As everyone knows, I am starting to become quite the ammo ninja. With that said, I received an alert for some Surplus 5.56 NATO SS109 Rounds. Not knowing what SS109 meant, I did some digging and found out that they are exactly the same as the M855 Green Tipped Penetrator Rounds.minus the Green Tip. These rounds are not allowed at Take Aim's indoor range because they can damage the backstops (they don't call em penetrators for nothing)
With that said, I spoke with the owner and they are finding that surplus ammo coming from former Eastern Bloc Countries are not bi-metal (i.e. copper jackets and lead cores) but they are ATP rounds that can damage the range. These rounds usually come wrapped in paper, SPAM Cans, etc.
A lot of people are spending money on them thinking they are getting a good deal over paying for standard factory ammo. This is only true in the sense if you are going to shoot it at an outdoor range or area. If you spend 900.00 on surplus ammo rather than pay a little extra per round for standard ammo that you think you are going to get to shoot at an indoor range and suddenly can't shoot it, you now have 900.00 worth of junk. Also something to be aware of is some companies are attempting to mask their ammo (still compiling data on this) and will paint the primer green to designate it as a penetrator round instead of the tips. These are being found with magnets that are run over the ammo prior to being able to shoot it.
One final note, a lot of ammo coming from former Eastern Bloc Countries is also mildly to highly corrosive on your firearm, and over time will eat the inside of your barrel. What it boils down to, if you are going to buy surplus ammo: (1) know what you are buying, (2) know where you can/can't shoot it, (3) Know whether or not it is corrosive, and clean your weapon barrel to buttstock afterwards.
More information will follow as I compile a list of Eastern Bloc Ammo.
Ammo Ninja Eddie
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