1919 A4 Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Legality of reloading armor piercing rounds

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 27 Posts

mikoyan21

· Registered
Joined
·
1,272 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I am contemplating in reloading some 30/06 rounds with armor piercing projectiles, while talking to some shooting friends one of them mentioned that it might be illegal to reload armor piercing ammo, I did some internet research and read some articles but there were too many conflicting answers, one article mentions that it legal to reload 30/06 with AP rounds but not .308.
Any help is much appreciated.
Semper Fi
 
#6 ·
Dosen't matter where you live...federal law prohibits any AP handgun ammo in possession of non-LE. Some states also make that a statute. This was done after some idiot made a 7.62x39 into a 'handgun' and there was still plenty of ***** AP ammo around....believe about 1990...? Anyway...before the 1994 ban of Chinese guns and ammo.
 
#7 ·
Yep , the old " cop killer " bullet ban on pistol rounds . The .308 / 7.62 Nato was classified as a pistol round and thus included in the ban. 30-06 was not.
Not illegal to own , but illegal to manufacture . Reloading is a form of manufacture. Can't put them in .308 , but can put them in 30-06 .
Chris
 
#8 ·
CMP was selling 30-06 AP ammo bout two years ago. It went quickly.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#9 ·
L999here said:
Dosen't matter where you live...federal law prohibits any AP handgun ammo in possession of non-LE. Some states also make that a statute. This was done after some idiot made a 7.62x39 into a 'handgun' and there was still plenty of ***** AP ammo around....believe about 1990...? Anyway...before the 1994 ban of Chinese guns and ammo.
Click to expand...
Yeah... somewhere's around that time... and the idiots were Olympic Arms. They made a 7.62x39 AR type handgun. That took care of the $90 per case Chinese ammo. Remember the $60 a case East German schtuff? That was AP as well... Olympic really screwed the pooch with that one. Then Billy Boy banned ALL Chinese ammo and gun imports... guessing they didn't play ball with him on some land deal somewhere. The Zips were lucky... it was common for Clinton staffers to be found dead in parks for less...
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#11 ·
Yeah I remember the contraversy surounding the Olympic arms bs. They got so much flak that they tried to recall all the pistols but it didn't make a difference to the feds. Iron core chinese ammo was dirt cheap before that. That killed the surplus imports since that was the only way they made it at the time. I read at one time why 308 AP was illegal was that none was ever released for sale so any AP 308 was considered stolen government property.
 
#12 ·
cobb said:
I read at one time why 308 AP was illegal was that none was ever released for sale so any AP 308 was considered stolen government property.
Click to expand...
Same deal with new Lake City ammo... it was never released to the civilian market. Only Lake City available is commercially destructed ammo that was rebuilt from components and stolen inventory.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#13 ·
I disagree on the lake city statement. A year or two ago I bought 10 30 cal ammo cans of federal m855 ammo from brownells. The ammo cans had a federal upc sticker on the outside saying m855, not xm, and the lead lc seal on the can. When opened up the ammo was green tip, and lc brass of that current year in 30 rd sleeves on stripper clips and even had a spoon in the can. I have also seen some .50 ball and .50 tracer come out of new sealed american eagle boxes that had current lc headstamps on it.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#14 ·
The green tip M855 (5.56mm)rounds are not considered to be armor piercing by ATF definition even though the have a steel core. have seen quite a bit of it for sale at gun shows. I have never encountered 7.62 NATO armor piercing ammo and didn't even know that it was made or currently used. Armor piercing was a big thing for .30 cal ammo after 1943 and most of the combat ammo made from then to the close of WWII was armor piercing. Whole belts of ammo were loaded exclusively with it as well as M1 Rifle clips. But as I said I have never seen any 7.62 while in the service or elsewhere. This does not mean it was not made. After all I never heard of launching a grenade from an M14 rifle until I read the manual and saw that at one time they had a launcher and then I also came up with some cartridges for it. I believe they dumped the idea of rifle grenades when they came up with the M79. And now I am way off topic.
 
#16 ·
I was not implying the m855 was ap. I was responding to the post directly above mine that said all late model lake city ammo in civilian hands was stolen.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
If it's in GI Gubbermint boxes it didn't leave Lake CIty out the front door. If it's in Federal boxes, Talon or any other company name, it was either remanufactured or reboxed from a re-manufacturer. I have it from a very trusted authority that the statement is true. Gubbermint LC ammo was never commercially available anywhere before the late '90's.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#18 ·
At one time the Army provided ammo to the DCM (now CMP) for civilian marksmanship programs. This was provided to gun club but I don't think they sold it to individuals. I know they provided 30-06 ammo and sometime many years ago they announced that they had no more of it in stock. The ammo the CMP now sells comes from Greece. I don't think they ever provided 7.62 NATO ammo for that purpose and at one time there was an article someplace that stated that they never provided (or sold) any government 5.56 ammo and any government ammo out there was stolen. That was over 20 years ago and I don't think that has changed.
 
#19 ·
I find it difficult to believe that brownells was selling ammo that "fell off a truck". Maybe it went out by accident because now the ammo on their website says xm155 and it states the head stamps are federal marked , but what I got was lc12 with NATO cross, green tips and annealed necks with a federal UPC code on the GI can.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
About this Discussion
26 Replies
14 Participants
Last post:
biffj
1919 A4 Forums
posts
590K
members
13K
Since
2006
A forum community dedicated to Browning 1919 A4 firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, gunsmithing, restoration, troubleshooting, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Off Topic Lounge General Member Classifieds Semi 1919a4 Building 1919a4 Related Classifieds Miscellaneous Firearms