Steel Case ammo thoughts

[aspiringsnd]

I'm looking at current ammo prices and availability, and wondering if its worth picking up a few cases of steel-case ammo.

What are the dangers of using steel case ammo - i.e. firearm damage, premature wear and tear, etc... Specifically, I'm looking at 9mm ammo that will be fired through a VP9.

 

[ACC]

I am by no means an expert on this, so feel free to refute anything I say. However, I do shoot a lot of steel cased ammo just to save $. I do not think you are at any risk of damaging your firearm by shooting steel case ammo. You may find that steel casings are more likely to "bulge" and possibly get stuck in your gun (easy to fix). Steel ammo is "dirtier" and you may need to clean your gun more frequently. Also...you cannot reload steel cased ammo.

That all being said, when just plinking, I run steel ammo in my AKs, AR's, AR-9, AR-45 and pretty much all my handguns. Never had any issues.

 

[Wolfhound]

Steel case is known to cause a little more fouling than most brass case ammo. My biggest concern with steel case is not the case but the fact that a lot of it has bi-metal jacketed bullets. Usually that translates to steel jacket meaning it can potentially wear your firearms barrel faster than copper jacket ammo if you shoot large amounts of it. YMMV

I use steel case in my SKS and AK's with no issues.

 

[jd4320t]

Just make sure it runs in YOUR gun and you'll be fine. When I first got my first AR it didn't like steel cased at all. I never really tried again. Also, I've seen at least three rifles go down in training classes due to steel cased ammo. Some like it and some don't.

 

[Bfish]

I am with wolfhound on the bi-metal bullet issue but you will be good to go. If you don't reload there isn't any reason not to buy steel. I still like throwing it in my gun if I know I'll be out shooting somewhere that picking up brass becomes difficult.

I have had a few issues, but nothing that would keep me from buying it. With some ARs though I've had steel get stuck a couple times. I've also shot some junk tul and twice gotten the action of the pistol bound up. Once I had to take a rubber mallet to the end of one to get it "unstuck." It was like a squib that never made it out of the case all of the way or something bizarre.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Steel case is known to cause a little more fouling than most brass case ammo. My biggest concern with steel case is not the case but the fact that a lot of it has bi-metal jacketed bullets. Usually that translates to steel jacket meaning it can potentially wear your firearms barrel faster that copper jacket ammo if you shoot large amounts of it. YMMV

I use steel case in my SKS and AK's with no issues.

^^^This^^^

I do not like bi-metal projectiles, but I still run factory steel cased ammo about half the time in my SKS. Reloads with traditional copper jacketed bullets make up the other 50% of the time. If you can find your cases, the brass lasts a long time (many reloading cycles) and the accuracy is a whole lot better (the powder charges vary quite a bit in the cheap foreign 7.62x39).

Never tried 9mm steel cased, but my Springfield V-10 Ultra compact shot horribly with Wolf steel in .45 ACP. The gun still functioned, but for whatever reason, that gun hated that ammo and the groups more than doubled in size! I haven't tried steel case handgun ammo since that time.

 

[looney2ns]

A little searching online and you can purchase brass cased for almost the same as steel cased. Stock up now, the stupid could start at any moment.

 

[d.kaufman]

If you're looking for just 9mm plinking ammo, i'd go with federal aluminum cased. Walmart carries it and is always in stock at the walmarts in NWI. Under $10 per box of 50. My handguns eat it up and have never had issue with it in over 3k rounds

 

[AmmoManAaron]

A little searching online and you can purchase brass cased for almost the same as steel cased. Stock up now, the stupid could start at any moment.

Literally. I don't put a lot of faith in Breitbart's reporting these days, but...

Breitbart Reports McConnell May Be Open To ?Gun Control?

 

[ckcollins2003]

I'm a huge fan of steel cased ammo, although for rifle calibers and simply because of the price point.

For 9mm, you can buy re-manufactured brass cased ammo for $20 more than a case of Tula. While Tula, IMO, is perfect for plinking and training drills because it allows you more time on the range at a lower cost. For the life of me, I can't recommend it over something like Freedom Munitions brass cased. Simply because you can save the brass and use it for reloading down the road or turn around and sell it and put that money towards more ammo. Nobody is going to buy steel cases, but 1,000 pieces of 9mm brass can easily get you the $20 difference that you paid for that brass.

