Long story short:

1. Steel cased stuff will wear your AR barrel out faster, but you'll need to hit the 5000-6000 round mark under high intensity and adverse conditions.

2. For the plinker, it's not going to hurt to shoot steel.

3. Based on cost savings of steel over brass, the money you save shooting steel will easily pay for a new barrel by the time it is worn out.

Lots of other good info here as well. Pretty robust test.

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

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This should answer everybodys questions for good

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...you realize the futility of that statement right? Have you met TA before?

I figure, coming from me, and being on the subject of AR's, most people here will be smart enough to shut up and digest the results before attempting to pose a question.

However, some of the newer folk might need a beetch slap or two to put them in their place.

now for the questions:


1. Why?

Good article. Thanks for posting.

Anybody want to buy some Tula ammo?

Nah, still gonna stick with brass.

if the brass is packaged by conveyor belt, will this thread take off?

Only if it is on a treadmill.

are we certain this isn't steel v. copper jacketed?

I'm having a hard time understanding how the casing wears the barrel out.

couldn't steel cased ammo have the same powder as brass cased?

I reload.

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Based on cost savings of steel over brass, the money you save shooting steel will easily pay for a new barrel by the time it is worn out.

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Only if you are a sucker that buys ammo. I can reload for cheaper than steel, and use brass.

We like to call this a "win-win".

Yep.

Its dirty....but you should be cleaning afterwards anyways

Steel case could wear out the chamber some over time.

moot point. ammunition isn't available in stores any more.

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are we certain this isn't steel v. copper jacketed?

I'm having a hard time understanding how the casing wears the barrel out.

couldn't steel cased ammo have the same powder as brass cased?

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Two types of ammo are available: brass cased and steel cased. Brass cased typically uses a copper jacketed bullet. Steel case typically uses a mild steel jacketed bullet that is copper-washed, also known as bi-metal. Therefore, the steel cased ammo they are shooting has steel jacketed bullets.

Hornady makes some steel cased match rounds that are very similar to the MK262 load, so I am assuming they use a similar powder. The issue they ran into with the Tula ammo was the burn rate wasn't appropriate.

Not to hijack the thread...but if I were to get into reloading, should I collect the brass from bulk ammo (say 1000rd bulk federal from Academy) and reuse or just salvage newer casings?

Is there a life span on casings (I'm guessing there is from a material properties point of view) and how do you know when a casing has finally been spent (aside from it blowing up in your rifle)?

I could use my google-fu, but I figured you guys would have somewhat credible opinions.

There are varying degrees of brass- some brands are better than others, or at least there is a perception of this. The brass from your bulk pack is just fine for reloading.

Pressure signs are the most obvious method of checking for case failure. As you are reloading, you should be inspecting cases for signs of failure (cracks, case web stretching, deformations, etc).

Failure depends on a multitude of factors:

Quality of brass
Number of times fired
How much the brass is worked during the loading and firearm cycling process
How hot the load is
Chamber dimensions
Case geometry

There are others i am sure.

[This message has been edited by schmellba99 (edited 1/9/2013 1:02p).]

funny...

these Hornadys are copper (not bi-metal) jacketed steel...

What do steel casings have to do with the life of the barrel when the casing never touches anything beyond the chamber?

[This message has been edited by Hoss (edited 1/9/2013 1:07p).]

I'll quote myself:

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Two types of ammo are available: brass cased and steel cased. Brass cased typically uses a copper jacketed bullet. Steel case typically uses a mild steel jacketed bullet that is copper-washed, also known as bi-metal. Therefore, the steel cased ammo they are shooting has steel jacketed bullets.

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Most Russian imported stuff is steel cased with a bi-metal jacket.

That's what I'm getting at, Hoss... they don't.

you have to pay attention to the powder and the jacketing.

corrosive powder is bad, and bi-metal jacketing is harder on the barrel than copper.

This thread was started on the incorrect assumption that all steel cased ammo had bi-metal jacketing. It does not.

I've got a friend who claims to have shot 100K rounds of steel ammo through a glock 17 with no issues.

There was no assumption that all steel cased ammo uses steel jackets. It was explicitly stated that "typically" steel cased ammo has steel jackets.

The premise of the thread is correct.

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I've got a friend who claims to have shot 100K rounds of steel ammo through a glock 17 with no issues.

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Rifle and pistol are two different animals, especially in the world of barrel wear.

Thanks for the edumacation, schmellba!

I'll quote Log, too...

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Therefore, the steel cased ammo they are shooting has steel jacketed bullets.

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funny...
these Hornadys are copper (not bi-metal) jacketed steel...

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Hornady Steel Match rounds are loaded with various Hornady BTHP's (52/55/75gr), not a copper washed projectile. The Berdan primed steel cases are where they cut the costs.

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Not to hijack the thread...but if I were to get into reloading, should I collect the brass from bulk ammo (say 1000rd bulk federal from Academy) and reuse or just salvage newer casings?

Is there a life span on casings (I'm guessing there is from a material properties point of view) and how do you know when a casing has finally been spent (aside from it blowing up in your rifle)?

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I pick up my cases at the range or will occasionally buy them online. Most of the Federal cases aren't good to reload for .223 because they have loose primer pockets. I had several primers fall out into my trigger group and completely lock up my rifle. I started chunking all the FC marked brass and haven't had that problem since. That's the one popular type of brass cases I don't use.

Yes there's a life span on cases but I usually end up losing them before then. Life depends on a lot of things like your load and how they are resized. I just give my cases a visual inspection and look for cracks or other defects. The typical defects I find for .223 are cracks in the neck or a faint dark line going around the middle. That line is where you're starting to get a case head separation. You can bend a paperclip with a little hook at the end, scrape it along the inside of the case and feel the crack.