Ammo and AR10s

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12 years 4 months ago #13782 by Sharkey
Ammo and AR10s was created by Sharkey
I was just looking back through older posts and found a link to Armalite that reads as follows:

TECHNICAL NOTE 57: AMMUNITION RELIABILITY
PURPOSE: To correct common misconceptions about ammunition.
BACKGROUND: ArmaLite® is continually amazed by civilian shooters who purchase
high quality rifles and then fire the cheapest ammunition possible through them without
regard to its source. These customers often say “This looks like a military rifle… it
should be able to fire anything.” Worse yet, we often hear from Police departments that
have trouble with ammunition purchased from the lowest bidder by purchasing officers
who know nothing of the suitability of the ammunition for the rifle. We often find that
political decisions or secondary technical decisions (i.e., to reduce ricochet or “overpenetration”)
result in the selection of soft-point or other ammunition that is poorly suited
to a self-loading firearm.


My question is, why would "soft point" ammo NOT be good ammo to use. I've never had an issue with it and I've had ARs for years although this is my first Armalite AR10. Since I don't hunt and maintain a stock of all self defense style ammo, what is the deal with soft point and will they harm my rifle at all?

I've run 1000 or so rounds through it without a single problem, all brass casings or course, but am I doing something to the rifle I cannot yet see or is it strictly a feed issue?

Heck, all I've ever used in rifles is soft points or hollow and I've never had a problem.

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12 years 4 months ago #13787 by 13fcolt
Replied by 13fcolt on topic Ammo and AR10s
Soft points can, and have, caused feeding issues with the lip of the meplat catching the edge of the barrel extension or in some instances the front of the magazine. If the soft points are pointy enough, it may not be a concern. I don't know of any possible damage from it.
Also, a lot of these issues arose during armalites early years where reliable mags during the AW ban were a rare thing. This lack of reliability has been perpetuated by armalites more recent competition in the .308 market. Junk ammo is junk ammo but some will always blame the rifle to save 2.3 cents per round.

Bullet technology has far surpassed what the softpoint can do in terms of terminal performance. There was A time when I would not set foot in the deer woods without Winchesters silvertips, nowadays it Barnes tsx or one of the ballistic tips suitable for the size of game I'm after.

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12 years 4 months ago #13788 by LebbenB
Replied by LebbenB on topic Ammo and AR10s
The exposed lead tip of a soft point bullet can sometimes leave shavings on the feed ramps and in the chamber as the round feeds in. Over time, this build up of lead can cause feed and chambering issues.

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12 years 4 months ago #13789 by LebbenB
Replied by LebbenB on topic Ammo and AR10s
Beat me to it by 2 minutes.

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12 years 4 months ago #13790 by 13fcolt
Replied by 13fcolt on topic Ammo and AR10s
It's a race, didn't you know?

I had not thought of the lead shavings though, that is a good point.

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12 years 4 months ago #13793 by Sharkey
Replied by Sharkey on topic Ammo and AR10s
that stinks... Gonna have to change everything over to hollow points I guess. I just don't know what else to shoot with anymore. :S

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12 years 4 months ago #13796 by LebbenB
Replied by LebbenB on topic Ammo and AR10s

13fcolt wrote: It's a race, didn't you know?

I had not thought of the lead shavings though, that is a good point.

Which I find ironic, given that the FBI recently announced that it's .223 barrier blind round is going to be a 64 gr Winchester soft point.

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12 years 4 months ago #13797 by 13fcolt
Replied by 13fcolt on topic Ammo and AR10s
That's the same FBI that killed the 10mm in favor of the .40 fruit cup. they can have all the softpoints they want.

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12 years 4 months ago - 12 years 4 months ago #13824 by Siscowet
Replied by Siscowet on topic Ammo and AR10s
Speaking of ammo read DPMS warnings about foreign ammo sometime. I don't know how much is their lawyers talking and how much is a genuine concern. I would like to know more
Last edit: 12 years 4 months ago by Siscowet.

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12 years 4 months ago #13825 by 13fcolt
Replied by 13fcolt on topic Ammo and AR10s
The coating on steel cased ammo was long ago dispelled as the cause for issues with that ammo. The real problem was the steel case does not expand as tight to the chamber walls as brass does, leaving enough gap that gases get under it and cause carbon to cake up in the chamber. I remember back when wolf ammo hit the shores and everyone with a commercial grade .223 match chambered AR15 flooded the internets with complaints. But I think it was going for $89 a case back then and for many the problem was worth it.

With .308 however, the cambering is opposite what most think. SAMMI .308 is actually the hotter load over 7.62x51. You can safely run the nato spec in .308, but a true nato spec chamber, an old school FN-FAL for example, may see issues running .308. This crossover is why much of the factory ammo is loaded soft and there is so much to be gained, performance wise, in handloads. A true nato chamber is a fairly rare thing these days so some manufacturers are stepping up the game a bit. black hills comes to mind. Granted, my only failure in my sass was brass cased turkish ammo. I hate steel cases and I hate the bad feeling I get when I run dirt through my weapon, but I have tried it and had no issues with it. None of the coating on the steel ammo was in my chamber.

I'll say this about the claims. If the coating is so impossible to remove, how did it get removed from the ammo in the first place?
The following user(s) said Thank You: Siscowet

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