As for the "dangers" to your firearm, if it cycles, it will be fine.

 

[Bfish]

I'm a huge fan of steel cased ammo, although for rifle calibers and simply because of the price point.

For 9mm, you can buy re-manufactured brass cased ammo for $20 more than a case of Tula. While Tula, IMO, is perfect for plinking and training drills because it allows you more time on the range at a lower cost. For the life of me, I can't recommend it over something like Freedom Munitions brass cased. Simply because you can save the brass and use it for reloading down the road or turn around and sell it and put that money towards more ammo. Nobody is going to buy steel cases, but 1,000 pieces of 9mm brass can easily get you the $20 difference that you paid for that brass.

As for the "dangers" to your firearm, if it cycles, it will be fine.

It's hard not to agree with this. I hate tul really and to be honest if you catch a good sale you can get ahold of brass for the same price.

 

[oldpink]

The one area (aside from the aforementioned bi-metal bullet possibly causing premature bore wear over time) that I've heard of steel cased possibly causing damage is if shooting long enough strings that the gun gets hot and the polymer or lacquer coating on the case melts and makes extraction tough enough that it either fails to extract or snaps the extractor.
Dunno how common this is, but I've read accounts from a few folks who say it happened to them.
Naturally, I wouldn't trust steel cased -- even with proper expanding bullets, were it available loaded that way -- for anything more serious than range use, namely hunting or self-defense.
For either of those applications, reliability and accuracy are paramount, so be sure that your gun is sighted in for the brass cased ammo that works best for either use.

 

[jonny4523]

I got turned off of steel cased after seeing some horrendous accuracy issues with basic Wolf stuff at just 50 yards. You can find brass cased stuff not much more per round and you get the added benefit of keeping the brass to reload.

As far as the whole bi-metal jacket thing goes, it is a proven fact that it will degrade your barrel faster. Lucky Gunner Labs did an awesome test with this idea and proved the degradation. But they summarize that while your barrel does wear faster, the barrel is considered to be a consumable and the amount of money you'd typically save with steel cased ammo would pay for a new barrel by the time you wore it out.

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

Obviously, the best way to go is to reload your own. My Dillon 650 has paid for itself almost 4 times over now.

 

[ckcollins2003]

The one area (aside from the aforementioned bi-metal bullet possibly causing premature bore wear over time) that I've heard of steel cased possibly causing damage is if shooting long enough strings that the gun gets hot and the polymer or lacquer coating on the case melts and makes extraction tough enough that it either fails to extract or snaps the extractor.
Dunno how common this is, but I've read accounts from a few folks who say it happened to them.
Naturally, I wouldn't trust steel cased -- even with proper expanding bullets, were it available loaded that way -- for anything more serious than range use, namely hunting or self-defense.
For either of those applications, reliability and accuracy are paramount, so be sure that your gun is sighted in for the brass cased ammo that works best for either use.

I love the old, "that coating is melting and gluing rounds to my chamber and breaking extractor's" belief... the fact of the matter is that it's just not true. Ha! Jonny just beat me to it, but yeah, some people just don't want to admit that they can't properly maintain a firearm, or that they bought a piece of ****.

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

 

[Robert Richardson]

I won't use it in anything I shoot. I will spend the extra for brass cased ammo. I reload everything I shoot so steel case ammo doesn't give me any return and I've seen people have too many problems with it.

 

[Robert Richardson]

The one area (aside from the aforementioned bi-metal bullet possibly causing premature bore wear over time) that I've heard of steel cased possibly causing damage is if shooting long enough strings that the gun gets hot and the polymer or lacquer coating on the case melts and makes extraction tough enough that it either fails to extract or snaps the extractor.
Dunno how common this is, but I've read accounts from a few folks who say it happened to them.
Naturally, I wouldn't trust steel cased -- even with proper expanding bullets, were it available loaded that way -- for anything more serious than range use, namely hunting or self-defense.
For either of those applications, reliability and accuracy are paramount, so be sure that your gun is sighted in for the brass cased ammo that works best for either use.

