Steel Casings in AR-15 - OK?

[XCheckR]

Hope i put this question in the right place. I did a search but didnt see any thread with this topic.

I was wondering if its ok to use rounds with Steel casings in an AR-15, or should I stick to Brass only. Seems to be varying opinions on this.

TIA.

Mark

 

[Boss94]

I have never had a problem shooting steel cases in a AR.

 

[erwos]

I have never had a problem shooting steel cases in a AR.

I've never had trouble with steel cases in any of my guns, truth be told.

Bushmasters are the only brand of AR-15 where I would genuinely worry about this issue - and most Bushies will be fine.

 

[NB1214]

Have ripped an extractor off my rock river shooting wolf. Gun smith told me it has to do with lacquer deposites in the chamber. I won't shoot steel anymore because of it but there's 2k rounds of Tula in the safe that has been tempting me lately.

 

[Mooseman]

I prefer brass. Lately I have only been able to find steel so that is what I am shooting. I don't want to break into my stockpile for a range trip.

 

[Plainolme]

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

Shoot steel, its cheaper.

 

[fleaman64]

Have ripped an extractor off my rock river shooting wolf. Gun smith told me it has to do with lacquer deposites in the chamber. I won't shoot steel anymore because of it but there's 2k rounds of Tula in the safe that has been tempting me lately.

Current production steel cased ammo does not have lacquer coating. It is a polymer coating. There may be some issues when switching back and forth between brass and steel cased ammo as the expansion rates are different potentially causing some extraction problems.

Bottom line, if my ARs run fine with it, I'm not worried. It helps keep the price of training/plinking down.

If you want to get rid of that Tula, let me know.

This video may help some of you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZB3UfG960

 

[jimbobborg]

Any QUALITY AR won't have a problem with steel cased.

 

[CronusTRD]

Clean it afterwards before running brass again.

 

[pitpawten]

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/bras...el-cased-ammo/

Shoot steel, its cheaper.

Funny, I was just getting ready to post the same link but with a different conclusion

From the article:

At the end of the test, the chrome lining of the Wolf and Brown Bear barrels was almost gone from the throat forward, and the barrels had effectively become smoothbores, with the rifling near the muzzles acting only as a mild suggestion on the projectiles.

The bottom line is that for both Brown Bear and Wolf, the lands had been completely ground down to the diameter of the grooves.

Longitudinal scratches are visible inside the bore, and it is believed that they were caused by the projectiles meandering their way down the bore in a casual manner before exiting and tumbling in a fairly random direction.

the Federal barrel maintained a good seal between itself and the bullet up to 10,000 rounds, while the Wolf and Brown Bear barrels let a significant amount of gases past the projectile

The steel cases themselves don’t have any effect on the condition of the bore. The difference lies with the projectile – the soft copper jacket of the Federal ammunition simply doesn’t cause the same amount of wear as the bimetal (copper and steel) jacket of the Russian ammunition.

And on that note, I'd submit the following article (WARNING: Nerd alert!) specifically about the bimetal projectile:

http://www.uspsa.org/front-sight-magazine-article.php?Should-I-Buy-BiMetal-Ammo-8

I know this focuses on the bimetal projectile and not the casing but typically those are hand-in hand (from what I have seen) and this is the real concern with "steel ammo".

Glad to hear counter opinion on this.


(all this being said, I just picked up some TulAmmo at the local Walmart this morning for $0.27/round because...well, its $0.27/round )

 

[TwinTurboDiesel]

Not an AR but my Steyr has no issues with steel cased tula or wolf .223.

My fathers match target comp has not had an issue with tula steel. Have not put wolf through it.

 

[Forest]

I've never had trouble with steel cases in any of my guns, truth be told.

Bushmasters are the only brand of AR-15 where I would genuinely worry about this issue - and most Bushies will be fine.

I've got several Bushmaster's none of them have had a problem with steel cased ammo.

Where I do see issues:
Rifles with .223/match chambers instead of 5.56, especially those lacking chrome lined chambers. Minute scratches in an unlined chamber will cause problems with steel that won't occur with brass.

Rifles with gas port problems.

Generally these are rifles that are on the 'cheap end' of the spectrum, though I've seen some DPMSs and Oly's run fine (most of the time) on steel cased ammo. I've even seen a Colt or two choke on steel cased ammo (though in my experience that is rare).

Biggest issue with steel cased ammo is your chamber WILL get dirty. The steel doesn't seal as well as brass so carbon will get stuck in the chamber (this is why you want a chrome lined chamber). SCRUB that chamber with a chamber brush after using steel cased ammo.

 

[Forest]

.Gun smith told me it has to do with lacquer deposites in the chamber. .

You need to find a new gunsmith - specifically one that knows about ARs and ammo.

 

[sailskidrive]

You need to find a new gunsmith - specifically one that knows about ARs and ammo.

That's what I was thinking.

The extractor probably broke because Rock River is commercial grade and uses 8610 not #156. I had a DCM match gun and broke an extractor a while back and called RRA to get info about the BCG...

 

[.458 Dave]

i've shot about 1,500 rounds of tula and wolf with no problems at all. I say go for it.

 

[XCheckR]

Thanks for all the input. Will run it through sparingly and clean after use (which i do anyhow).

Thanks!

 

[XCheckR]

Clean it afterwards before running brass again.

Cronus!!! Funny how many Creepers are milling around over here!!!