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Steel anyone?

4K views 35 replies 14 participants last post by  Huzar 
#1 ·
Anyone ever shoot steel cases thru their xds? I got some in on a trade and was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on it


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#8 ·
It might not be breakage but rather wear... Steel onto brass is easy on the extractor... Steel on steel offers more wear...
The steel used for the cases is a mild, soft steel...about the same hardness as brass.

Maybe, possibly, after tens of thousands of rounds, you MIGHT see accelerated wear. A few hundred? Non-issue.

I had an early Gen2 Glock 21 that I bought used, LE trade in, round count unknown...but it was well used (and filthy).

I proceeded to run nothing but steel through it for several thousand rounds (didn't clean it, either...but that's a different story). Various makes, both laquer & polymer coated, as well as zinc and copper/brass washed.

Never broke the extractor.

Never wrecked the barrel.

Never really had an issue.

Maybe a Glock was simply more durable than an XD...;)
 
#9 ·
Fine... Your clock (one of the few cases I love autocorrect :) ) had no issues.... But if you talk to any self respecting gunsmith they'll tell you to shy away from steel cases. There is one exception to this rule - eastern block guns that were made with steel cases in mind....

It's similar to folks putting in 87 into high performance engines that run 92.... It's been done... Plenty folks keep saying it runs just fine... But... In the long run there is a high likelihood of issues.

So why not avoid the potential for issues ? There are so many other things to consider and worry about that the last thing I want to wonder is if the steel case caused issues.... And yes... Its softer then extractor but it's tougher then brass.... And the extractor was designed with brass casings in mind ;). Most of them were.... They'll survive she but the question is how well...
 
#12 ·
Fine... Your clock (one of the few cases I love autocorrect :) ) had no issues.... But if you talk to any self respecting gunsmith they'll tell you to shy away from steel cases. There is one exception to this rule - eastern block guns that were made with steel cases in mind....

It's similar to folks putting in 87 into high performance engines that run 92.... It's been done... Plenty folks keep saying it runs just fine... But... In the long run there is a high likelihood of issues.

So why not avoid the potential for issues ? There are so many other things to consider and worry about that the last thing I want to wonder is if the steel case caused issues.... And yes... Its softer then extractor but it's tougher then brass.... And the extractor was designed with brass casings in mind ;). Most of them were.... They'll survive she but the question is how well...
Yeah...

An XDs is not a "high performance" handgun.

To use your fuel analogy, running steel in a XDs is like running 87 in a baseline Celica.

Tell me--how many rounds of steel have YOU fired; exactly how much hands on experience do you have with it?

And how much of this is just you regurgitating stuff people have told you?
 
#10 ·
The problem with steel cased ammo is less about the steel cases themselves and more about the propellants and to a lesser degree the bullets which are also generally steel plated with a copper wash. Lucky Gunner did a comparison of steel VS brass cased ammo in an AR platform rifle (yes, I know, this may well be a pears to kumquats comparison, but until someone does a similar test with handguns it is the best out there that I'm aware of) and they found that certain parts needed to be replaced more often with steel cased ammo, and that barrel wear was a major issue, resulting in diminished accuracy relatively early compared to brass cased ammo.

Ultimately, the cost to use steel cased ammo was slightly lower even after factoring in the increased rate of component replacement. However, the more rapid decrease in accuracy and the increased pace of component replacement would make me reluctant to use steel cased ammo. Plus, if you hand load ammo like I do, the cost comparison changes because the steel cases can't be reloaded.

Bottom line, shoot what you want, it will take a lot of steel cased ammo to make a difference - and if you don't hand load it will probably end up slightly less expensive in the long run, you just may need to have parts replaced in your gun more often. Oh yeah, and it generally is much dirtier than brass cased ammo so if that matters, it is another factor.
 
#13 · (Edited)
The problem with steel cased ammo is less about the steel cases themselves and more about the propellants and to a lesser degree the bullets which are also generally steel plated with a copper wash. Lucky Gunner did a comparison of steel VS brass cased ammo in an AR platform rifle (yes, I know, this may well be a pears to kumquats comparison, but until someone does a similar test with handguns it is the best out there that I'm aware of) and they found that certain parts needed to be replaced more often with steel cased ammo, and that barrel wear was a major issue, resulting in diminished accuracy relatively early compared to brass cased ammo.

Ultimately, the cost to use steel cased ammo was slightly lower even after factoring in the increased rate of component replacement. However, the more rapid decrease in accuracy and the increased pace of component replacement would make me reluctant to use steel cased ammo. Plus, if you hand load ammo like I do, the cost comparison changes because the steel cases can't be reloaded.

