Ive been to some shooting ranges, and this actually bothered me quite a bit. Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: A guy who works at my LGS said some of the russian steel cased stuff has a coating that can leave a gummy residue in the chamber once the gun starts heating up. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Playing with steel targets is risky, if you must do it then do it on a private range when you are alone, set something in front of your shooting bench to deflect spent or partly powered rounds that might come back, I have sections of cut up oil tank steel in front of my bench , and sand bags on top of it with as little of me exposed as possible. Its no secret that the cost of shooting ranges is high. Answering: Is steel cased ammo bad for your gun? Opinions vary, but I think the prevailing wisdom is that Yes, steel cased ammunition is hard on ex If the gun is broken in first with brass cased ammo this helps seal the gas system somewhat which will make the lower powered steel cased ammo work a bit better. In a nutshell, steel-cased ammo is good to go. So, there is no benefit to using cast aluminum over regular aluminum when making bullets. Why Should You Practice Dry Fire Shooting Drills At Home? Read More How To Prevent Accidental Shootings?Continue. In semi-automatic firearms, this affects the timing of the cycle of operation, particularly in the extraction phase. Paper target scraps or gun powder residue might also ignite. The 556 has little taper. If you believed the hype (as did I), the mere thought of using such trash would surely destroy your gun. All of these are made in Russia, and many times, the same ammo can just be repacked into a different box. Larry, who is a family man and a gun enthusiast, enjoys keeping his collection in pristine condition. When hes not reviewing guns or shooting for fun and competition, Jim can be found hiking and hunting with his wife Kimberly, and their dog Peanut in the South Carolina low country. Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website. A lot of people think that going to the range is the only way you can practice, but dry fire practice can be extremely efficient. The solution was simple they over-gassed their guns. One of the biggest misconceptions is since steel is harder than brass or aluminum, it must be harder on the gun as it travels through the cycle of operation. YouTube - Store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen - 2. Wolf and the like are so dirty to shoot. He loves anything and everything guns but holds firearms from the Cold War in a special place in his heart. Most shooting ranges will not let you use steel-cased ammo at the range. Big Daddy Unlimited usually has some steel-cased ammo in stock. The pellets weigh one-third less than lead pellets of the same size. Its only maybe $1 more per box but its worth it. My best guess at the time was that it was because the rangers only wanted the brass ammo, which they could recycle; they could resell and make money off of. Your email address will not be published. The issue with steel cased ammo is that it does not occlude the chamber as well as brass. Pre-Covid, steel cased .223 ammo could be found 10-50 cents less per round than brass cased ammo. Another often overlooked advantage is the spent cartridge cases can be policed up with a magnet. The same held true a few years later when Russian Saigas, Mosin Nagants, and SKS carbines hit the market -but not for those guns. In addition, steel is more penetrating than lead since it does not expand as much. Our range has a two mile backstop so there is no limit except, no tracers. I don't shoot match grade ammo in a field grade gun nor do I shoot bulk grade ammo in a match grade gun. Using gas-powered cycling systems on firearms makes the extraction less effective. I noticed that there was some burning of the breach when using steel case ammo. Aluminum bullets also have a tendency to jam in the gun barrel, which can cause damage to your firearm. Aluminum is a softer metal than lead, so it will not produce as accurate a bullet as lead. In most Russian ammo (Tula, Monarch, etc.) Steel with the same weight and shot size contains more pellets than lead, making loads that contain more shot than necessary. bigdogbuc Banned Joined Mar 22, 2012 2,112 Posts Pure greed is what it is when it comes to indoor ranges. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. Practice makes perfect, and there is no better way to practice your shooting skills than dry fire drills. If I had a junk yard it would be worth it. Should be fine for plinking and I can't see how it would hurt a quality firearm. Ammo with steel cores has a smaller steel bullet that is coated with lead on the outside. The answer is no at least not any more than brass-cased ammo. All of my ARs and my Mini-14 eat up steel cased ammo with the same, or better, reliability as they do with brass-cased rounds. http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu18.htm, http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/. What is M855? Pre-Covid, steel cased .223 ammo could be found 10-50 cents less per round than brass cased ammo. Theres nothing about steel-cased ammo that says this has to be the case however, Hornady proved that with their competition-ready Steel Match ammo that is produced with all the quality and attention to detail that any of their other premium offerings are made with. Absolutely not for a lot of my guns. A lot of my guns are former Soviet bloc guns, specifically designed for steel case ammo. My guns that feed ste Despite its rarity, some gun ranges still prohibit steel-cased ammunition. And it does not corrode, so it can be used in humid and saltwater environments without issue. Different gauge shotshells should not be mixed together because: a smaller gauge shotshell can slip past the chamber of a larger gauge gun and result in serious personal injury. