Brass vs Steel casing ammo - steel works with no issue - thoughts?

[EZ-E]

I've had steel ammo freeze in the chamber. Steel has an anti-corrosive coating that will turn to glue the casing in the barrel. Had to disassemble and use a tool to dislodge the casing.

Some steel case is laquer coated & when the gun heats up cases can stick.

I only run steel case in the AK. It eats it all.

 

[DaBull]

I voted Yes to steel, but with one caveat: I only shoot steel from weapons designed to shoot steel, so primarily Mosins, AKs, SKS, and Makarovs. They were made to stand up to steel, so I don't worry about additional wear.

I try to avoid lacquer coated if I can, as it does get gummy to the point where I have had some cases fail to extract from the glued up chamber. More likely if the AK is no cleaned.

 

[General Zod]

I voted Yes to steel, but with one caveat: I only shoot steel from weapons designed to shoot steel, so primarily Mosins, AKs, SKS, and Makarovs. Their were made to stand up to steel, so don't worry about additional wear.

I try to avoid lacquer coated if I can, as it does get gummy to the point where I have had some cases fail to extract from the glued up chamber. Partially my fault since I don't always clean my AKs.

Yeah, I always give the guns a good cleaning after I've run steel, especially if it's lacquered. To make sure nothing builds up.

 

[Moonpie]

I've had steel ammo freeze in the chamber. Steel has an anti-corrosive coating that will turn to glue the casing in the barrel. Had to disassemble and use a tool to dislodge the casing.

I've had this happen with an SKS. It was the owners fault tho. He failed to clean the goo out of the chamber after the previous firing. It had hardened into a layer of shellac in the chamber.
First round fired the case stuck fast. Had to use a range rod and a hammer to knock it out.

 

[benenglish]

I used to love cheap steel ammo back when it was cheap. It fed my SKS. Then I fell in love with the South African brass ammo in the Cheetah brand boxes back when it was cheap. I used that in everything.

Now that ammo is expensive, I have no qualms about using steel cases in my SKS and I've got enough to last me a while. But I won't be using steel case in other guns with one exception.

I have cases of Hornady Steel Match. It was cheaper than brass by enough to justify buying it, uses quality Hornady bullets so it's quite accurate, and doesn't have pretty much any of the downsides of imported/surplus steel stuff. Well, the failure to fully seal the chamber is still a minor issue but I clean my rifles and pistols often enough that I don't consider that a fatal flaw.

Besides 7.62x39, I've shot lots of steel 9mm in various Glocks. Maybe that's abusive but they don't seem to mind and I don't care if a few Glocks get abused. I wouldn't use it in any of my nice 9mms.

Other than the use cases outlined above, which I hope have been illustrative, I have no experience with steel cases.

One outlier should be noted. The New Jersey high power shooters got together many years ago and did a group buy. They sent a million 75 grain Hornady match bullets to Russia and had them loaded into steel cases by one of their factories. If I had been able to get that stuff, I would have. Those high power guys shot a lot of it out of their expensive match ARs with good results.

Then that ammo all got recalled without a full explanation. The scuttlebutt is that the Russian factory used the match bullets but didn't change anything else, including the powder charge. Pressures were noticeably too high. But that's just a rumor. Nevertheless, it sold for 9 cents a round and at that price lots of people who wanted match ammo with accurate bullets were willing to take the chance.

 

[zackmars]

Those are good reasons. Are any from personal experience?

Thanks for correcting me on the copper jacket. I just thought it was brass due to color. Any reason why brass seals better than steel? It sounds to me like the seal we are speaking of is not the seal between bullet and barrel, but rather between casing and bullet. Is that right?


Ok, so I did see the sparks. And the non-recyclable steel makes sense for the range not wanting them. I guess I'll make sure I use up my steel at the Sharpshooter then.

Yes, personal experience.

Brass seals better than steel because brass is more malleable than steel. The bullet should seal the barrel, but the case should as well

 

[jimbo]

I've had steel ammo freeze in the chamber. Steel has an anti-corrosive coating that will turn to glue the casing in the barrel. Had to disassemble and use a tool to dislodge the casing.

This is the same experience I've had. No more steel for me.

 

[studenygreg]

The only steel case I've had issue with and avoid is Tula. I shoot it all, brass, steel, aluminum.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[kenboyles72]

I've had steel ammo freeze in the chamber. Steel has an anti-corrosive coating that will turn to glue the casing in the barrel. Had to disassemble and use a tool to dislodge the casing.

This is the biggest reason I've heard - the lacquer a lot of the steel case manufacturers slather on can melt in a hot chamber and it'll get sticky as it does. Haven't had it happen to me, but I haven't shot a whole lot of steel case ammo... Some. But not a steady diet, so I haven't seen any ill effects personally.

Some steel case is laquer coated & when the gun heats up cases can stick.

I only run steel case in the AK. It eats it all.

The barrel/chamber of a rifle would have to reach insanely high temps to melt the coating off the casing. There have been demonstrations of using an oxyacetylene torch and that didn't even melt it. The biggest reason of stuck steel cases, is lack of cleaning. Since steel doesn't expand like brass, that bit of carbon blow by will build up and cause the case to stick, has nothing to do with the coating.