Bottom line, shoot what you want, it will take a lot of steel cased ammo to make a difference - and if you don't hand load it will probably end up slightly less expensive in the long run, you just may need to have parts replaced in your gun more often. Oh yeah, and it generally is much dirtier than brass cased ammo so if that matters, it is another factor.
That rifle test, when compared to pistol ammo, is apples to zucchini, for a few major differences.

First, they were running AR's-which are push feed, as compared to controlled feed in an XD; major difference in how the extractor claw engages the cartridge.

Second: pressure. .223 is a lot higher pressure than 9mm.

And, finally, on the barrel wear...most ex-combloc rifle ammo uses a Bimetal--which is a thin gilding medal over steel--jacket.

Most steel pistol ammo uses the same copper alloy jackets that brass ammo uses...so bore wear will be the same.

As for dirty?

Do you clean your firearms after you use them?

If you do, what's the big deal?
 
#11 ·
Personally I don't run steel cased ammo through any of my handguns. Mostly because I can always find good deals on brass in the calibers I shoot.

ARs, AKs, SKSs get allot of steel case put through them and I have seen no negative side effects. Possibly I haven't shot enough of it through them.

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#14 ·
I have run at least 1000 rounds of .40 through 2 XD's with no issues at all. The only problem I have with it is, it's nasty and indoor ranges hate it since they can't capitalize on your brass.
 
#15 ·
The local indoor Marine Corp range doesn't allow magnetic projectiles of any kind on ammo fired, and Wolf brand handgun ammo does have a magnetic projectile. Other brands of steel cased ammo may not.

I personally don't use steel cased ammo, but I also have a sizable brass stash and I reload my pistol ammo, so when I feel like buying more commercial ammo, I tend to buy brass cased.

That said, I have no problem using steel cased ammo in any of my XD's or XD(s)'s because, as Cuda pointed out, they're a controlled feed handgun. If you don't know what that is, get some snap caps and watch what goes where when the gun cycles and tell me where accelerated wear on the extractor would come in? Couple that with the fact that the steel cases are mild annealed steel interacting with a tool-grade spring steel extractor, and any extractor failure will be the result of normal wear and tear or anecdotal evidence.

An AR is a different story because the extractor is neither spring steel, nor through hardened tool steel, and is forced over the extractor rim every shot. So while the hardness of the extractor is still more than the case, the spread isn't quite as much.

Back to the XD, as I said, Wolf brand (I'm not very familiar with other steel cased ammo available) ammo does have a magnetic projectile, whether that's a bi-metal jacket, or some junky lead alloy still doesn't really matter unless you're shooting A LOT more than the average non-pro shooter. If you're shooting enough for it to wear out a barrel, chances are you have an ammo sponsor and you're not using potentially accelerated wear ammo anyway.

For the dirty ammo comparison, a couple things on that, brass cases will expand to seal the chamber when firing, and conform to the chamber with slight spring-back. Steel cases will also expand to seal the chamber, but will spring back to almost their original size, and typically much smaller than the chamber. Guys reloading boxer primed steel cases (yep, they're doing it) report very little, if any resizing needed, but the steel cases tend to shrink on repeated firings, the opposite of brass, so cases get culled because of low neck tension, or excessive headspacing on the mouth (for pistol) that make them unreliable.

But because of the amount of spring back, it's pretty common for steel cases to be "dirtier" than brass, even when a premium powder is used (not typically the case with the cheap Russian manufactured stuff), but not so much that I would treat it as a black-powder platform.

But again, when it comes to dirty ammo, it's not limited to steel cased ammo, shoot a few boxes of Winchester White Box and get back to us.
 
#19 ·
Depending on the model Colt being discussed, it may not have been a controlled feed handgun either, or a model with a surface hardened extractor, or any number of issues that isn't related to the specific topic, but being blamed on steel cased ammo. (There's that anecdotal evidence thing again)

But this is the XD(s) forum, so...
 
#29 ·
I would avoid running steel. You see, steel doesn't retract like brass does after case expansion in the chamber therefor leaving you with stuck cases sometimes. Also, the case isn't the only thing made of steel, so is the jacket on the bullet, it will wear your barrel almost 5 or 6 times faster, and then there's the QC issues like squib loads and hangfires. If it is for an SKS or AK, go for it, it was meant for it, other than that, stick with brass and a copper jacket. Heck I don't even like to run aluminum cased ammo because my extractor has ripped the case head right off more than once leaving a stuck case, and my chamber has quite a bit of slop to it.
 
#31 ·
I shoot steal in everything I own, including thousands in my XDM 9 and hundreds in my XDS 9. I've even... hold your breath... reloaded steel and shot them. For all the money I've saved I could by many extractors but have yet to need to.

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