#Composite

True Velocity and Sierra Bullets have partnered to introduce composite cased commercial ammunition that should be available in 2020. The cartridges will be composed of True Velocity’s steel-base polymer cases loaded with Sierra bullets. This ammunition will be initially available in .308 Winchester with more caliber options such as 6.5mm Creedmoor to be added in the future.

Canton Ohio custom gunmaker Middlebranch Machine has released a teaser image of a new kind of suppressor, which they say is made of “carbon fiber composite” construction. Unlike previous efforts at making carbon fiber suppressors, Middlebranch Machine’s design does not seem to use a straight carbon-fiber tubing body, but appears to be 3D printed, instead. This is strongly suggested by the background of the image which shows a customized Glock with a unique looking suppressor in front of what is probably a Markforged Mark Two carbon fiber 3D printer. Mark Twos are some of the only carbon fiber 3D printing machines in the world.

Texas company True Velocity, LLC, has released the first images of their advanced lightweight polymer composite cased ammunition design via Instagram. Training company BAT Defense sent out an image of what appear to be 12.7×108, .50 BMG, and 5.56mm rounds made by True Velocity, saying that the ammunition was originally developed to reduce the weight of ammunition carried by light helicopters (such as Littlebirds).

This is a the second part of a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of synthetic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. You can read the first part, on metallic magazines, at this link. Thanks, Brandon!

In the last installment, we talked about the growing need throughout the 20th Century to reduce the weight of the cartridge case, to lighten the burden of the soldier. Experiments in aluminum have thus far proven unsuccessful, but another material is even more promising: Polymer. Plastics and polymers burst onto the scene in the post-war era, and it didn’t take very long for engineersto start looking at them as a way to reduce the cost and weight of ammunition. If feasible, polymer is an ideal solution for cartridge cases, as it is even less dense than aluminum, while being cheaper and using no metals or other expensive strategic resources, just crude oil.

Proof Research makes some amazing composite barrels. They are known for their carbon fiber wrapped barrels. Here is a well done video showing off who they are a some sneak peaks into their facility. They even show us a glimpse of the carbon fiber wrapping process.