The Firearm Blog

Two months ago I blogged that the Norwegian Army suspected that the ammunition used in their new H&K 416 rifles were making soldiers sicks. Chief of Staff Brig. General Rune Jakobsen initiated an investigation after Army HQ received three different reports about groups of soldiers getting sick after firing the new rifles. Symptoms included headaches, fever and joint pain. The investigation has determined that the soldiers were experiencing mild heavy metal poisoning caused by the “green” lead-free 5.56mm NATO ammunition manufactured by Nammo.

Norwegian solider with H&K 416

The report states that the gas exhausted from the rifles contained high levels of copper and zinc which account for all the symptoms suffered by the riflemen. A few, quite comical, short term solutions have been recommended. These include only shooting outside, slower rate of fire and spacing the shooters out more when at the range!

In 2003, under pressure from environmental groups and politicians the Army started using environmentally friendly ammunition. Since then they have had plenty of problems. The Norwegian ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops in Afghanistan were ordered to use the new ammo. The ammunition delivered either failed to fire or did not have enough energy to cycle the weapons. 300,000 rounds had to be dumped leaving the troops with no reserve ammunition. All the troops who did not need to leave the base had to hand in their ammunition so it could be distributed to those who needed it. The Army has also had to ban the green ammo from use in the MG3 machine guns because unspecified malfunctions occurred that could harmed the operators.

Nammo 5.56mm ammunition

I found a powerpoint presentation on the internet made by Nammo in 2006 extolling the virtues of their green ammunition. Here are a few very ironic slides (I added the red arrows):

Recently it was determined that the “green” tungsten training ammunition used by the US Military could be toxic.

So in summery: don’t use green ammunition.
Many thanks to Daniel Watters of The Gun Zone for the research he did for this blog post.

Remington have released two types of lead free ammo. The first is the Disintegrator Varmint in .223 Rem and .22-250 Rem., both with 45 grain bullets. Disintegrating ammo is normally lead free so that in itself is no special. It is a pity they have confined their offering to two calibers (and not 6mm for me )

Now you see him. Now you don’t. Introducing new Disintegrator® Varmint. Loaded with new lead-free frangible bullets that meet the requirements of non-toxic hunting areas, this ammunition delivers radical, explosive expansion that shatters the capabilities of conventional lead core/copper jacketed bullets. Because they break into tiny fragments at impact, Disintegrator Varmint bullets will not ricochet, offering added peace of mind wherever you shoot. Extremely tight manufacturing tolerances combined with our industry-leading components produce tiny groups on paper as well.

The second lead free ammo is the Remington Premier Copper Solid. Because copper is lighter than lead the bullet has to be longer to hold the same weight, this results in a very high ballistic co-efficient, which in turns produces good long ranger performance. The downside is that copper is much harder than lead so the bullet will give the barrel a very hard time. It will be available in 30-06, .270 Win, .243 Win, 300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag and 308 Win.

For 2009, Big Green is proud to launch a truly superior bullet design onto the lead-free scene. While our new Copper Solid™ complies with non-toxic regulations, it dispatches big game with lightning authority in any neck of the woods. It delivers extremely deep penetration with nearly 100% weight retention and has a sleek ogive profile with a polymer tip and boat tail base that gives it outstanding flight characteristics. In fact, it’s one of the finest extended-range lead-free hunting bullets we’ve ever offered due to its extremely high ballistic coefficient. At impact, the polymer tip acts as a wedge, plowing through a built-in expansion chamber and initiating a mushroom that’s consistently 1.8x bullet diameter – creating a large terminal wound channel from close range to the farthest reaches of your shooting ability.

It is lead free day here at The Firearm Blog*, this being the second lead-free ammo post!

Winchester has announced a new line of lead-free ammunition.

CCI currently manufactures lead free .22 Magnum called TNT GREEN but as far as I know Winchester are the first US manufacturer to announce lead free .22 LR. It is rumored that more companies will unveil their lead free rimfire at SHOT 2009.

The new Winchester SUPER-X .22 Long Rifle will propel a 30 grain THP (tin hollow point) at 1650 fps. This is a hot “hyper velocity” load which generates 181 foot pounds of energy, only slightly less powerful that the CCI Stinger at the muzzle.

It is likely that the case will be extended in length, like the CCI Stringer. The extended case can prevent the round from chambering in some rifles.

CCI Stinger length compared to standard .22LR (Wikipedia)

The new SUPER-X .22 Win. Mag (.22 Magnum / .22 WMR) pushes a 28 grain JHP at 2200 fps. The under 30 grain bullet means it will won’t perform as well as standard .22 Magnum 30 grain rounds.

SUPER-X .223 Rem lead-free pushes a 55 grain bullet at 3030 fps. Like the .22 Magnum, there is a significant performance hit. The round is being marketed as varmint cartridge..

This new range should be available in Spring 2009.

* That was a joke. I bought 100 rounds of “toxic” ammo today.

Hat Tip: Shooting Wire.

Lead free ammunition is becoming popular. Or at least popular with manufactures.

Earlier this week Fiocchi announced the addition of .40 S&W to their range of SinterFire non-toxic (lead free) frangible. The product is aimed at the training market, especially law enforcement.

From the press release:

Fiocchi’s innovative .40 caliber SinterFire non-toxic round is also the fastest in the manufacturer’s entire .40 caliber product line. Comprehensive ballistic testing has revealed that when fired from a 5-inch test barrel, Fiocchi’s hot, new round produces a sizzling 1,265 fps muzzle velocity due to its lightweight 125-grain bullet. With more than 130-year reputation resting on each round, Fiocchi strives to achieve ammunition perfection with every round it produces.

Hat Tip: Tactical Life

Cowtown Cop, a relatively new gun blogger, wrote about his conversion of a beat up Winchester 1200 into a very cool green gun.

Lots of high res photos and information on the project on the blog.

Nice looking .22 CZ rifle with green dyed beech stock

I really like the color!

More photos here.