# Bullets made from iron or jacketed by iron **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842 "2017-11-05T23:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/1 "2017-11-05T23:08:51Z")
How well would bullets made from iron or jacketed by iron work, compared to modern bullets made from standard modern bullet materials? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/2 "2017-11-05T23:19:09Z")
It wouldn’t expand which is desired in defensive ammo. It would over-penetrate walls even beyond what current ammo does. I would imagine it would be more difficult to mold due to the much higher temps over lead. it’s not as dense as lead so bullets would either be lighter or longer to. This would require longer cases and/or more powder to achieve the same muzzle energy. Either way, those cartridges wouldn’t fit current guns. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/3 "2017-11-05T23:25:29Z")
What is your intended purpose, Target shooting, hunting etc? For hunting the energy is needed for destruction of a vital organ. For target shooting a large wound channel of a soft bullet is not needed. Iron would need to be Sabbot’ed as the rifling would not last because a bullet needs to bite the riflings to spin for stabilization. There are many steel bullets from history and they are specialized to penetrate armor and there are restrictions on there use in some areas and cannot be used for sport hunting as to great a chance of lost game from wounding. One can go ON and ON but Lead and Lead alloys are better. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/4 "2017-11-06T00:22:06Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > How well would bullets made from iron or jacketed by iron work, compared to modern bullets made from standard modern bullet materials? Like iron shot, iron bullets do more damage to the gun barrel, require smaller loads, do less damage, and don’t fly as well. I think steel bullets were used for pig shooting in areas where non-toxic loads are required? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/5 "2017-11-06T01:09:19Z")
Where lead projectiles are not allowed it’s common these days to use solid copper alloy bullets in rifles, or bismuth or steel shot for shotguns. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/6 "2017-11-06T01:28:13Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > How well would bullets made from iron or jacketed by iron work, compared to modern bullets made from standard modern bullet materials? plain iron? probably not too well, iron is a bit more “brittle” than alloys and might fracture. Steel, on the other hand? There’s a lot of ammo made in Eastern Europe with copper-plated steel jacketing. The jacket can be thinner than copper, but the barrel really should be lined with hard (industrial) chrome to keep the hard steel bullets from rapidly wearing out the barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/7 "2017-11-06T15:55:37Z")
Thanks for the info everyone ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/8 "2017-11-07T01:36:54Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > plain iron? probably not too well, iron is a bit more “brittle” than alloys and might fracture. tangent: If by “plain iron” you mean a mixture of iron and carbon, from which steel is made by burning out most of the carbon, then yes, pig iron is “brittle”. On the other hand, if you mean elemental iron, then no, it’s not brittle. You can make the surface more brittle by “case hardening” it, ie, heating it in carbon-rich environment so that carbon migrates into the surface, and you can make the bulk softer by crystalizing out the carbon into internal layers, which slide like graphite, but without inclusions, iron is not brittle. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/9 "2017-11-07T21:36:33Z")
9mm bullets made from sintered iron have been produced in the past - usually because of shortages of more suitable materials. They were rather light for their size and caused rapid barrel wear as well as unreliable action. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-made-from-iron-or-jacketed-by-iron/800842/10 "2017-11-08T00:57:36Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > tangent: If by “plain iron” you mean a mixture of iron and carbon, from which steel is made by burning out most of the carbon, then yes, pig iron is “brittle”. > > On the other hand, if you mean elemental iron, then no, it’s not brittle. > > You can make the surface more brittle by “case hardening” it, ie, heating it in carbon-rich environment so that carbon migrates into the surface, and you can make the bulk softer by crystalizing out the carbon into internal layers, which slide like graphite, but without inclusions, iron is not brittle. I was thinking more along the lines of typical “grey cast iron.” but of course you’re correct.