Name that bullet

My nephew is in Iraq and came across a rather odd bullet.  Any ideas on what it is made of?  And what kind of gun shoots it?  Wish he had answered more of my questions…

Jason:

…we dug the slugs out of the wall and the humvee tire and they were strange.  Not lead.  Really light and silver.  Steel maybe?  But really light.  Maybe a muj attempt at an armor piercing round made out of steel?  They had a tracer mix in them though.  So that makes me think it’s manufactured.  And I didn’t really get a good look at the weapon system, but it was full auto and I think an RPK.  Which should be a 7.62 round, but the slug was small.

Thoughs?

Joe:

Mild steel bullets were made by the Chinese.  Maybe some others as well.  Have you tried a magnet on it?  The Chinese bullets were 7.62 x 39 and the same weight as lead bullets, but longer to make up for the lower density.

Did they have a jacket?  “The slug was small”.  Small in diameter or length? Did it compress, break into pieces, or not really deform when it hit rubber, wood, brick, or metal?  Compare in weight to your 7.62 or 5.56 rounds or a penny or ideally actually measure the weight in grains or grams.  Actual dimensions and shape would also help determine what they are intended for.  Pictures?

Jason:

The bullet was about the size of a .22.  It didn’t defom much at all when it punched through the hub of the humvee and into the run flat tire.  It was also able to punch through about 18 inches of concret with little or no deforming either.  It was a tracer/ball mix of about 4 to 1.  And fired from what sounded like an AK or RPK. 

Okay, got to run.  If you want to ask other people about the round feel free, it’s not classified or anything.

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One thought on “Name that bullet

  1. Interesting… Wonder if it was something from an AK74 since that thing is also about the size of a .22 I guess AK74s might be reaching that region of the world. I am sure that they captured enough of them in Afghanistan when they were kicking the crap out of the russians.

    The boomershoot rifle is coming along. Got my scope yesterday and the rings should be waiting on my doorstep tonight….

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