Steel cased ammo bad for gun?

[s13envy]

I was using some steel tul ammo in my bodyguard .380 and it would constantly jam. never had a single jamming issue with any brass ammo

 

[Mcglockin7]

I am curious as to which companies these are.
I don't recall ever seeing something like this on any of my Ruger manuals.

Del-ton, Olympic, DPMS... just to name a few.... I'll do some more research for you if you'd like... Ruger however does not have this policy in place, neither does my sig sauer... just a heads up, read the manual because more and more companies are switching to this policy.

 

[SmallTownGunner]

I have a Del-Ton upper myself and it said in plain view that steel cased rounds would void the warranty but personally when I put my money into something I expect to not need a warranty. I've ran steel through my Del-Ton and had zero problems or complications. The only time I had a problem with steel cased ammo was during one winter 2 years ago while I still had my DPMS upper, a live round got lodged between the roof of my upper-receiver and the bolt carrier. I was a noob at the time to the AR platform and ended up having to drive all the way to 21st in Bluffton and let Jahred beat on my rifle. Pretty sure in the end what caused that FTF was cheap oil and 18 degree weather. My , carry on with the steel.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I was using some steel tul ammo in my bodyguard .380 and it would constantly jam. never had a single jamming issue with any brass ammo

I tried that stuff in a DB380 and had the same problem. I don't think the Tulammo is hot enough to reliably cycle the slide on the pocket guns. I use steel exclusively in my AK. I did get a "warning" from the guy that built my AR about the possibility of the lacquer coating gumming up the chamber (I guess if you didn't clean it regularly). I've got 100 rounds of Tulammo .223, but I haven't shot any yet.

 

[nailknocker]

I have the same problem as "PLOWMAN766" my savage bolt gun will not eject the steel cased stuff, I can't figure it out. I've never that problem with any other guns.

 

[avengedXT]

Well when I got my last XD9 I decided first to baby it. Put 200 rounds of Federal 115gr Brass FMJ through it to break it in. Then I decided I wanted to carry it and got some lighter loads, 150 rounds of CCI Aluminum 115gr TMJ. And finally I got tired of trying to baby the gun, it shot everything I had every single time with no stovepipe FTF FTE or anything.

I bought 300 rounds of TulAmmo 115gr FMJ's. It went through all flawlessly. I didn't even notice a difference in my cleaning.

Your mileage may vary, but I regret trading that gun for what was (at the time) a tempting trade deal when I originally consolidated to Glock's. I'd never had a gun fire through that many rounds with only one clean/lube job in between the first 350 and second set of 300 be so perfect. And that's exactly what it was!

 

[.452browning]

My CMMG AR and WASR10 eat the crap out of steel ammo. Never had any problems.

 

[malern28us]

Del-ton, Olympic, DPMS... just to name a few.... I'll do some more research for you if you'd like... Ruger however does not have this policy in place, neither does my sig sauer... just a heads up, read the manual because more and more companies are switching to this policy.

Thanks for the reply. I seriously did not know this! Just gives me a bigger list of manufacturers to stay away from. I personally think its stupid to offer a warranty if your firearm cant handle all types of ammo. I wonder how many Russians got their panties all bunched up over what types of ammo they could use in their AK. Maybe the US policy of raising a generation of p#ss!es has transferred over to firearms manufacturers also.

 

[five5toad]

Thanks for the opinions. Made a stop at the local and they basically said its a no no. Think I will just follow warranty...or buy a saiga.

 

[Hop]

I've never had any trouble running Wolf steel in any of my ARs **unless I'm running "Slidefire full auto" mode. The bolt didn't cycle fully to pick up the next round. It ran fine in single shot mode. That's the only time I've had any trouble. The Slidefire did burn all the lube off the bolt so that might have been the root cause of failure.

 

[Mcglockin7]

Thanks for the reply. I seriously did not know this! Just gives me a bigger list of manufacturers to stay away from. I personally think its stupid to offer a warranty if your firearm cant handle all types of ammo. I wonder how many Russians got their panties all bunched up over what types of ammo they could use in their AK. Maybe the US policy of raising a generation of p#ss!es has transferred over to firearms manufacturers also.

