Mil Spec 30/06 Ammo Harmful To Sporting Rifles?
I have two hunting rifles chambered in 30/06, a Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 and a late 70s Remington 700. I like to extensively practice shooting in various positions and a different ranges before hunting season and, since I have a good supply of noncorrosive, mil spec Lake City ball ammo, I use it to save money over expensive commercial rounds. After practicing, I then sight in each rifle with the commercial ammo I plan to use for hunting season.
A friend recently warned me not to shoot mil spec ammo in my commercial rifles, claiming it would be harmful to the barrels. He insisted mil spec bullets are harder than commercial projectiles and thus will more quickly erode a hunting rifle's bore. His claim was not based on the likelihood mil spec ammo might be corrosive, but on the hardness of the projectile.
Is there any truth to my friend's claim? Should I cease using mil spec ammo in my Winchester and Remington, or am I safe to continue this practice? Thanks.
A friend recently warned me not to shoot mil spec ammo in my commercial rifles, claiming it would be harmful to the barrels. He insisted mil spec bullets are harder than commercial projectiles and thus will more quickly erode a hunting rifle's bore. His claim was not based on the likelihood mil spec ammo might be corrosive, but on the hardness of the projectile.
Is there any truth to my friend's claim? Should I cease using mil spec ammo in my Winchester and Remington, or am I safe to continue this practice? Thanks.
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Sounds pretty far fetched to me.
One gilding metal over lead bullet is not going to be much harder than the next. I would not worry much even if they were copper plated steel jacketed.
Phil Sharpe ran one test that said not to use steel cored AP, but that is not the same thing.0 -
I don't believe your friend is correct. As far as I know none of the U.S. military 30-06 bullets were ever manufactured with steel jackets. Unlike the East Bloc countries where a lot of their small arms ammo, had steel jacketed bullets. 0 -
If your Pre-64 Model 70 is in any kind of good original condition, I would be a little choosey about the diet it got. The Remington, you can just about burn the barn down with it, and have no effect.
Best0 -
I ran most of a 5 gallon bucket of pulled GI boattails reloaded back into 30-06 SantaFe 98 mauser and 308 ina 700 BDL. Both rifles still shot good.
+1 tsr19650 -
Your friend got it reversed; the opposite is true.
An M1 rifle was not designed for today's high power .30-06 loads; a steady diet of them will bend the M1's op rod. However, a commercial adjustable gas cylinder plug will bleed off excessive gases, allowing you to use an M1 rifle with commercial ammo.
Neal0 -
Surplus M2 Ball bullets were once extremely common (and dirt cheap) with reloaders probably firing a few million of them through sporting rifles and I never heard of any barrel damage. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by nmyers
Your friend got it reversed; the opposite is true.
An M1 rifle was not designed for today's high power .30-06 loads; a steady diet of them will bend the M1's op rod. However, a commercial adjustable gas cylinder plug will bleed off excessive gases, allowing you to use an M1 rifle with commercial ammo.
Neal
+1
On 30-06 and .308 (7.62x63 and 7.62x51 NATO) the civilian rounds are/can be loaded hotter and/or with slower powders, making them not a good choice for your military surplus weapon. Mil-spec ammo in those two cartridges can be shot in any serviceable civilian rifle.
The opposite is true of 5.56/.223. In this case the 5.56 (mil-spec) is hotter. This often leads to confusion in the un-informed (I was there once also) as to which mil rounds are hotter and which are cooler than their civilian counterparts.
As far as the projectiles wearing out barrels, they won't wear any faster if civilian or military.0 -
I think there's a chance certain hunting soft points may have thicker, harder-to-engrave jackets than military, match, or varmint bullets.
Simply putting lots of ammunition down a centerfire rifle will erode the throat even if it's not unusually bad ammo in some way. Each shot heats and erodes the throat and muzzle a tiny bit.
Steel jackets weren't that bad because they were thin, and plated. The rifling lands could indent them easily. I think they measured some milsurps that had been shot a lot with steel jackets and they were not unusually harsh.0 -
On point, the steel in civilian guns isn't any softer that that in military guns, and the military guns are good for thousands of rounds.
Fire away.0 -
i wouldnt worry about it until recently most military ammo has been lead, its not steal in 5.56. But the only difference in military applications is sometimes the barrels are chrome lined, which some civilian weapons are as well. The only ammo I would watch is reloads and old ammo as those can cause malfunctions and explosions. I wouldnt even worry about steel cased ammo as long as you werent starting a war with it.
In the end chances are you will not shoot enough rounds down that barrel to ever make a differnce. Most barrels have a solid life of well over 10k rounds unless you shoot match and using hot loads and in this case many will shoot only 48k rounds.
But its like anything else you use it enough it will have to be replaced.0
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