Steel Case Ammo

[Texas Size 11]

What are y'alls opinions on this? I have never used it, but I hear people talk about it being "dirty" and prone to causing jams as well.

[Teamless]

For me, steel cased (Academy Monarch brand) is $2 per 50 rounds cheaper, so for punching holes through paper, I want the cheapest I can get (with similar feels to protection ammo).
Between my Springfield XD9sc, Taurus PT111, (ex) S&W Sigma and my B-I-L's XDm 3.8, we shot probably 200 rounds of Monarch 9mm Steel.
For all but the S&W Sigma, the rounds felt and acted exactly like the Monarch brass casings.

For the Sigma however, you may get off 2,3 or 4 rounds then a FTE. Then maybe 1 shot and a FTE, and just bounced from 1 to 2 to 3 rounds before a FTE. After about 5 FTE's we unloaded the Sigma and put it away.

But with the other 3 weapons, it was good. So if you are unsure, it is my best opinion, buy 1 box, (the cheapest out you have if they do not work) and give them a shot.
If they work, you have a $2 cheaper box of ammo for punching holes.

If they do not work, someone you know can probably use them.

Right now, Academy has 50 rds of 9mm Steel on sale for $7.99+tx. Not sure for how long though. I picked up 5 boxes the other day and my B-I-L picked up 3. have to stock up when they are on sale.

As far as cleaning goes, if you clean after going to the range anyway, I do not see an issue (and honestly did not notice a difference from Brass to Steel - but wasn't looking)

[Pete92FS]

Some ranges will only allow brass casings. The two I shoot at (Top Gun and Memorial) only accept brass and check your ammo before you shoot.

[Excaliber]

What are y'alls opinions on this? I have never used it, but I hear people talk about it being "dirty" and prone to causing jams as well.

I have used Wolf steel case ammo in my Kimber, Springfield and Glock pistols for well over 10 years with very satisfactory results. For the most part, it feeds and extracts just fine in my guns. It will occasionally fail to feed or eject (maybe once in 400 or 500 rounds) but for me that's an acceptable tradeoff for the cost difference and gives me the opportunity to practice unanticipated stoppage drills. It does leave lots of carbon deposits on the gun, but since I clean after every range session, I don't see this as an issue. I've saved a boatload of money on ammo purchases over the years.

There are guns that do not do well with this ammo. A close friend of mine had consistent FTE's and double feeds with Tula steel case ammo in his Kahr PM45. Switching to brass cased ammo cured the problem completely. However, my daughter had a squib load in the first box of Tula 9mm that she fired. It lodged a bullet so tightly in the bore it had to be removed with a hammer and punch. Although it is allegedly produced in the same factory as Wolf ammo, it doesn't appear to be as well made and it is not on my list of acceptable ammo.

Your mileage may vary.

[Texas Size 11]

Never thought about the range thing...I usually shoot at an outdoor range and I have never had them ask or check.

I'm looking because the are more inexpensive and quite a bit cheaper in bulk. I clean after every visit to the range, but most people I know use brass and I always have myself.

I'd be feeding it through a Glock.

[Darth_Dad]

I have heard people complain about steel cased ammo being dirty or harsh on feeed ramp and such. But the steel case is not the culprit so much as the manufacturer's choice of powder when discussing how dirty the ammunitopn is. I have two pistols chambered in 9x18 and the most common ammo is steel cased. After putting thousands of rounds through both I have yet to see any excessive wear or scoring from using steel. I clean my guns after each range trip so how dirty it is really doesn't impact me.

None of the firearms I own are high maintenance (read tight tolerance). They are basically East European anvils with triggers. Those whose firearms are tight toleranced (prime example M16) may have some issues with fouling. If you shoot enough variety of ammunition brands you will notice some are dirtier than others even with brass cases.

My advice is find what ammo your gun likes and feed it a steady diet of that. Me, I shoot what's cheapest for range practice (my guns have yet to find a brand they don't like) and use the saved money for range time and more ammo.

[jiggerachi]

I went to an outdoor range, asked them if they allowed steel cased ammo there. The guy laughed and said it didn't matter what they're policy was that my gun wouldn't feed it anyway. I told him I had a CZ that would eat anything. The guy looked at me like I was a moron and said ok then have fun with it.

I proceded to dump 100 rounds of it as smooth as the other brass cased I brought.

I had a similar scenario when I was buying the stuff at academy.

At an indoor range I frequent they swipe all your ammo with a magnet and have signs posted everywhere that there's a $25 fine if your caught smuggling in steel cased ammo. I asked why the policy the guy told me 'it damages our machines' with an angry twitch in his eye...whatever that meant.

I don't know why there's such an adversion towards steel cased 'commie ammo,' seems to work fine for me, just smells bad when you shoot it.

