# Are metal piercing bullets legal?



## S&W Tiger (Feb 9, 2007)

Are they legal in Florida?...or in any other State?:smt1099


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## milquetoast (Nov 25, 2006)

*Federal vs. state; metal-piercing vs. armor-piercing*

Under Federal law, "metal piercing" bullets _per se_ are not illegal; armor-piercing bullets are. I have some old Winchester .38 Specials that are marked "metal piercing," but they certainly would not penetrate Kevlar, and they probably wouldn't penetrate metal much thicker than heavy duty tinfoil. Back in the day when .38 Special was the standard police carry load, it was an attempt to design a bullet that might get possibly get through a car door, if you were lucky.

On the other hand, each state has its own definition of what is legal and what isn't. Apparently, in some states, possession of hollow points is considered a mortal sin, so savvy folks there carry Federal EFMJ (expanding full metal jacket) as a "rule-beater."

Best get on-line and check your state's criminal code and see what you can find out there.


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## ORYGUN (Oct 20, 2006)

*armor piercing*

Here in Oregon AP ammo is legal. I buy 30-06 at the gun show.


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## JJB (Dec 27, 2006)

i'm thinking about every gun and round i have is metal piercing...... i know the .357 magnum from a 6" barrel will go through a car door like butter,when i tried out my home made bullet trap the .22 rimfires from the ruger custom went right through it into the wall behind it.... had to beef it up!! so i guess ya it's legal to own!!:mrgreen: :mrgreen:


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## madmag (Jan 29, 2007)

> Here in Oregon AP ammo is legal. I buy 30-06 at the gun show.


If that's old military type AP like for M1 then it sure is armor piercing. As I remember from my old Army days. The 30-06 AP had black tips that was really a sheath that came off to expose a hardened AP core. I forget the numbers but it will go through a lot thicker metal than plain ball ammo. The metal sheath also burned like hell when you where in a pit pulling targets and some of the black AP covers fell down your neck.

Also, now I remember at Fort Benning we had a demo using M1 & AP ammo. They wrapped a wooden post with a flak jacket then put a steel helmet on the other side. They proceeded to shoot through the jacket, post and both sides of the steel pot.


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