Steel Ammo

[gsx1138]

I've heard that I should run brass instead of steel ammo through my AR. Is steel really that bad for your rifle?

[Plumberdude]

i never ran it thru my armalite. but when i use it in my m1-carbine sometimes the heat melts the the rust protectant on the steel casings and the empty cases get stuck in the chamber and i have to beet the bolt to get them out lol good thing its a tough old rifle.

[John A.]

Lots of guys use steel cased ammo (wolf) because it's the cheapest thing they can find to shoot. They'll spend about a thousand bucks on a gun but 3 bucks for a box of bullets

Personally, I don't like wolf for a whole host of reasons. It doesn't group consistently because they're not loaded consistently, the steel casing is harder on the chamber (and extractor) than brass when cycling, the steel casing doesn't expand against the chamber walls as quickly as brass when fired and usually just makes a bigger mess you have to clean out of your receivers at the end of the day.

And on top of that have to worry about getting the barrel too hot and melting the coating and having stuck cases and then having to scrub that crap back out of it too.

I'm sure there will be a ton of guys who'll say an extractor is cheaper to exchange than paying more for a good box of ammo to begin with.

But you asked about steel cased ammo, so I gave you my honest opinion about it. I'm not a very big fan.

[gsx1138]

Originally Posted by John A.

Lots of guys use steel cased ammo (wolf) because it's the cheapest thing they can find to shoot. They'll spend about a thousand bucks on a gun but 3 bucks for a box of bullets

Personally, I don't like wolf for a whole host of reasons. It doesn't group consistently because they're not loaded consistently, the steel casing is harder on the chamber (and extractor) than brass when cycling, the steel casing doesn't expand against the chamber walls as quickly as brass when fired and usually just makes a bigger mess you have to clean out of your receivers at the end of the day.

And on top of that have to worry about getting the barrel too hot and melting the coating and having stuck cases and then having to scrub that crap back out of it too.

I'm sure there will be a ton of guys who'll say an extractor is cheaper to exchange than paying more for a good box of ammo to begin with.

But you asked about steel cased ammo, so I gave you my honest opinion about it. I'm not a very big fan.

Thanks for the info. Any recommendations on where to buy brass ammo in bulk then?

[ForTehNguyen]

Originally Posted by gsx1138

Thanks for the info. Any recommendations on where to buy brass ammo in bulk then?

privi partizan is probably some of the better brass cased ammo you can get thats not crazy expensive. Wideners has it for 330 a case + shipping, shipping is reasonable. Be warned tho in the summer months Privi Partizan is going up by 15% because the dollar is sucking vs the euro. I bought 2000 rounds the other day to stockpile

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7169&dir=18|725

HUGE PRICE INCREASE IS COMING! We have just be notified that effective 4-21-08, PPU ammunition prices are going up about 10% - 15%. The price increase is due to copper at $4.00 / pound and the Euro at $1.60. We are going to hold prices on our inventory bought at the old prices, but when the new stuff rolls in later this summer......
All headstamped PPU07 , 5.56 x 45. Crimped primers, Lacquer sealed primers, M193 specs. ( This new stuff is 07, we promised, see picture)
This ammo is extremely high quality. Brand new manufactured in 2007. It has PPU07 in the headstamp. Prvi Partizan in Serbia made this ammo to exact M193 specs. Brass case, boxer non-corrosive primed, crimped primer with lacquer seal and loaded with a double base powder for military specs.
Packed in clear heavy plastic battle packs. We could have ordered it in green plastic, but that cost about $20.00 per 1000 more. Not worth it considering the quality of the clear plastic bags.
By now you must know the quality of this ammo. We shot some of this lastest batch and, as expected, it is flawless. It feels like full powder M193 and chronographs to exact specs. The brass is supurb and reloads very nicely. Stock up because we already know that 2008 will be higher due to lead prices finally coming on line. Also, everytime the Euro goes up against the Dollar, all surplus and new ammo goes higher. 10-31-07 saw US interest rates lowered again, so that will drive this ammo higher in price on subsequent shipments. UPDATE: The Euro went up to $1.57 which will drive this M193 ammo as well as all other imports to record highs this summer and fall. LOOK FOR THIS AMMO TO GO TO ABOUT $355/1000.

[spamlovr]

There is a lot of misinformation about steel cased ammo. The most prolific rumor is that the coating on the case will cook a round into your chamber. This is not true. What happens is that steel is not as elastic as brass, so the steel case does not do as good a job of sealing the chamber during firing as brass, and a small amount of high pressure gas, and the associated gunk in it, escapes and sticks onto the chamber walls. The crap left in the chamber isn't the coating from the case, it's carbon, and it can cause cases to stick if it gets built up enough.

The AR15.com Ammo Oracle

Don't shoot brass ammo after shooting steel cased without a good chamber cleaning:
The Box O' Truth - Educational Zone #18 - Shooting Wolf steel-cased Ammo in an AR15

Information is power. WWII was won in part with steel cased ammo, and it seemed to do a good enough job then. I even reload the steel cases at least twice, often more, until the neck starts to split.

[xjedix]

^^^ What he said ^^^

Most people that talk down on Wolf ammo have little to no experience with it. Here is the no BS answer; steel cased ammo works just fine for plinking, it is not as accurate, and does not burn as clean but it does not have any cycling issues. The cycling issues people speak of come when you run brass cased ammo after shooting steel cased ammo. You can read up on why in the article above. I have over 2,000 rounds of Wolf through my AR without a single malfunction. To be honest I keep my SHTF mags filled with Wolf for the simple fact that I KNOW it functions flawlessly in my rifle.

My favorite quote on the subject: "A proper built and maintained rifle will eat Wolf like popcorn, one that isn't won't."

Just my .02


-Derek

[mcb]

AR15.COM

Great thread on steel cased in the ComBloc Ammo FAQ over at AR15.com

mcb

[Joeywhat]

Is all this info good for other steel cased ammo, and for pistol rounds? I was looking at buying some S&B steel cased...and I would like to reload it at least once.

I don't care if I have to do a bit more cleaning...as long as it costs less to shoot and I can reload a couple times.

[spamlovr]

Originally Posted by xjedix

Most people that talk down on Wolf ammo have little to no experience with it. Here is the no BS answer; steel cased ammo works just fine for plinking, it is not as accurate, and does not burn as clean but it does not have any cycling issues.

-Derek

Regarding cycling issues: There was a big batch of Wolf ammo that was not cycling AR's. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth over this. Wolf, the company that imports the ammo, has an unconditional satisfaction guarantee: If you aren't happy with it, they will replace it, period. You can contact them through their website, and in cases where folks have done this, the end result has been satisfaction (as much as can be had with cheap plinking ammo).