Steel Case vs Factory Reloaded 9mm

qiu_lijie

qiu_lijie

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Hi,

I'm getting my first 9mm pistol, so logical I would want to get some ammo to go with it. Looking at my options here, unless I got lucky and found some crazy deal on EE, it's going to be either steel case Barnaul or factory reloaded to keep the cost down. Just want to hear what's your opinions/experiences on their reliability and how hard is it on the gun. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advanced!
 
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Some ranges, esp indoor, may not allow steel core or "bimetal" jacketed ammo. Too hard on many backstops. So be sure of what you are buying and where you will be using it.
 
jimbo14 said:
Some ranges, esp indoor, may not allow steel core or "bimetal" jacketed ammo. Too hard on many backstops. So be sure of what you are buying and where you will be using it.
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A site sponsor here sells steel case Barnaul that is said to be having lead core, plus I have access to a outdoor range, so I don't have to worry on that front. I guess I'm asking more about what's their reliability and how hard is it on the gun etc.
 
jimbo14 said:
Some ranges, esp indoor, may not allow steel core or "bimetal" jacketed ammo. Too hard on many backstops. So be sure of what you are buying and where you will be using it.
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Steel case. Not jacket.
Steel cased would mean the casings are made of steel, the bullets are most likely still regular fmjs
 
SigSauce said:
Steel case. Not jacket.
Steel cased would mean the casings are made of steel, the bullets are most likely still regular fmjs
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I know what he wrote. :) Sometimes though, that cheap ammo has a bimetal jacket which an indoor range like mine doesn't allow.
 
I would go factory reloads, start accumulating brass, because eventually you will start reloading, I wouldn't shoot that Barnaul crap thru a Norinco beater never mind a good gun.
 
Only steel case stuff I had experience with in 9mm are Winchester USA Forged (gritty and feeding issues); Maxxtech Mix of good ammo along with gun-destroying overloads in each box (as Ganderite above said, broke my extractor); got me back into reloading. Way less expensive, and more consistent quality. In the last year, I have reloaded 2,000 .45 acp, 2,000 .40 and 4000 9mm with an old lyman turret press.
 
dogzilla said:
I would go factory reloads, start accumulating brass, because eventually you will start reloading, I wouldn't shoot that Barnaul crap thru a Norinco beater never mind a good gun.
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Barnaul is decent. I've put exactly 1000 rounds through my Norinco NP22 and had one failure to feed with it. I've put well over 1200 rounds of it through my CZ 75B and have had 3 failures to feed. It's just as reliable as any factory or factory reloaded stuff I've shot, if not more so depending on the brand.

OP, assuming your range allows Barnaul, your decision should be whatever is cheapest.
 
Wolverine has 124gr x-metal for $230
If you contact Prophet River, they are $260 for CCI Blazer, if they have stock left. Haven't seen the deal on their site, but bought it a couple of times when I drop in to see them.
 
Trinimon said:
That's a crappy deal IMO. I've seen 1000rnds of Blazer go for $240-$250/1K by a few of the site sponsors. If remanufactured ammo (on sale no doubt) costs more than factory fresh, something ain't right or worth remanufacturing.
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I looked at that vendor already, it's funny that if you do the math on it the 1000rd bundle is cheaper per rounds then the 1500rd one.
 
qiu_lijie said:
I looked at that vendor already, it's funny that if you do the math on it the 1000rd bundle is cheaper per rounds then the 1500rd one.
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I suspect that's because the 1000 round price is below the threshold for free shipping while the 1500 round price qualifies. In effect the so called "free" shipping is already built into the 1500 rd case's price.

I agree that the recent sales on factory ammo make the commercially reloaded pricing unattractive.
 
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I'm with Ganderite on this one. I much prefer cycling brass through a steel gun, than steel. I'm okay with the brass absorbing the wear, rather than the chamber.
 
Ganderite said:
40,000 round ammo test steel vs. brass

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
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I see this as similar to the Iraqveteran8888 meltdown videos. The average gun is never going to see near the amount of abuse that these tests put them through let alone in such a short period of time. If anything, it proves that it's cheaper to buy steel cased and replace parts than to buy brass cased (at least in the US where ammo prices are better overall and shipping is less of a concern).

So the way I see it, for the small amount of extra wear you'd see on the gun by using steel cased and not abusing it, buy steel cased if it's noticeably cheaper. If it's not that much cheaper than brass cased buy brass.
 
Steel casings I don't worry about. If the gun eats and spits them out just fine then it's all good. But if the bullet also uses a steel jacket with copper plating I'll pass. I did buy a couple of boxes of MFS steel case with mild steel jacket that was copper plated. I noticed that some sparks were coming out of my guns which looked a lot like the sort of sparks I get off my grinder. Not as much of course but ANY sparks out of the barrel seems like something worth worrying about. Sparks like this is white hot bits of steel. And are they from the bullet jacket or the barrel? I never did finish the MFS ammo and finally broke it down and tossed the components out.

But if that Barnaul ammo is actually copper jacketed or plated so a magnet does not stick to the nose of the bullet then fine and dandy if it feeds and ejects OK.

And if the bullet jackets are steel then I seriously doubt there is a club in the whole Fraser Valley that will let you shoot that ammo at any steel targets. So there again check it over a bit more carefully to be sure what is steel and what is not.
 
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