Steel Cased Ammo for AR

[kmittleman]

Hey everyone,

What do you all think about shooting steel cased ammo in an AR? I've heard that it wears out extractors and it can cause stuck cases with brass, but I didn't know if it was true. I have to admit, for $5 a box, that's cheaper than I can reload for it. Yay or nay on the steel cases?

K

 

[chevellenut71]

Thats all I shoot. If it wears out your extractor after 15000 round spend 10 bucks and buy another one... Yes have I had one stick in the chamber. Got it out with a cleaning rod and moved on. Now if I find brass at the same price as steel then yes I buy the brass.

 

[erwos]

I have never seen any compelling evidence that steel-cased ammo breaks extractors earlier than brass. I've seen a lot of conjecture, but if it were true, the Internet should be littered with people having broken extractor issues... it's just not the case.

When I'm plinking in 5.56x45, the only stuff I shoot is steel. No problems.

 

[engineerbrian]

Thats all I shoot too.

I <3 Tula and Wolf

 

[Marauder]

Shoot the steel cased stuff, don't buy into the internet rumors.

 

[Pwilliams1]

I've never had a problem with it in my rifles.

 

[j_h_smith]

I have 2000 rounds that I got at an unbelievable price years ago. Have never shot it, but I figured it was such a good price, I couldn't pass it up.

 

[cap6888]

Wolf is great inexpensive ammo. Goes bang every time and I have yet to have a failure.

 

[normbal]

I tried using up the remnants of a case of Wolf 9mm last month. Ammo is stored like all the rest - cool and dry. Absolute failure. Out of about 60 rounds maybe 10 fired correctly, ALL the rest were duds, or barely pushed the bullets out of the barrel (SIG 226) we watched several just pop out about 3 feet and picked them up and threw them at the targets. Reloads from 20 years ago still shoot just fine. Russian ammo? I don't trust it. YMMV.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimbobborg]

It's fine in a properly built AR, but most indoor ranges don't allow it as there's steel in the jacket.

 

[redsandman6]

The only reason I buy brass cased over steel case is for reloading. I still buy steel case ammo and have used it will no problems.

 

[Melnic]

Not necessarily a fair comparison, but I do reload for about 21 cents a round for my cheap ammo now. Slightly Cheaper than Tulamo but all the work. However, I still look for and buy Tulamo for the older AR that is has iron sights in it. The big article about steel ammo mentioned bore wearing out but as many say, that's from barrel heating coupled with the steel jacket. I will say that if you scope the AR and put it on a rest or tri pod, the Tulamo I have found not to be so accurate but still bang for the buck. If you are plinking offhand, you are not likely to notice the difference with Tulamo.

 

[rob]

I have shot steel cased out of my ARs and my FoTay. It goes bang just like the brass stuff.

The only issue I have ever had is that it seemed less accurate, prolly because it is cheap ammo and the consistency of the load was likely lacking.

Rob

 

[Bisondice]

Shot about 600rds. tulammo with 4 stuck in chambers. Not a big deal just push em out with cleaning rod. Fine for range to save money, would never take mags full of it in SHTF situation

 

[Pwilliams1]

It's funny. I've had two malfunctions ever in my ar's. Both situations were ftf, with what appeared to be light primer strikes. Both where midddle of the road brass ammo.

 

[EMS Burnout]

I shoot steel occasionally, never had a single problem. I keep my AR well lubed and it runs just fine. Steel will wear out your barrel and extractor faster than brass, but we are talking thousands of rounds. The guys over at Luckygunner.com did a test with steel and brass. It is a very interesting read.
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

 

[BRONZ]

Lucky Gunner has a informative test. Copper washed bullets wore the barrels down to nothing.

Steel case i dont have a problem, but projectiles that they shoot eat your barrel up.

 

[erwos]

The Lucky Gunner test was pretty rough by any standard. Shot 'em real fast, and shot them in some harsh conditions.

The other problem is that even if steel-cased ammo eats your barrel every 4k rounds, you have still saved enough money to buy a match quality barrel to replace it with. Given that you are going to have vastly less wear in a normal plinking scenario, the argument for steel is even bigger there.

 

[bkuether]

All of my ARs eat Tula, no issue. I see no extractor wear and agree with others, mostly a myth. Maybe after like 20000 rounds you might see something.

I have had maybe one FTF. Never had a jam, or casing stuck in the chamber. The Tula .223 shoots soft enough that my youngest boy doesn't mind it.

Accuracy? Its not that bad.....


I personally won't spend the extra for brass. I buy that and bury it.

 

[Sharp]

I've shot hundreds of rounds of Wolf and Brown Bear through my AR, runs like a champ. And that's regardless of if the steel is lacquer or polymer coated. Most I've done in one day was 300 rounds, but no issues.