Steel Cased 5.56/.223

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angrypanda83

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The girl's hungry... And she craves some food...

I did a quick search for anyones experience with steel cased ammo and didn't find any... Google search is full of snobby Americans telling me to spend more on brass cased ammo.

Understandably brass in theory doesn't upset the 15's belly, but can anyone give me a really good reason I should spend twice as much on brass cased than steel cased rounds.

Thanks for your time lads, I need to go change some lightbulbs.
 
Steel cases sometimes don't fully expand and seal off the chamber, which leads to build up in the chamber which can lead to cases getting stuck in the chamber, often when the gun gets hot.

That seems to be the concern.

This has happened to me, where i have had to knock the stuck case out with a cleaning rod. It's always happened after about 100 rounds or more, and when the AR15 is hot.

I hear sticking at least one brass cased round in a magazine with the steel cased stuff helps scrape out the gunk. Or you can keep your chamber clean, too.
 
angrypanda83 said:
The girl's hungry... And she craves some food...

I did a quick search for anyones experience with steel cased ammo and didn't find any... Google search is full of snobby Americans telling me to spend more on brass cased ammo.

Understandably brass in theory doesn't upset the 15's belly, but can anyone give me a really good reason I should spend twice as much on brass cased than steel cased rounds.

Thanks for your time lads, I need to go change some lightbulbs.
Click to expand...

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
 
Wow, tons of information guys thanks... I'll have to bite the bullet so to speak... I'd rather pay the extra 20 cents a round and extend the life of the AR...
 
I've shot thousands of rounds of steel case with no excess wear or tear. You're money ahead after the first case if you do happen to need parts.

The only downside I've found is that it's necessary to clean the chamber more often due to carbon buildup. Not a big issue.
 
Steel cases are usually laquer covered to prevent rusting. When rifle is hot this laquer melts and creates deposits in the chamber and forces internal components of AR to overcome, deform and expand and confirm to the hard steel case in order to fire it. This will in turn over time damage bolt or chamber. Brass on the other hand forms to the chamber and contracts to fit even though there is deposits of dirt or unburned powder in there. Therefore brass cased ammo contracts and forms to the imperfections of dirty chamber while steel cased ammo unable to do so thus creating more wear.
 
I've used lots of .223 steel case Barnaul 62g. and found it to be very accurate and reliable. The number one issue with all this steel case ammo with the exception of Hornady, is that the bullet jacket is steel. The steel jacket is a lot harder than the typical American made copper jacketed bullet. You're going to get accelerated bore wear shooting steel jacketed bullets. I expect any chrome lined 5.56mm., without mag dumps all the time, be good for 8000 rounds shooting steel jacketed ammo. At a savings of $100 to 200 per 1000 in savings it makes sense to shoot this stuff.
 
stormdog said:
I've used lots of .223 steel case Barnaul 62g. and found it to be very accurate and reliable. The number one issue with all this steel case ammo with the exception of Hornady, is that the bullet jacket is steel. The steel jacket is a lot harder than the typical American made copper jacketed bullet. You're going to get accelerated bore wear shooting steel jacketed bullets. I expect any chrome lined 5.56mm., without mag dumps all the time, be good for 8000 rounds shooting steel jacketed ammo. At a savings of $100 to 200 per 1000 in savings it makes sense to shoot this stuff.
Click to expand...

With those savings you can afford to replace the barrel and other worn parts and still be ahead.

People fuss about the wear induced by steel case like it's their only gun that has to last, when really, anyone hardcore into AR probably has several uppers/barrels and will probably be getting more in the future.

I've been shooting AR for a solid 3 years now. I go to the range every week and shoot my AR's as much as I can afford.
I've only got about 13000 rounds down range thru' my AR's over that time spread across 6 barrels. I've only worn out and replaced one of those barrels after about 4k rounds, I had bought it used to begin with, and it's the only single barrel I have logged with that much use.

Point is, when you consider the realistic volume of shooting your going to do, there no reason not to buy steel cased ammo if it works.
 
Funny, all that steel cased Wolf is just fine in all my rifles.
Polymer coated it works great, feeds, extracts and ejects ok.
Usually more accurate than I can be too.

For all those that defecate from on high about cheap Ruski ammo, that laqueur coated Hornady steel cased TAP works pretty nice too.
Tougher to find, but even more accurate.

I haven't tried Barnaul or MFS but understand that some of the Wolf is produced by Barnaul if I got it right.

Have no fear of steel cases and shoot often.
 
So much info for this space between the ears. I read that article and watched the video... I guess what it all comes down to is do I mind changing out a barrel a little sooner than firing brass ammo... The answer is no, I don't mind...

You all have given me a lot of good insight and some good reads... Now to find a case of steel for a reasonable price.
 
angrypanda83 said:
So much info for this space between the ears. I read that article and watched the video... I guess what it all comes down to is do I mind changing out a barrel a little sooner than firing brass ammo... The answer is no, I don't mind...

You all have given me a lot of good insight and some good reads... Now to find a case of steel for a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

Tulammo Canada ?
 
lawn gnome said:
I haven't tried Barnaul or MFS but understand that some of the Wolf is produced by Barnaul if I got it right.
Click to expand...

I've yet to try Barnaul of Wolf in 223, but I've shot a couple cases of MFS.

The stuff was oddly weak. It's like they used a faster than normal powder or something. It would not cycle all my AR configs.
 
I have no idea on how many AR's I have seen shoot steel cased ammo, on the other hand I know I have had to unstick steel cases from at least 17 AR's and replace 3 barrels. One rifle was the first the round chambered on a new build.

I paid good money for my toys and will avoid "cheap".
 
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