Devil Dog
08-05-1999, 11:56 PM
The 7.62x39 ball cartridge with steel core
was copied from the German 7,92 KURZ cartridge. The mild steel core was an economical alternative to a full lead core, and the translated german nomenclature
is "ball with iron core". There was never any intent for this design to be an armor piercing cartridge, although there is a moderate increase in the penetrative quality due to the solid construction of the bullet. There is also the issue of lethality.
A lead core ball projectile is more likely to deform on impact with flesh and bone and transmit more energy than a steel core ball cartridge. This has been shown in various tests and medical reports. I work in a sawmill and it is not uncommon to find bullets of all types in the logs we saw. We even find 7.62x39 steel core bullets.
Either the core by itself, or the whole projectile completely intact. The copper and lead bullets found almost always are
severly deformed or mushroomed, as would be expected. Thick jacketed ball projectiles like the .45 ACP are usually intact and undamaged.
The core of the 7.62x39 ball cartridge is .25 caliber and weighs approximately 55 grains. It is flat nosed and made of mild steel. After the core penetrates, considering the velocity loss from penetration, the lethality of this little projectile is questionable. I know two people who have been shot with the 7.62x39 steel core ball cartridge, both ex-
special forces guys. The first was shot in the heel accidentally by one of his Montagnard troops, and he still has the projectile core as a souvenier! The other
got hit three times in the lower leg and now the leg is 2" shorter due to all the bone loss
from the bullet impacts. A recent book on the fiasco in Somalia described a situation where quite a few US troops were hit by AK fire (presumably steel core ball) and survived their wounds. The steel core ball
cartridge is not a true armor piercing cartridge by virtue of its design or performance, nor was it ever intended to be. It is only "armor piercing" by Federal definition because of the materials it is made out of.
D.D.
was copied from the German 7,92 KURZ cartridge. The mild steel core was an economical alternative to a full lead core, and the translated german nomenclature
is "ball with iron core". There was never any intent for this design to be an armor piercing cartridge, although there is a moderate increase in the penetrative quality due to the solid construction of the bullet. There is also the issue of lethality.
A lead core ball projectile is more likely to deform on impact with flesh and bone and transmit more energy than a steel core ball cartridge. This has been shown in various tests and medical reports. I work in a sawmill and it is not uncommon to find bullets of all types in the logs we saw. We even find 7.62x39 steel core bullets.
Either the core by itself, or the whole projectile completely intact. The copper and lead bullets found almost always are
severly deformed or mushroomed, as would be expected. Thick jacketed ball projectiles like the .45 ACP are usually intact and undamaged.
The core of the 7.62x39 ball cartridge is .25 caliber and weighs approximately 55 grains. It is flat nosed and made of mild steel. After the core penetrates, considering the velocity loss from penetration, the lethality of this little projectile is questionable. I know two people who have been shot with the 7.62x39 steel core ball cartridge, both ex-
special forces guys. The first was shot in the heel accidentally by one of his Montagnard troops, and he still has the projectile core as a souvenier! The other
got hit three times in the lower leg and now the leg is 2" shorter due to all the bone loss
from the bullet impacts. A recent book on the fiasco in Somalia described a situation where quite a few US troops were hit by AK fire (presumably steel core ball) and survived their wounds. The steel core ball
cartridge is not a true armor piercing cartridge by virtue of its design or performance, nor was it ever intended to be. It is only "armor piercing" by Federal definition because of the materials it is made out of.
D.D.