Best way to put a Hi-Viz warning on a gun? ("NO LEAD" on polygonal 300 BLK bbl)

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wacki

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Ranier Select barrels have polygonal rifling. Great for longevity but apparently you must shoot FMJ through them. I thought about stenciling "NO LEAD" on my AR15 dust cover but I'm not sure what is the least ghetto way to do that. High temp paint marker from NAPA or Autozone will work but I'd like it to look reasonably well done.

I'm putting this in general as I have pistols with polygonal rifling as well.

EDIT: 300 BLK subsonic is my primary concern
 
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I believe it is just fine to shoot lead out of a poly bore, Glock says not to butthey also say not to shoot hand loads. It is not a good idea to shoot a load lead bullets through any kind of rifling because it fouls faster, generally speaking. In most shooting situations with semi autos, one tends to shoot more rounds than say, a single action revolver.

Also, I have an HK USP 40 Compact that I have tested lead in. On one range trip, shooting moderate reloads (165 gr tc at 1000fps) I fired 1200 rds without a problem, it actually cleaned easier than some jacketed stuff, no noticeable lead build up.

Maybe it is the quality of the bore or maybe the whole no lead thing is horse hockey.

As for your question; I would look into some sort of electronic chemical etching, I have seen some people do it fairly cheaply on youtube and the results can be good.
 
If you really, really, really need to WRITE THAT on a gun to remember that you'd rather not shoot unjacketed lead ammo? I'd just have it engraved somewhere.

Do you HAVE any unjacketed lead 5.56mm ammo? I don't think I've ever seen any (that wasn't some handloader's pet project), so this seems like a really unnecessary solution to a questionable problem.

It doesn't actually appear to be a real problem with Glocks, either, but if you really don't want to shoot lead...don't buy lead...?
 
Do you HAVE any unjacketed lead 5.56mm ammo? I don't think I've ever seen any (that wasn't some handloader's pet project), so this seems like a really unnecessary solution to a questionable problem.
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Barrel is 300 BLK. That round is scarce right now. Almost all FMJ subsonic ammo (200+grain) at midway is out of stock. When they are in stock it's 50 cents to $1 a bullet (not round) or you can cast your own for 6 cents. Missouri lead bullets are $144.00 per 1,000 shipped.

I shoot gongs which means I blow through 1/2 a case of ammo in a sitting. I love the sound of ringing gongs but that music can get costly. You do the math.



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Try some .308 copper plated bullets from X-Treme. The price is right and they should work in polygonal rifling. Problem solved.
 
Try some .308 copper plated bullets from X-Treme. The price is right and they should work in polygonal rifling. Problem solved.
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I just ordered a box thanks!

Unfortunately they don't make 200+ grain which is what you need for subsonic.





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I have several rifles I've rebarreled myself, and because they are stainless, they look similar. What I've done is used one of the Brother Lable makers, where I print the caliber and twist rate on a tape in the smallest font possible. Then I cut it so it just is wide and long enough to clear the letter and stick it someplace unobtrusive on the bottom of the barrel. Since I swap stocks often, I'm using Savage actions, it's easy to see what barrel and twist I'm screwing onto the action. Hope the idea helps.
 
Yeah that is the unfortunate part. I got lucky on some Sierra 220s when midway had them in stock. They were almost 50 cents apiece though.
 
I had an AR lower engraved by laser once. Worked fine. Perhaps you could find a local Trophy shop to do the same for your firearms. :)
 
Trophy shop is a good idea.

May use microsoft word and import a stencil font and create a stencil somehow.

Will probably use battleship gray or olive drab paint on the dust cover. Hi-Viz is likely overkill as this doesn't appear to be a gigantor risk. I don't know what the worst case scenario is with a clogged 300 BLK bbl but I'm not sure I want to find out.
 
I've never had any issue shooting hard cast lead subsonics out of anything, Glock included. I buy my Missouri cast bullets in lots of 5-10K, 9mm, .45ACP and .40S&W.

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but the only reason to really care about subsonic or not would be to shoot suppressed, in which case I'd worry a lot more about if your suppressor comes apart for easy cleaning than I would about polygonal rifling.

Slug your bore, then call Missouri Bullet company, they will size your bullets ~0.001" larger than groove diameter and you'll have noting to worry about.


