Frangible ammo?

[lrrifleman]

I will admit, in many respects I am a dinosaur. When it comes to frangible ammo, I am very ignorant. However, I do understand the concept.

I am enrolled in a defensive shooting summit this fall, that is going to require a box of 50 rounds of frangible ammo for two stages of the match.

In the past, I have shot mostly cast bullets, sometimes ball, and a few times JHP, but I have never fired (or purchased) frangible ammo.

I have a few questions:
1. Is frangible ammo much more expensive than ball ammo?
2. Is frangible ammo manufactured by the major manufacturers?
3. Provided that velocity and bullet weight is similar, should there be much difference between POA and POI when comparing frangible and ball ammo?

Last year, we needed 250 rounds of ammo, and ball was acceptable for the entire program. Makes one wonder what has changed in the course of fire!

 

[ContinentalOp]

More than likely you may be shooting at some steel targets, and frangible ammo is safer for that, especially at closer ranges.

I can't speak to questions 1 and 2, but from the little I've seen (I'm far from an expert on frangibles) they will typically be much lighter than standard bullets. I can't say how much of an impact (pun intended...) that will have on POA/POI, but depending on the distance it may not be enough to matter.

You might want to look at some online vendors to see what they offer in the way of frangibles. You may even be able to find online articles or videos.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

 

[lrrifleman]

ContinentalOp, I never thought about shooting steel. When we shot the program last year, it was all humanoid paper targets. IIRC, when we shot the COF last year was no greater than ten yards.

Please, your input was very helpful, I appreciate it!

 

[Drm50]

The only frangable ammo I have shot is 22shorts. Back in the day all the ammo companies made it for shooting gallery use.

 

[Rule3]

One of indoor firing ranges (run by the County Sheriff requires frangible ammo. In theory it is safer if you do not hit the intended target,

 

[DWalt]

There are two principal types of frangible bullets. Most frangible handgun ammo uses sintered copper powder, i.e., copper powder (often with a little Tin as binder) is compressed into a die under great pressure to form a bullet. Such bullets are considerably lighter than lead or jacked lead bullets because copper has a lower density than lead. Similarly, MV of the lighter sintered bullets is somewhat greater. The advantage is that such bullets do not ricochet and break up completely, and also there is no lead contamination problem. At handgun ranges, POI usually doesn't change that much from conventional ammo.

Frangible rifle bullets (uaually .223 and .308) are of several types. They can have conventional jackets with a nylon-copper powder composite core, or they can be sintered. There may be some newer technology.

As copper is fairly expensive vs. lead, frangible ammo is more expensive.

I believe virtually all frangible ammo made today also uses lead-free primers.