Steel Cased Ammo

John in B.C.

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Any issues running steel case ammo with an AR????

I put 40 rounds through my Stag the other day with no issues.

Now I am hearing that there could be issues I was not aware of....extractor problems of some sort????

John
 
I assuming you are talking about some people assuming that the steel is harded than brass, so it is harder on the extractor.

the answer to that is not with my experiences, however I do consider an extractor to be a wearing part, it will fail eventually just like any part of a mechanical component.
 
I think the OP is talking about when you're using lacquer coated steel cases, fire off a string so your chamber is quite hot, and then let the next round sit; the lacquer may melt and glue to the case, so you really have a failure to extract.
 
The Norinco stuff (and I'd assume the MFS is similar) is fantastic, I ran tons of it through my old Norc AK and several SKS's with no issues (not one failure in thousands of rounds, and pretty good accuracy) back when we could own and shoot AK's without becoming genocidal maniacs
 
Im sorry but I have to disagree. I never fire MFS in my firearms. Some of it uses a copper plated steel jacket on the bullet I hear. When you shoot MFS through a handgun for instance, at an indoor range you can see it shoots sparks out the barrel like crazy. I have never seen that happen with normal ammunition. In my opinion it is hard on the barrel/rifling. Steel, even soft steel, is still harder then brass. So in my opinion it is also harder on the bore and extractor. Do what you want but, the only gun I put steel case through is a cheap one like an SKS. There just too expensive to risk wearing out faster. Plus if you reload you can achieve similar savings without the risk.
 
In my opinion it is hard on the barrel/rifling. Steel, even soft steel, is still harder then brass. So in my opinion it is also harder on the bore and extractor.
It is not harder on the bore. The jacket is bimetal; steel with a layer of copper. The copper is what touches the bore, not steel. Also, bullet wear is the least of your worries as far as bore life is concerned. It is mostly a function of powder temps.
 
It is not harder on the bore. The jacket is bimetal; steel with a layer of copper. The copper is what touches the bore, not steel. Also, bullet wear is the least of your worries as far as bore life is concerned. It is mostly a function of powder temps.

I'm talking about the case in that part of the paragraph. And I said the bullet is copper plated steel. You dont think as the bullet is forced into the lands and groves it could get down to the steel before it exits the barrel. I do. All I know is I have fired many kinds of factory and handloads and I have never seen sparks fly out of the barrel like that before. I wont use it.
 
sparks shooting out the barrel is powder related, not jacket.

What could happen in speculation, and what actually happens in testing are often very different things.

Frankford arsenal, among many others, have done extensive testing on GMCS/bimetal jackets. If they wore bores out faster, they wouldn't use them as the cost to replace barrels is higher than the savings in material.
 
sparks shooting out the barrel is powder related, not jacket.

What could happen in speculation, and what actually happens in testing are often very different things.

Frankford arsenal, among many others, have done extensive testing on GMCS/bimetal jackets. If they wore bores out faster, they wouldn't use them as the cost to replace barrels is higher than the savings in material.

You might be right and so might I but, I wont shoot it. Metal on metal = sparks ie. train braking. No powder I have ever reloaded with does that and no factory other then MFS that I have tried does it either. Now I respect your opinion but, you are an ammo dealer and therefore have a biased one. Also we are not even touching on chamber and extractor wear. Harder material ie. steel = more wear. As I said though, the op wanted opinions and that is mine.
 
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Strange so many used to complain when it was only the commies that made the steel cased and laquered stuff. How it was evil and your di** would fall off, et cetera,,,.

Now a lot of the ex-commie stuff is steel cased and polymer powdercoated.

Oh yeah, and it is now Hornady that makes steel cased laquered stuff,,, in America.
Times have changed, I wonder if any opinions changed???
 
O, by the way, I do keep several hundred rounds of Czech surplus 7.62x39 on hand but, I only shoot that in SKS's, CZ/VZ, and the like. Cheap guns get cheap ammo and high end guns get high end ammo. Thats my thought. Id be damned to put cheap surplus in a LMT AR or something like that. Thats just me though.
 
sparks shooting out the barrel is powder related, not jacket.

What could happen in speculation, and what actually happens in testing are often very different things.

Frankford arsenal, among many others, have done extensive testing on GMCS/bimetal jackets. If they wore bores out faster, they wouldn't use them as the cost to replace barrels is higher than the savings in material.

For the latest podcast episode we fired 500 rounds of MFS (same composition as the .223) 9mm out of a brand new Ruger SR-9 in about half an hour. We basically fired as fast we could with one guy loading with the maglula and the other person shooting. The gun was literally smoking hot.

If the MFS .223 is as good as the 9mm then it's good stuff. Also if you care to look at the packaging it's RAUG. It's not Swiss RAUG but it is manufactured in Russia with the oversight and quality control of RAUG so that should tell you something.

I've seen sparks from the barrel and the backstop with various types of ammunition and it is unrelated to quality. The MFS may spark but the Swiss manufactured Echo 9mm sparks even more when exiting the barrel and hitting the back stop and it's high quality.

The MFS does run a bit more dirty than other brands I've tried. That's the only difference. If your gun gets dirty... Clean it.
 
Meh..I run 9mm MFS through my P2000 with no problems whatsoever. I just bought another 500 rounds. I don't think it's quite as accurate as other brands, but that's just what I tell myself to make me feel better about my s**tty shooting.:D

I haven't tried it in .223 yet because AE Tactical is just a little more expensive and I'd rather run brass trough and AR if I have the choice.
 
For the latest podcast episode we fired 500 rounds of MFS (same composition as the .223) 9mm out of a brand new Ruger SR-9 in about half an hour. We basically fired as fast we could with one guy loading with the maglula and the other person shooting. The gun was literally smoking hot.

If the MFS .223 is as good as the 9mm then it's good stuff. Also if you care to look at the packaging it's RAUG. It's not Swiss RAUG but it is manufactured in Russia with the oversight and quality control of RAUG so that should tell you something.

I've seen sparks from the barrel and the backstop with various types of ammunition and it is unrelated to quality. The MFS may spark but the Swiss manufactured Echo 9mm sparks even more when exiting the barrel and hitting the back stop and it's high quality.

The MFS does run a bit more dirty than other brands I've tried. That's the only difference. If your gun gets dirty... Clean it.

O, its not the build quality I worry about. It shoots fine from my experience. Its the materials used I dont like. I just dont like running steel in my high end guns. It has to do more wear. Its metallurgy 101. Plus you cant reload it or sell the brass. If I want cheap I reload. There are other cheap options. I havent tried Blazer Aluminium yet I wonder how it is? At least aluminum is soft.
 
How is a steel casing going to wear your gun or produce sparks on the noisey end?????

Sparks out the muzzle???? Any gun you shoot will show sparks out the bore if you fire it in the right light conditions - it has nothing to do with steel casings.

Anyhow, I got the answer I want and I will try it at this weekends multigun.

The MFS I used last weekend was plenty accurate enough so.....away we go.

Thanks guys.

John
 
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