I've always wondered.....

Question

whats the difference between a military bullet and one that has been de-milled and filled with commercial powder? is commercial powder significantly weaker?

Answer 1

As oer a Clinton executive order

No US military ammo can be surplussed unless it has been demilled

This means at least one component must be removed and replaced

or the bullets are pulled the powder dumped into bins, the bullets into other bins and the cases into yet another then they are all reassembled into a barely functioning round

Military small arms powder usually have a flash suppressant added

Te bullets are usually full metal jacket which is not effective and is illegal i many states for hunting

It is no way illegal fro civilians to own full metal jacket military rounds or powder

Answer 2

It isn't the powder charge that makes the difference between a military round and a civilian round. It is the actual bullet. Military bullets are designed to penetrate various armor types where civilian rounds do not deal with armor but are designed to mushroom for maximum internal damage.

Due to several incidents in the past where criminals used armor piercing rounds, laws were passed to make the use of those rounds by civilian illegal. Of course that only means that law abiding people will not use them while the criminal types will still find a way to get them.

Answer 3

Nope.  Civilian ammo tends to be loaded a bit hotter on average, in fact.

Any time you see demilled/remanufactured US ammo it's that way due to the law against selling certain types of surplus to the public.  Live ammo is one of them.

It has nothing to do with the type of bullet.  You can buy those exact same bullets on the open market by the ton if you want to.

The company could, in fact, open it and dump the powder and then reload it with the same powder and bullet and there'd be no probs....it gets around the law....but military powder can't be guaranteed as to its power.  One blown case that caused damage would open the company to a lawsuit on the defective ammo they made and sold.

Answer 4

I have never heard of ammo that has been de-milled and refilled with commercial powder.

generally, military ammo is inexpensive but uses bullets that aren't great for hunting.  Generally, when I see demilled military rounds, someone has dumped the powder and is selling it as a deactivated round for display purposes.

Answer 5

Military ammo is normally full-metal-jacket. The military buys their ammo ready made to their specs.

If you reload you can reload spent military casing and reload with hunting bullets and commerical primers & powder.

H

Answer 6

Almost always military ammo is loaded hotter than it's civilian version, specific examples being the 223, 308, 9mm Parabellum (Luger), 8mm Mauser, 30-06, etc. The Geneva Convention specified full metal jacket bullets for all military uses, to reduce the garishness of war (they hoped). Other than certain pelt-damage reduction, or other minor uses of full metal jacket bullets, including plinking with cheap surplus military ammo, all sporting uses involving big game hunting and most varminting in every State require the use of soft point expanding bullets, to humanely and swiftly kill the animals. Pulling the FMJ bullets and replacing them with soft nose types for sport hunting is often called de-militarizing them. Also, the removal of powder by drilling a hole in the case to create "dummy" or demonstration rounds, is called demilitarization. One is advised to not confuse one with the other! Regards, Larry.

Answer 7

Military bullets are "Full Metal Jackets" and are not suitable {or legal} for hunting most game animals.  They are fine for Varmints and targets.  Commercial powders are not any "weaker", who do you think supplies the military with the powder to begin with?  Unfortunatly because of some "Brilliant" politicians most military ammo must be de-milled and then reloaded to be resold to the public.