I was at the public range in Carson City, NV the other day when I picked up a .223 case that had the bottom 10mm or so of it as brass and the rest of it was a light, tan-colored plastic. The headstamp was PCA 04. Does anybody know who makes this ammo? Is it cheaper than Wolf without the problems some people say they experience when using Wolf? I reload, but reloading 500 rounds at once takes alot of time. Anyone know anything about this brass/plastic ammo?

There was an article on these in one of the gun rags sometime back. IIRC the opinion was that these were good enough for plinking, etc., but not "varmint accurate."

NATEC, Inc., located in Plattsburgh, New York is the sole manufacturer of the world's first, high pressure, polymer-cased ammunition (PCA). The company's facilities are located along the flightline of the closed Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and include administrative offices, an inert component parts manufacturing facility, and an assembly building with a DoD-approved indoor test firing range. In addition, NATEC leases bunker storage and an off-site indoor/outdoor test firing range located within minutes of the general facilities.

The U.S. Military has substantial interest in this revolutionary technology due to its ever present need to lower the weight of the soldier and aircraft. The Office of Naval Research, with Marine Corps sponsorship awarded a contract to the company in 1999 to test, evaluate, and qualify the polymer-cased ammunition for service use. A follow-on award ensued in 2000, with a final Pre-Qualification Screening Test passed successfully in 2001. The project is currently under assessment by the U.S. Army (the end qualifier and procurer of all small arms ammunition for the U.S. Military) for validation of the service-suitability of the NATEC polymer-cased ammunition, which is timely in nature with the current objective of the U.S. Army to lighten the soldier's load. Combined with the pressure put on our Armed Forces to field technologically-advanced products near-term as a part of the Country's War on Terrorism, NATEC is optimistic that the military version of their polymer-cased ammunition will see service use in 2004.

NATEC's patented (and patents pending), lightweight, polymer-cased ammunition (PCA) is produced in Plattsburgh, New York. The cartridges utilize standard projectiles, primers, and propellants that are currently supplied by existing manufacturers. The base cap is cold formed from standard cartridge brass, and the casing is injection molded from the exclusively supplied polymer.

PCA - Spectrum, currently available for the commercial/law enforcement markets include:

.223 REM, 55 grain FMJBT
.223 REM, 55 grain Sierra Blitzking
.223 REM, 69 grain Sierra Matchking HPBT.
PCA available in mid-2004 include:

.308, 150 grain FMJBT
.308, 150 grain Sierra Gameking
.308, 168 grain Sierra Matchking

The Company intends to expand its product line to include the 50 cal in the near term, as well as additional commercial calibers in the future.

Sounds like the indoor practise ammo with plastic bullets that police use.

regards,
graycg