Steel Ammuntion? In my AR?

[Arik]

I have an LMT with 18.5k of steel case through it. Barrel is nowhere near shot out. I've had 4 rounds fail to extract that were attributed to a worn out extractor spring. A good rifle will eat it just fine.

Russian or US ammo?

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[sasquatchoslav]

You are correct, it is possible a steel case can get stuck. It happened to me once ten or twelve years ago. I fired another 300 rounds of lacquer coated Wolf steel case this morning, which makes 600 rounds this week. This particular carbine has fired 960 rounds of steel case Wolf since it was last cleaned with zero malfunctions.

Wow that beat my test to smitherines! I did maybe 10 mags so call it 300 one afternoon of Wolf Polyformance. Didn't clean it and came back the next weekend and pounded another 4-5 mags. At that point my piston worshp/di-phobic buddy decided I wasn't going to die and the world wouldn't stop spinning by mixing a dirty di with steel cased. That was several years ago and he now shoots Wolf exclusively.

[HCM]

Russian or US ammo?

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Good question. As I said, I have no issues with steel cases themselves, and teh Hornaday steel case seems good to go.

As for the Russian stuff, it may well be a combination of he bi metal jackets and the propellant but it does wear barrels faster. Then again so does Frangible.

[Lunker]

I let my sister-in-law's father shoot my brand new (first time out) BCM 14.5" midlength. Unbeknownst to me he used his own crappy lacquered steel case ammo and I got a live round stuck in the chamber. I took it to a gunsmith and he got it out by soaking with Kroil, which dissolved the lacquer. Prior to that, he tried using a rod to knock it out and couldn't. That lacquer sealed it up nice and tight. The smith checked headspace and extractor and both were fine. It was the ammo.


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[MegademiC]

Neither laquer, nor the polymer used on the cases melt enough to get stuck based on testing that has been done in the past.

It's carbon fouling getting around the cases. The filth from Russian ammo is probably why you don't hear about it from the hornady stuff.

[Lunker]

I was shooting Federal XM193. The other guy only put a mag of lacquer ammo through my gun, and he only got half way through it before the jam. I'm not disputing you, I just think it was probably something else in this case. Can buffer weight affect this behavior? At the time, I had a VLTOR H0 (light) buffer in the gun because that is what it came with from G&R. Unfortunately at the time I was not looking forward to ejection pattern.

[T2C]

If someone else parks a semi-trailer filled with free M193 next to the reloading table, I will shoot brass case ammunition exclusively. If I am shooting on my own dime, I try to find ways to cut costs.

The past few months I have been averaging 2,400 rounds of .223 per month. Most of the shooting is at silhouettes inside 50 meters, so pin point accuracy is not necessary. At 6 cents per round less, the savings involved with shooting steel case ammunition adds up.

[crusader377]

Steel cases are not, themselves a problem. The issue with the Russian steel case is the bi metal jackets on the bullets tends to pre maturely wear bores.

I wouldn't hesitate to use Hornaday steel match etc with conventional copper jacketed bullets.

Has anyone done a test on this or is this a myth? I'm curious on how a bi-metal jacket is going to prematurely wear a chrome lined barrel which is a very tough material.

[T2C]

Funny you should mention that. (That is the subject of my next article.)

But, no. Not quite, read more here.

Interesting article. I do agree that throat erosion can be accelerated by shooting hot charges. I have experienced reduced muzzle velocities due to throat erosion. I currently own a M1 Garand that had a noticeable change in muzzle velocity over time. Throat erosion went from 1.5 to 4.0 and I experienced a 200 fps reduction in muzzle velocity. I had to increase the charge weight to bring muzzle velocity back up to the sweet spot for accuracy.

Good stuff. Keep it coming.

[jpmuscle]

Well, this thread convinced me to order a few cases of steel case because cost savings. Thanks y'all lol