No prob! Most people that run steel don't have any issues unless they fire brass directly after firing a couple hundred rounds of steel, or just don't clean the gun. From what I've read and heard "not experienced personally" the coating they use on the steel builds up inside the barrel and because brass is softer than steel, when the brass expands it gets stuck. My thought is, if you're going to run steel, just run it all the time and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Hop]

^ that's an old story that is probably due to the lacquered Wolf steel cases from LONG ago. The polymer coating Wolf uses is not tacky at all on the ejected cartridge even in "Slidefire mode". I've never seen any buildup residue from shooting steel in anything, not even my Makarov that has seen some of the lacquered stuff.

 

[686 Shooter]

Just my two cents, I don't think there is so much a problem with most guns shooting steel cased ammo as there is with the wear factor. Steel cases rubbing against steel (gun components) will cause more wear than brass cases rubbing against the same steel components.
Keeping the gun clean will probably prolong the life of the gun more than anything.

 

[Hop]

But the steel is not in direct contact with the chamber. Only the polymer coating. The concern with steel was/is that it supposedly doesn't expand as much as brass when fired & doesn't seal well enough against the chamber wall. Gases get around the case and carbon foul the chamber. **If** I were the cartridge designer I would account for this slight expansion difference and maybe size the steel casing a little larger. Of course that might cause all kinds of other issues.

 

[lucky4034]

I've run Tulammo through my PSA mid-length AR with ZERO problems.

 

[cmstuard]

Like Hop said, my understanding, which I have experienced, tells me that it isn't the coating building up in the chamber, it's that the steel casing doesn't expand like brass and you get some powder residue blowing back that builds up between the casing and the chamber. That is why you get stuck casing when you switch to brass... the brass expands and residue build-up slightly compresses, which doesn't allow enough room to extract the brass casing. I have also had issues with steel sticking when I shoot enough of it in some rifles. I would guess that the slight differences of chamber size and the polish of the chamber itself would have some impact on this being a problem from rifle to rifle. I’ve had some rifles that love the stuff and some that choke on it after 50 rounds. Never had a problem with any of my pistols other than the steel casing dragging a little more than brass on hi capacity mags (over 25 rounds), which caused jamming. Experience this from time to time in my 33 round glock mags.

 

[buzz815]

I don't shoot it in any of my firearms. When working at the range and someone tells me they have a stuck case it is almost always a steel case and usually Wolf ammo.

 

[norsk]

Thanks for the reply. I seriously did not know this! Just gives me a bigger list of manufacturers to stay away from. I personally think its stupid to offer a warranty if your firearm cant handle all types of ammo. I wonder how many Russians got their panties all bunched up over what types of ammo they could use in their AK. Maybe the US policy of raising a generation of p#ss!es has transferred over to firearms manufacturers also.

I think it's a good idea to question why manufacturers have such a policy. Is it because steel ammo actually hurts the gun in some way and so manufacturers are forced to exclude wear due to it, saying it is inappropriate use by the owner? Or, is it because it gives manufacturers a nice "out" against nearly any warranty claim? Because some manufacturers don't have such a policy tells me that the latter is true.

 

[686 Shooter]

But the steel is not in direct contact with the chamber. Only the polymer coating. The concern with steel was/is that it supposedly doesn't expand as much as brass when fired & doesn't seal well enough against the chamber wall. Gases get around the case and carbon foul the chamber. **If** I were the cartridge designer I would account for this slight expansion difference and maybe size the steel casing a little larger. Of course that might cause all kinds of other issues.

Guess I got schooled, my two cents was worth just that, two cents. I guess if I would have thought of it more in terms of an internal combustion engine, I would have understood more of the damage that occurs other than just friction wear.

 

[pirate]

What you lose in replacing an extractor after thousands of rounds, you'll more than save up in the cheaper steel case plinker ammo. If your gun likes it with no malfunctions, go for it.