Originally Posted by
freakshow10mm
18 USC 921
(17)
(A) The term “ammunition” means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellent powder designed for use in any firearm.
(B) The term “armor piercing ammunition” means—
(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.
So let's break this down:
May be used in a handgun- that means rifle cartridges that can be used in handguns, like Thompson Center pistols are included, so .223, .308. etc.
Barnes and Hornady and Nosler "all copper" bullets are not "constructed entirely [except for trace elements] or a combination of specifically tungsten, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium. Elite Ammunition made bullets made entirely of brass, so that's why they got in trouble for manufacturing AP ammunition. Barnes, Hornady, and Nosler use gilding alloy, which is not on the list and is not comprised of "beryllium copper" as the copper alloy component.
The "or" is a big part. It's either subparagraph i or ii that meet the definition.
So the Barnes/Hornady/Nosler bullets are NOT fully jacketed because the term jacket means to cover a core or body, which they do not. They do not meet the definition based on this, since a homogenous bullet has no jacket. Very clever and that's why Barnes has a patent on it. So since it doesn't meet that first requirement we can stop, since it's not armor piercing as defined.
But let's go on for education's sake. Some are larger than .22" caliber and designed and intended for use in a handgun, like their pistol XPB or whatever bullets. Meeting this requirement the next word "and" means both conditions have to be met. So now this said bullet has to have a "jacket that has a weight of more than 25% of the total projectile weight" [paraphrased slightly]. Well, since we previously determined that a homogenous bullet has no jacket, it can't have a jacket that meets the criteria, so it's again not AP ammunition as defined.
To recap:
-not made of specific metal alloys
-doesn't have a jacket
Those two reasons are why the all copper bullets are not AP ammunition.They are all copper, but not beryllium copper. They are gilding metal copper. Different alloy and not specifically named in the statute.