When I first got my AR, I ran steel exclusively, no telling how many rounds went through it and never had an issue. But, I am one of those that clean and maintain my firearms after every range trip. After 3 years, there is no significant wear on the parts.

 

[Eli]

It isn't the steel case that's as problematic as it is the steel-jacketed projectile wearing your barrel 3-5X as quickly as copper-jacketed projectiles - along with the accompanying erosive powders, added wear and tear on the extractor and ejector, etc.
And I say this as a guy that grew up on AKs back when corrosive surplus ammo was widespread and cheap, I have no issue with corrosive ammunition nor steel - but it just doesn't work well in many guns not specifically designed for it.

I've seen a handful of M1 carbines go down with broken bolts, and broken extractors from tula .30 carbine

In fairness, they'll do the same thing with American brass ammo.

I used steel case for AK, which made sense because the commies were the ones making most of the steel case back then. You have to watch out, that stuff is usually corrosive.

M43 - the original Soviet 7.62X39 - was designed for utter reliability in all climate conditions. The case is nearly triangular, and steel from the beginning. Western cartridges, when constructed similarly, aren't as successful.

Eli

 

[zackmars]

It isn't the steel case that's as problematic as it is the steel-jacketed projectile wearing your barrel 3-5X as quickly as copper-jacketed projectiles - along with the accompanying erosive powders, added wear and tear on the extractor and ejector, etc.
And I say this as a guy that grew up on AKs back when corrosive surplus ammo was widespread and cheap, I have no issue with corrosive ammunition nor steel - but it just doesn't work well in many guns not specifically designed for it.

In fairness, they'll do the same thing with American brass ammo.

M43 - the original Soviet 7.62X39 - was designed for utter reliability in all climate conditions. The case is nearly triangular, and steel from the beginning. Western cartridges, when constructed similarly, aren't as successful.

Eli

Im aware, m1 carbine bolt life is 5-6k. Steady use of steel case is MUCH quicker

 

[WAA]

I certainly didn’t mean to imply it wasn’t reliable. I loved the stuff. I traded that rifle and a SKS in a double bonehead move. Really wish I hadn’t done that.

 

[Coon]

That'll happen no matter the ammo when you hang around with 1911 shooters.

 

[alterspaces]

It isn't the steel case that's as problematic as it is the steel-jacketed projectile wearing your barrel 3-5X as quickly as copper-jacketed projectiles - along with the accompanying erosive powders, added wear and tear on the extractor and ejector, etc.

All the 9mm steel case ammo I've been using has been copper jacketed at least. So this barrel wear isn't an issue for my intended post. Thanks for your input though for AK info.

 

[V-Tach]

Copper color does not mean it's necessarily copper.....have you checked a magnet against it? The plating covering is very thin to prevent corrosion, not protect the barrel and is removed during the firing resulting in steel on steel........

True jacketed bullets not so much, but plated, yes..........

 

[alterspaces]

Copper color does not mean it's necessarily copper.....have you checked a magnet against it? The plating covering is very thin to prevent corrosion, not protect the barrel and is removed during the firing resulting in steel on steel........

True jacketed bullets not so much, but plated, yes..........

I guess you're right, but I couldn't find any info online about the composition of the Magtech steel case bullet's jacket. I just did the magnet test and I'd say the bullet jacket was either non magnetic, or inconclusive. The steel definitely attracted the magnet, but not really with the bullet. I could feel some weak magnetism when I put the bullet up to the magnet, but it's most likely magnetism from the steel case at the extra 8 mm of distance (or w/e length the bullet is). I don't want to waste a round by separating the bullet either just to see if the jacket is magnetic. It doesn't appear that it is.

btw, current poll results is even 10 vs 10, so I guess steel casing is just a polarizing opinion rather than highly factual.

 

[billtool]

The only steel case I've had issue with and avoid is Tula. I shoot it all, brass, steel, aluminum.

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Agreed. All the Tula ammo I own is for trading after the SHTF. It'll be worth a lot soon. Right now - its worthless to me.

 

[oldag]

I've had steel ammo freeze in the chamber. Steel has an anti-corrosive coating that will turn to glue the casing in the barrel. Had to disassemble and use a tool to dislodge the casing.

Yep. The lacquer melts in the chamber and adheres quite well.

 

[TX oddball]

Echoing others, I only used steel-cased ammo in my AK, some say the platform was designed for it. Even though 7.62 steel cased stuff has gone way up in price in recent years, brass cased 7.62 is ridiculously expensive. And I only buy lacquer coated ammo, not polymer, which have a tendency to rust when stored for a longer period of time.

 

[KJQ6945]

There are numerous negatives with steel cased ammo, and only one positive, it’s cheaper.

Commie guns were built cheap and sloppy, and so was the ammo for them. It was a match made in heaven.

Nowadays neither are that cheap anymore. We still have all the negatives of the crappy ammo, but the price gap is much narrower. Buy decent ammo and save yourself the headache.