Tungsten: The perfect metal for bullets

[Webster]

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/04/21/warning-tungsten-bullets-could-be-a-health-hazard/
The Army quit using W containing bullets for environmental reasons.

If you go to the Barnes website it doesn’t say the bullet has a W core. The core is a material they call SilvX which is not solid W but a W based material. Most likely powdered W with a binder. Lead is already banned in at least one state.

Quote from the Barnes Website: The MRX Bullet features a patented Silvex® core surrounded by an all-copper body. The dense, tungsten-based core makes MRX bullets shorter than their TSX and TTSX counterparts, increasing case capacity.

http://www.barnesbullets.com/blog/2011/06/23/barnes-is-discontinuing-the-mrx-bullets/
From the Barnes website: Barnes Is Discontinuing the MRX Bullets
June 23, 2011 at 7:58 am in Alerts, Bullets
If you are a big fan of the MRX, and I know some of you are, please stock up now. We will not be offering this line for 2012. If your local retailer does not have the MRX bullets you need, contact Barnes Customer Service at 800-574-9200 or email@barnesbullets.com and they will tell you where to find rhem. You may also be interested to know that DoubleTap Ammunition has purchased a large supply of MRX bullets and will be offering them for a limited time in loaded ammunition. Contact DoubleTap Ammunition for more details about ammunition loaded with the MRX Bullet

You are correct W is hard. I used to do quality control on CatScan X-ray tube anodes. OK so it wasn’t pure W, it had a few % Renium in it. We could cut it with a hacksaw, sand it and cut it on an abrasive cut-off wheel and it was ground to final shape. If tungsten is so hard why do they put tungsten carbide on cutting tools, not pure W? All this is moot since it looks like it was banned by EPA around 2011. W is very expensive. It is very fragile and shatters easily. Do you want W dust in the meat you eat?

Brian Litz (Sierra's ballistician) article on SnipersHide.com
Re: Why no high-density tungsten bullets?
Brian’s response:
It's very difficult to machine tungsten (compared to swaging lead). The challenge of compressing powdered tungsten is insuring that the resulting core is balanced which is necessary for precision. On paper, the ballistic advantages of the high density material are very compelling. However, the real world intrudes with challenges that have proven to be show stoppers for precision applications so far. Lead is hard to beat all around for price, ease of forming, balance, and performance on impact.
(notice Brian says powdered W)

 

[Webster]

Grimstod:
Your picture appears to show a tungsten bullet being made on a lathe. I don't understand that if tungsten is as hard a quartz how can you cut it with a lathe tool?

 

[Syncrowave]

My guess: The lathe tool is tungsten carbide, which is harder than tungsten. (Tungsten carbide is about 9 on Moh's scale.)


(And this is assuming that what is being turned is in fact tungsten...a big assumption IMO.)

 

[Grimstod]

Neither of you read the article did you.

 

[Alleycat72]

350 gr 308 bullet. It was loaded in a subsonic 308. I've been told it's a DU round. Can anyone verify

 

[Webster]

It's time to drop the subject. Your article is at least 20 years out of date. A simple tungsten penetrator will not even dent the latest Russian tank radar initiated reactive armour. Most missile and shoulder fired anti tank rounds are shaped charges no penetrator. W bullets are out of production for evironmental reasons. I doubt the 308 bullet in the picture is DU. If the entire picture is one bullet I would think it would weigh over 700 grains?

 

[Alleycat72]

Next to a 175 SMK

 

[XTR]

Next to a 175 SMK

What ever it is I'd wager a lot of $$ that it's not DU.

As a contamination control measure all versions of DU penetrators that I have seen have some kind of cladding over the U part because DU oxidizes(rust), and the oxide will rub off and is radioactive. The core in the image is not clad. (unless someone got really smart and milled off the Copper, in which case you should call me, you probably have a contamination problem that needs to be addressed.)

You state that it's a subsonic, DU is loaded for high kinetic energy and it's ability to penetrate metal. It has no special capability to penetrate anything else. I can't imagine the use for subsonic penetrator, because it won't penetrate anything.

 

[Alleycat72]

Well it has to be tungsten than. It was loaded in 06 LC brass and definitely sub. Thanks.