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. (SKS / AK owners, neednt worry.). Lets take a closer look. Tacoma, Washington 98424 USA, 2023 Rainier Ballistics | The Journey To The Top Demands Peak Performance, What is a Bull Barrel Bull Barrel Variations and Benefits. Yes, you can cast bullets out of aluminum. Brass is better at this sealing action because it is more malleable than steel. But I do question the hypothesis, unless demonstrated, that a new steel case increases wear over brass. Communism only made one thing that works, and capitalism can make it even better. Aluminum cases are less expensive to produce than brass cases, so they are often used in budget-friendly ammunition. Some of it is sealed with lacquer that stinks. However, steel-cased ammo has become popular in recent years primarily due to the substantial price difference between it and brass-cased ammo. Not really it always says that its Berdan primed, not Boxer. Coffee good, coffee bad, dark chocolate bad, dark chocolate good, eggs bad, eggs good. Those of that opinion are quick to reference extractor breakage or failure, especially in the AR-15/M16 platforms. There is no other way to put it. Steel cores are banned because the rounds can cause damage to ranges. Also, they dont want steel mixed with that for obvious reasons. I've reloaded .45 ACP steel cases for years. I disagree on the viability of steel cased ammo in weapons when the mfg states otherwise. An example of commercial, Russian-made steel-cased, but non-corrosive 7.62x54mm ammunition. Yeah, I also have shot Tulammo from Russia with the steel casings. M855 is often called green tip ammo for its special color coding (the full metal jacket is painted green at the nose). Penetrator rifle rounds similar to M855 are available as well, and they do have steel core. WOLF Performance Ammunition is a trademark associated with Sporting Supplies International (SSI), a corporation in the United States. In short, the bullets offer maximum aerodynamics from a bullet that is also forgiving about seating depth, making them an ideal projectile for hunting in conditions where shots can be on the long side and one that will shoot well in more rifles. However, if you are looking for a little bit of savings at the range, aluminum might be a good choice for you. While it is false that steel cased ammo does damage to your rifle, it may decrease barrel life slightly. The same considerations can be utilized with pistol ammunition, especially when used in semi- and full-auto firearms. Indoor gun ranges often have a rule such as Armor Piercing/ Steel Core rounds are prohibited or Steel core ammunition is not allowed.. WebSteel case ammo shouldn't damage your gun, though some guns will have reliability issues with it. Are Berger hybrid bullets good for hunting? Then, Hornady hit the market with their steel-cased ammo. The issue I had with steel was I experienced a hard lock almost every 60 rounds or so, which required a hammer and steel rod to rectify, as you all know. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Brass shells may be collected by some ranges, reloaded, and resold. Bullets with steel cases differ from bullets with steel cores. Aluminum, on the other hand, can be poured into a mold and will not fill all of the spaces. It was never engineered to be reloaded, while it isRead more . Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association. There are two reasons ranges sometimes ban steel-cased ammo: They do not wish to deal with these I have shot some 9mm in my my SW M&P and my SW 3913, not a lot but some. I have had very few issues with reliability when using steel-cased ammo. Keep in mind that cleaning your guns is more important when shooting mainly steel-cased ammo. It is not possible to reload steel cases. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Thus you have less blowback into the chamber and the receiver. Imported ammunition that is newly produced has a steel core, so far as I know. Nope. Our Sitemap. So unless youre looking for an inexpensive way to practice shooting, its probably not worth using aluminum bullets. I've read horror stories about steel cased ammo, but I've shot it a ton of it with zero problems. Benefits. I have a friend the reloads 223 steel cases better him than me. Is there a difference between steel cased and brass cased ammo? Steel cases cannot be collected and sold like brass cases since they cannot be reloaded.