Hi,im wondering about the m61 ap bullets. I have heard that they are illegal to handload into a .308. Is this so? What about the 30-06? Is it legal to load in anything? Also what about the M2 ap bullets? And just out of curiosity if you can give any history or info on them, what they were made for exactly and what they were to be fired from as well as what materials and alloys they were made from I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Quoting from TM 9-1305-200 dated June 1961; Armmor-Piercing, M2....Cartridge. This cartridge is for use in machieguns and rifles. The AP cartridge M2 is intended for use against personnel and light armored and unarmored targets.....Bullet. The bullet consits of a gilding-metal jacket, a hard steel core, a lead T-shot point filler and a guilding metal base filler."

"Armor-Piercing, M61....This cartridge is for use in 7.62 machineguns and rifles. It is intended for use against light armored targets.....The bullet is boattailed and consists of a gilding-metal jacket, a steel core, and a lead-antimony base and point filler."

The AP M2 is used in the M1919A3/A3s, US rifle M1917s, M1903/A1/A4, BARs and M1 rifles.

The AP M61 is used in the M14 rifle, M21 rifle, M40 rifle, M60/M273/M240 machineguns.

They are safe in firearms made for the '06 or the 7.62/.308 respectively.

Larry Gibson.

Be warned. AP bullets, by themselves or in a loaded cartridge, are illegal in some places. Like Kalifornia for instance. And in many foreign countries.

Other than that, there's nothing about them that would keep you from using them for shooting tin cans or such.

Ray

One thing to be careful of is that any bullet with a steel core can spark and cause a fire if shot in the "woods" and they hit rocks.

Thanks for the info fellas. What I read, and I dont know if it was federal or some state law is that the .308 is considered a pistol cartridge and thus illegal to load ap's in. And the '06 is not considered a pistol cartridge. I read that the M61's were illegal to do such with and the M2's are not illegal due to a grandfather clause or something. Anyway im a little confused and want to make sure I do this legally so any help on these matters are appreciated. Thanks!

sweet

I THINK what you are referring to is an attempt, several years ago, to restrict or otherwise regulate pistol ammunition as a way to prevent criminals from getting access to handguns to do their dirty work. When it was pointed out that many pistols, such as the Contender, are chambered for cartridges such as the 30-30, 308, 35 Remington, 222, 45-70, 22 LR, etc, etc, the idea kinda didn't seem so simple as the anti-gunners had thought and it died a well deserved death.

This is not to say that some States or local jurisdictions didn't do it anyway but I've not heard of any. But, as i said before, if you live in one of the Peoples Republics such as kalifornia or messichusetts, simple possession of AP or API bullets could get you a stay at Leavenworth Kansas. So be careful.

Ray