good thing.