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Posted: 10/3/2024 2:28:03 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Teddydog][Edited]
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If someone has cleaned up M2 AP bullets by tumbling and polishing and all of the black paint has been removed, is there a way to tell for sure they are really AP without cutting one open to check for the penetrator? I know the weight is a little different from ball, but also have read that the allowable weight range is pretty wide for ball (and a little less for the AP). Thanks! Rob |
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WA, USA
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Ah. The mild steel core in M33 ball will be magnetic while the tungsten core in AP will not. Is that reliable? I also think I see that ball will have exposed lead at the base while AP will just have the jacket not quite fully covering the base. But that might also be true of other exotic bullets like API. I would also think all tracer types would have a visible tracer pocket with the trace material visible. Any other visual clues for telling naked .50 bullets apart? Thanks. rob |
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Magnet won't help ID as almost all the military bullets have some steel in them. Ball has mild steel core, AP has hardened steel core. Both will attract a magnet. M33 Ball is a ballistic match (to the degree the gov't defines anyway) to M8 API, both have a lead base plug on the bullet, and both weigh around 650-665 grains. M2 Ball is mild steel and a ballistic match to the M2 AP which is hardened steel core. The M2 Ball and m2 AP bullet jackets are pulled down and over the base of the core, leaving a small amount of core exposed. They are both approx 700 gr. and there is no lead base plug in either. If you have a pointy enough and hard enough tool, you can scratch the exposed steel core of the M2's. Mild steel will leave a definite scratch. Hardened steel will leave little to no scratch. Both families of bullets share the same pattern of cannelures around the bullet. The Ball versions have a knurled (i.e. rolled) cannelure. The AP and API have a smooth (i.e. cut) cannelure. All this presumes US production, foreign is a wild card. So depending on your selection of bullets being examined, for M2 AP, you don't want a lead base plug on your bullet. You also don't want a scratched core to leave a mark. You also don't want to see a knurled bullet cannelure, only smooth and the bullet should weigh around 700 gr Hope that helps Keith Pagel R&D Liaison Officer, Fifty Caliber Shooters' Assn. |
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I can tell others this on black tip AP. Tried to cut one apart years ago with an end mill. I was using a TiN 4 flute endmill with liquid cooling. I could take the skin off of the tip and then when I hit the "core", I couldn`t even shave the center core at all because it was so freaking hard. I don`t know what the Brinnel hardness is of those cores but they are as hard as a teenagers lower anatomy looking at a high school prom queen. That stuff can be used as a center punch and won`t dull. Magnetic wise, edited to............ No more comments from me. |
M2AP will be about 705-710gr. The samples I've seen have more of closed off base.  50 BMG, M2 AP Armor Piercing, 706gr by Buffman RANGE, on Flickrvs M33:  50 BMG (12.7x99), 660gr FMJ, M33 Ball, American Marksman by Buffman RANGE, on FlickrM8 API:  50 BMG, API, Armor Piercing Incendiary M8 662gr by Buffman RANGE, on Flickr |
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