My wife and I when ringing steel with rifles/carbines, burn through lots of Russian steel cased .223 & 7.62x39 and corrosive surplus 5.45x39 and 7.62x25 -- I can't touch the price reloading for the volume we shoot. Pistols we're 90+% hard cast lead and average ~2K/month.
 
Search McMaster.com for 'paint marker'; those are sort of ink pens but for paint. I'm not sure how well the paints they use will hold up to solvents long term (I'm conducting that experiment myself). If they don't, some epoxy paint, a fine paintbrush, and a steady hand... I've done that to magazines and it survives solvents, but with my lack of artistic ability it's pretty ugly.

I like the idea of marking the dust cover; if you ever don't like it, a new dust cover is what, $8?
 
Look into powder coating your cast bullets. From what I'm to understand, powder coating eliminates any leading concern from cast lead bullets in polygonal barrels and its very easy to apply to lead bullets prior to reloading.
 
If the gun in question is .300 BLK, you could always go the smart route and just get a 7.62x39mm upper. :D

Identical ballistics but ammo that is 1/4 the cost! Unless you plan to shoot alot of subsonic .300 BLK, I think the cartridge is just a solution asking for a problem IMHO.

I would just use an electric engraving tool if I had to mark something like that.
 
Cooldill said:
If the gun in question is .300 BLK, you could always go the smart route and just get a 7.62x39mm upper. :D

Identical ballistics but ammo that is 1/4 the cost! Unless you plan to shoot alot of subsonic .300 BLK, I think the cartridge is just a solution asking for a problem IMHO.
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Actually I would say the barrel is the obvious stumbling block, not the caliber. There's a reason that 7.62x39 uppers are not nearly as popular as 300blk for the ar 15 platform. 7.62x39 doesn't work well in the straight mag well, the magazines suck, and the bolt has more metal machined away so it's weaker too. But since the gun has already been purchased all of this is pretty much irrelevant.

I like the idea of going to a trophy shop or finding somebody with a laser etching machine if you still want to mark your gun in some way. And if you do it on the dust cover and mess it up, you out less than $5.
 
I guess what's confusing to some of us is, how are you going to forget that your 300BLK has a polygonal rifling and not to shoot lead? Do you have multiple, identical, 300 BLK uppers?

I've never forgotten my Kahr K9 has a polygonal barrel and not to shoot lead...
 
how are you going to forget that your 300BLK has a polygonal rifling and not to shoot lead? Do you have multiple, identical, 300 BLK uppers?
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Yes. I own multiple ARs. I will not say how many but I do enjoy building them. I'd build a 100 of them if I had the time and money.

And when it comes to things that explode near my face, I err on the side of extreme caution. And Just because the Glock can be abused doesn't mean a rifle can. There are big pressure differences. I've emailed Ranier arms for their opinion.
 
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shooting lead through a barrel with polygonal rifling isn't going to make it blow up in your face. at the very worst all you'll have to deal with is poor accuracy.
 
How would lead even get shot out of it if you don't want it to? Do you rent it out? Lend it to friends? I guess I am missing the "Why" of this whole thing
 
But unless you own multiple 300BLK ARs, some with poly barrels and some w/o it doesn't need to be marked. Just don't handload or buy lead 300 BLK ammo.

If you do own multiple 300BLK ARs...carry on, that's sweet! :D
 
Yes I own multiple 300 BLK ARs. Poly, ratchet and traditional rifling.

And yes I take people out shooting with me. I have introduced a lot of men and women to the sport. I've even converted over a dozen anti's.

As for polygonal barrels, I will let Rainier Arms give me their opinion. If it's just an accuracy thing I'll probably laser engrave the dust cover so it's a different shade of black / gray. If it's a dangerous pressure thing then I will probably use green or white depending on the risk that Rainier conveys to me.

I have a system that helps me relax. Some people on this forum may not like my methods but this is common practice in medical labs. Plus I don't like stressing that I *might* of forgotten something. I've got an excellent memory but not everyone I shoot with knows a lot about guns. So I use chamber flags and labels religiously. In a group setting my system makes my life easier. This is a hobby and I want to be able to relax as much as possible.
 
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If you can't remember not to shoot lead bullets out of your rifle, maybe you should look into another hobby. I have been shooting lead handloads out of my Glocks for 20 years with zero problems. Any problems that come about shooting lead bullets out of some pistols is because the owners hot rod their ammo....chris3
 
I can't get the .308s from Xtreme to feed reliably. The flat point keeps hanging up.
 
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