[MojoTexas]

I went to an outdoor range, asked them if they allowed steel cased ammo there. The guy laughed and said it didn't matter what they're policy was that my gun wouldn't feed it anyway. I told him I had a CZ that would eat anything. The guy looked at me like I was a moron and said ok then have fun with it.

I proceded to dump 100 rounds of it as smooth as the other brass cased I brought.

I had a similar scenario when I was buying the stuff at academy.

At an indoor range I frequent they swipe all your ammo with a magnet and have signs posted everywhere that there's a $25 fine if your caught smuggling in steel cased ammo. I asked why the policy the guy told me 'it damages our machines' with an angry twitch in his eye...whatever that meant.

I don't know why there's such an adversion towards steel cased 'commie ammo,' seems to work fine for me, just smells bad when you shoot it.

I have never worked behind the scenes at an indoor range, but I imagine they derive a certain amount of revenue from recycling spent brass that shooters leave on the floor. If I were you I'd find a different range.

[skub]

I had a 5.45x39 upper for my AR, and the only ammo I could find for it was steel cased. After I had shot a magazine or two through it on each range trip, I had pretty frequent problems with FTE. The explanation that I got, which seems reasonable, is that the steel doesn't expand and conform to the chamber like brass does. This leaves room for blowback of residue into the chamber, around the steel case. After a while the residue is sufficient to keep the cartridge from extracting.

[Excaliber]

I had a 5.45x39 upper for my AR, and the only ammo I could find for it was steel cased. After I had shot a magazine or two through it on each range trip, I had pretty frequent problems with FTE. The explanation that I got, which seems reasonable, is that the steel doesn't expand and conform to the chamber like brass does. This leaves room for blowback of residue into the chamber, around the steel case. After a while the residue is sufficient to keep the cartridge from extracting.

The steel case will most assuredly fully expand to meet the chamber walls under the high pressure of the burning powder.

I suspect the problem may be more due to the fact that steel does not have the natural lubricity of brass. This may increases the friction between the chamber and the empty casein some guns enough to produce extraction failures.

A dirty chamber will aggravate this situation further.

[karl]

Thanks for this thread, very informative. I'll be trying steel at my next range session. I've always been told similar "horror stories" that have probably been passed down through several individuals before arriving in a conversation with me. I've heard the "tough on the extractor" thing a lot.

[Crossfire]

I went to an outdoor range, asked them if they allowed steel cased ammo there. The guy laughed and said it didn't matter what they're policy was that my gun wouldn't feed it anyway. I told him I had a CZ that would eat anything. The guy looked at me like I was a moron and said ok then have fun with it.

I proceded to dump 100 rounds of it as smooth as the other brass cased I brought.

I had a similar scenario when I was buying the stuff at academy.

At an indoor range I frequent they swipe all your ammo with a magnet and have signs posted everywhere that there's a $25 fine if your caught smuggling in steel cased ammo. I asked why the policy the guy told me 'it damages our machines' with an angry twitch in his eye...whatever that meant.

I don't know why there's such an adversion towards steel cased 'commie ammo,' seems to work fine for me, just smells bad when you shoot it.

I have never worked behind the scenes at an indoor range, but I imagine they derive a certain amount of revenue from recycling spent brass that shooters leave on the floor. If I were you I'd find a different range.

You would imagine correctly, MojoTexas. Brass gets sorted and sold to reloaders. Steel and aluminum go to the scrap yard.

[txmatt]

I had a 5.45x39 upper for my AR, and the only ammo I could find for it was steel cased. After I had shot a magazine or two through it on each range trip, I had pretty frequent problems with FTE. The explanation that I got, which seems reasonable, is that the steel doesn't expand and conform to the chamber like brass does. This leaves room for blowback of residue into the chamber, around the steel case. After a while the residue is sufficient to keep the cartridge from extracting.

The steel case will most assuredly fully expand to meet the chamber walls under the high pressure of the burning powder.

I suspect the problem may be more due to the fact that steel does not have the natural lubricity of brass. This may increases the friction between the chamber and the empty casein some guns enough to produce extraction failures.

A dirty chamber will aggravate this situation further.

That and the lacquer coating on the steel case.

[jiggerachi]

You would imagine correctly, MojoTexas. Brass gets sorted and sold to reloaders. Steel and aluminum go to the scrap yard.

This is what I figured, however, this particular range has no problem with aluminum rounds... I could understand their frustration with aluminum. I figure steel would be the easiest to separate from the mix, just use a magnet.

Edit: and this is a pistol range I believe, so no rifle ammo with steel cores.

[MadMonkey]

From what I've heard (I am NOT an expert AT ALL), the steel casings are almost, but not quite, as soft as brass casings. So over the lifetime of the gun, it may cause a bit more wear but it's not like you can wear it out after 1k rounds like some people seem to think. I could be off though.

I pretty much only run steel-case through my AK's, but I just buy cheap Federal brass case for my handguns.