This ^. I have watched guys with a long cleaning rod and a hammer that had to pound a stuck steel case out of their ARs so, yes I have seen it happen.

 

[oldpink]

I love the old, "that coating is melting and gluing rounds to my chamber and breaking extractor's" belief... the fact of the matter is that it's just not true. Ha! Jonny just beat me to it, but yeah, some people just don't want to admit that they can't properly maintain a firearm, or that they bought a piece of ****.

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

Okay, read the part about the coating not being the cause of extraction problems, but there were still problems with steel vs. brass, probably related to the steel not sealing the breech as well and allowing more fouling to go rearward, but that's just an educated guess, naturally:

Which Ammo Was Most Reliable?

The data which will probably be most interesting to everyone who reads this article is how often each rifle malfunctioned. To satisfy that particular thirst, here are the basic results:

• Federal: 10,000 rounds, 0 malfunctions.
• Brown Bear: 10,000 rounds, 9 malfunctions (5 stuck cases, 1 magazine-related failure to feed, 3 failures to fully cycle)
• Wolf: 10,000 rounds, 15 malfunctions (stuck cases)
• Tula: DNF (6,000 rounds in alternate carbine, 3 malfunctions)

 

[ckcollins2003]

Okay, read the part about the coating not being the cause of extraction problems, but there were still problems with steel vs. brass, probably related to the steel not sealing the breech as well and allowing more fouling to go rearward, but that's just an educated guess, naturally:

Which Ammo Was Most Reliable?

The data which will probably be most interesting to everyone who reads this article is how often each rifle malfunctioned. To satisfy that particular thirst, here are the basic results:

• Federal: 10,000 rounds, 0 malfunctions.
• Brown Bear: 10,000 rounds, 9 malfunctions (5 stuck cases, 1 magazine-related failure to feed, 3 failures to fully cycle)
• Wolf: 10,000 rounds, 15 malfunctions (stuck cases)
• Tula: DNF (6,000 rounds in alternate carbine, 3 malfunctions)

Agreed completely. Steel cased is definitely more dirty as shown in the test, but 99.9% of people don't shoot 10,000 rounds in a year, let alone in a single sitting and they definitely don't go through as many rounds as they did without a cleaning.

If you are taking training classes where you are shooting 1,000 rounds a day and multiple target engagement drills, I can see the benefits of brass cased ammo mainly for the accuracy benefits. For plinking why not save the cash and get more time behind the gun? Accuracy is the biggest fault, but you don't need 1/4 moa accuracy for plinking. There are a lot of internet rumors about steel cased ammo, but the fact of the matter is that brass cased ammo also causes problems in certain firearms. Stuck cases aren't just a thing with steel cased ammo. I've seen stuck cases, bolts locking up, extraction failures, you name it, all with brass cased ammo. Some firearms run it well and some don't.

Personally, if I ever buy a firearm that won't cycle steel cases, I'm selling it. It's completely unreliable if it is that picky about what I feed it.

One thing I would have liked to have seen in their testing was cheaper brass cased ammo. They only tested Federal, no Winchester white box, PMC, American Eagle, etc.. IMO, to make a good comparison you would need more than just one type of brass cased ammo as well. Federal makes great quality .223/5.56 ammo, that's a known fact, but torture test some cheap Golden Bear and let's see how it runs.

 

[Woobie]

I ran 100 steel 9mm Tula through my PPQ last weekend. 0 malfunctions, but one time when I went to clear the pistol after shooting a partial mag, a round did get stuck. Had to press the slide against a table to get the extractor to release the rim of the cartridge, then use a cleaning rod to pop the round out.

My friend used some in his .40 and it would FTE about once a mag. My guess is the higher pressure round was pushing the case past its point of elasticity.

Neither of pur pistols have ever experienced a malfunction with any type of brass ammo.

All in all it was more hassle than it was worth, and we are giving up the Tula in our pistols. I have yet to experience issues with wolf or Tula in my AR.

 

[l1n5c0tt]

Never had any issues with steel cased 9mm, 45ac, or 223 but 308 about 1 in 5 get stuck. i still use just always make sure i take a cleaning rod with me