Steel Case Ammo in your AR15

I dont do steel case in my ar15s, acr or tavor, I dont do chinese facking crap either, I dont do corrosive excrement either in my cz858

Some do, I dont have a problem with that, nor do I care.

why? because chamber is steel, because extractor is steel, because ejector is steel, bolt is steel, etc

steel on steel doesnt sound right to me
 
mikethebike said:
I dont do steel case in my ar15s, acr or tavor, I dont do chinese facking crap either, I dont do corrosive excrement either in my cz858

Some do, I dont have a problem with that, nor do I care.

why? because chamber is steel, because extractor is steel, because ejector is steel, bolt is steel, etc

steel on steel doesnt sound right to me
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And steel bolt, alum receiver ain't any better? That why there that film of oil. Works well for your internal parts on your engine.
 
I've shot anything and everything out of mine and can say that I would not want any firearm that is picky about it's ammo. If and when TSHTF who would want a firearm that has to be fed a special diet....just my $0.02
 
One downside caused by the increased strength of steel in the neck of these cases (compared to the annealed neck of a brass case) is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck and into the chamber. Constituents of these gases condense on the (relatively cold) chamber wall affecting the lacquer. This solid propellant residue can make extraction of fired cases difficult. This is less of a problem for small arms of the former Warsaw Pact nations, which were designed with much larger chamber tolerances and taper than NATO weapons.

On average 10000 rounds of brass vs 7500 steel case per AR barrel change. But, if you don't mind spending the extra money on ammunition than brass is a safer bet. My advice to you, is to test it out, because not every firearm is going to like steel ammo, so it depends largely on your specific firearm. Brass vs steel? Your call.
 
Sqr said:
One downside caused by the increased strength of steel in the neck of these cases (compared to the annealed neck of a brass case) is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck and into the chamber. Constituents of these gases condense on the (relatively cold) chamber wall. This solid propellant residue can make extraction of fired cases difficult. This is less of a problem for small arms of the former Warsaw Pact nations, which were designed with much larger chamber tolerances and taper than NATO weapons.

On average 10000 rounds of brass vs 7500 steel case per AR barrel change. But, if you don't mind spending the extra money on ammunition than brass is a safer bet. My advice to you, is to test it out, because not every firearm is going to like steel ammo, so it depends largely on your specific firearm. Brass vs steel? Your call.
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10,000 rounds?? I re barreled one with 50,000rds.
 
OkayShooter said:
10,000 rounds?? I re barreled one with 50,000rds.
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depends on the quality of the barrel and your level of acceptable accuracy I guess

my noveskes sprs are rated to 30k, i have a spare, im set for the next 10 years.

depends on your rate of fire as well my sprs are scoped so not gonna do mag dumps with them. my colt canadas I go a little faster with them.
 
For my tavor, vz 58 etc I will shoot what ever is cheapest. I live in Alberta so for the most part corrosive ammo is not really a bit issue for me. I have gone quite a while without cleaning the gun after firing corrosive ammo I'm talking about multiple range sessions 2-3 weeks apart. Never seen or noticed any rust or corrosion. Meh. Also my tavor I'll fire what ever is cheaper. Steel cased, Chinese made, what ever. I can't afford the prices on higher priced brass ammo to complain lol.
 
I personally have never had an issue with steel cased ammo.
In many cases the steel cased on .223 ammo is actually softer than brass. I saw evidence of this on an interesting YouTube video here:
http://youtu.be/qBAh_8usXBI
He seems to approach the issue from a scientific perspective.

I also place a lot of trust in James Yeagers opinion on the subject:
http://youtu.be/Dx7dcpyzkKc

I am by no means an expert on the Ar15 platform or ammunition.
But from the limited amounts I have shot and doing a bit of unbiased research it seems to me that purchasing steel cased ammo from a reputable company (Barnaul is what I am shooting in my Ruger AR-556) seems like a budget conscious choice.
I also buy brass ammo federal and Winchester but I'll find just as many guys bad mouthing Winchester ammo as guys to hate steel cased ammo.
It seems to function through the AR in the exact same way showing no different wear etc than brass.
In the end I suppose it's the shooters choice. If they see a possible risk?
I don't, and for guys like me who can only afford 40or so rounds each trip to the range since I also wanna shoot my handguns and other rifles and shotgun.... And still fill the truck with gas.

From an accuracy standpoint, my 55gr Barnaul was getting tighter groups than my case of federel xm193... But they were all so comparable it wasn't an issue between the 3 brands I was using.

