The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Big Frank on April 30, 2016, 07:41:45 PM
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I just saw this today. It's a plastic jacketed pistol bullet that eliminates lead and copper fouling. The plastic doesn't rub off of the bullets either. Cooler barrels from slipperier bullets. Lighter recoil too because they don't need as much powder to get the same velocity as other ammo. https://www.federalpremium.com/ammunition/handgun/family/American-Eagle/American-Eagle-Syntech/
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I was surprised to see that they are talking about less lead exposure by using lead free primers, but a little further down it points out they are lead bullets that are coated - TSJ (Total Synthetic Jacket).
Sounds like they are specifically marketed for the steel or steel backstop shooter, because they talk about copper jacket backsplash.
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It seems to me like it would be close to the price of regular jacketed ammo. If it's as good as people say and the price is reasonable it could replace all other practice ammo, unless you want something with the same recoil as your defensive loads. Personally I'd like to see more power in the .45 APC load.
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Are they addressing an issue that isn't there? At the height of my competition shooting I was running a thousand rounds of jacketed per weekend through my 1911, and I was running a thousand rounds of lead a weekend through my 2011. We are talking close to ten thousand rounds per year per gun. The only time I had issue with build up was/is in the compensator of the open gun. Once a year I take a tool and scrape the recesses clean. However, it has never built up to cause any issue with accuracy.
So, what is the issue we are trying to solve?
Is this a technology that works, but is more about marketing and "creating a need" that only Federal can fill?
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I'm surprised that some radical hasn't decided that because it is slicker, that it is designed to defeat body armor.
Remember the so called "Cop Killer Bullets" from the 1970s?
Mel Gibson gleefully called them that in the Lethal Weapon movies.
That was a yellow plastic jacket.
I'm in agreement that this is a solution to a non-existent problem.
Probably cheaper to produce than metal jacketed ammunition.
Steve
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May be cheaper, but that really isn't an issue. In this world of Wall Street ownership it is all about return on investment and keeping investors happy. To do this you need ever expanding sales. It isn't about answering a need as much as creating demand. New, improved, bright and glitzy all do this. I think TSJ may be one of those things. Heck, make it in glitter and you will attract bass fishermen (an old Jeff Foxworthy joke about bass boats and their glitter paint jobs.).
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Interesting.
If you reload and want to reduce lead fouling, you can also powder-coat your bullets relatively cheaply.