Cheers ��
 
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I use both and never have problems. My DDM4,tavor,G17 and MK25 have eaten plenty of cheap steel with zero issue. With the costs these days I will be switching to steel only.
 
i have been using Hornady Steel match in my precision-ish 18inch AR since the start. Its running a cheap brownells BCG and so far about 1200 rnds, extractor hasn't show any excessive wear or crack nor has it stopped working yet. I will warn you though that some steel cased ammo is poly coated and they may stick to the chamber if the barrel is new or dirty.
 
Pr589 said:
How is It irrelevant that brass cased ammo is more reliable? Do you object to the additional information contained in the article that bimetallic jackets wear your barrel faster than copper?
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Perhaps I was making too many assumptions regarding the OP's concerns. Most guys that ask about shooting steel cased ammo have concerns about damage to their firearm. I was pointing out that shooting the steel cased ammo in this test didn't seem to make any difference in this regard. You are correct that a higher stoppage rate would indeed be an "evidence based concern".
 
Sqr said:
Not at all, no way, f that and don't even think about it. I like my AR's.
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But you don't seem to know much about them.


I shoot the cheapest #### available, and I shoot a metric #### ton of it. Only thing I won't touch is Tula. A quality AR won't bat an eye at steel cased ammo.
 
Matt K said:
The AR15 chamber was designed for brass. The "pressure relief valve" in case of an over pressure (obstruction, pistol powder load, firing with the bore filled with water) is that the brass case will fail at the last point of chamber support. Often just the extractor will be damaged and gun will be fine.

Steel will not fail as brass will.

I have seen two over pressure incidents recently where, while the steel case was not the cause, the case did not burst clearly increased the damage to the firearm considerably. As in destroyed.

An over pressure incident can happen with any ammunition, however it is more likely in cheap ammo where squibs or inconsistent loads are more common.

Brass is softer and therefore will obturate better, and then extract easier. The AK has a banana mag because steel cases make extraction more difficult requiring much greater flank angles on the case than brass. Brass is more expensive, but does not corrode as easily as steel which requires a lacquer. Brass can be recycled or reloaded - even if you don't reload it mitigates the argument that shooting makes lots of waste - like the drifts of steel cases at my range. Brass gets picked up.

I would not use steel cased ammo for these reasons.
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Gee, I wonder why this sounds familiar...

-Saryet, out!-
 
Matt K said:
The AR15 chamber was designed for brass. The "pressure relief valve" in case of an over pressure (obstruction, pistol powder load, firing with the bore filled with water) is that the brass case will fail at the last point of chamber support. Often just the extractor will be damaged and gun will be fine.

Steel will not fail as brass will.

I have seen two over pressure incidents recently where, while the steel case was not the cause, the case did not burst clearly increased the damage to the firearm considerably. As in destroyed.

An over pressure incident can happen with any ammunition, however it is more likely in cheap ammo where squibs or inconsistent loads are more common.

Brass is softer and therefore will obturate better, and then extract easier. The AK has a banana mag because steel cases make extraction more difficult requiring much greater flank angles on the case than brass. Brass is more expensive, but does not corrode as easily as steel which requires a lacquer. Brass can be recycled or reloaded - even if you don't reload it mitigates the argument that shooting makes lots of waste - like the drifts of steel cases at my range. Brass gets picked up.

I would not use steel cased ammo for these reasons.
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I do not believe this is true, the AK (and all other x39mm rifles, even the SKS) has a banana mag because of the tapered case of the 7.62x39 meaning you cant stack the rounds on top of each other without them wanting to "curve" the curve is obvious with the Czech surplus stripper clips, where clips for most/all rifles in other chamberings do not have a curve I.E, En-bloc as 30-06 has minimal taper, where the x39 is almost wedge shaped.
 
mikethebike said:
depends on the quality of the barrel and your level of acceptable accuracy I guess

my noveskes sprs are rated to 30k, i have a spare, im set for the next 10 years.

depends on your rate of fire as well my sprs are scoped so not gonna do mag dumps with them. my colt canadas I go a little faster with them.
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Its not un common for a military rifle to have 20+ K thru them ( but they are chrome lined so extend the life ).

Yes it depends on what your doing with it will dictate the life. This barrel that was a DPMS didnt have much rifling left.
 
Ravage said:
Well Tula steel cased 223 ammo is 35ish a round while Remington or Federal brass cased is more like 80ish a round so I have shot lots of steel cased from my Tavor and it shoots great not a single malfunction at all in almost 1000 rounds.
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That's a lot more than I pay for Federal .223.
 
Here is a steel vs brass casing hardness test video watch it and make up your own mind.

Fast forward to the 5:00 mark if you don't have the attention span.

 
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