Newbie question of the week

[dgibson]

All right, this question has been bugging me for a while but I have given up on answering my own question. It's not really a reloading question, either, but this is the closest topic.

OK....What's the deal with all of this "steel case" ammo? I know it's not reloadable for various reasons, so no questions there. First, steel is obviously not as soft as brass. I would guess that the steel would take much more pressure to expand and fill the chamber properly, which would be bad; so perhaps the case doesn't expand much at all? I assume the bullet gets expelled before the pressure gets high enough to expand the case. Does it really matter? Also, couldn't the steel case damage the chamber of the barrel (for the same reason that you don't use steel brushes to clean the barrel)? I'm all for cheap plinking ammo in my pistols, but I don't want to fire anything that's going to ruin my barrel, either.

 

[danr55]

Darren, I'm not sure what you are shooting that would use steel cased ammo, but if you look at the weapons that it's originally manufactured for, you will notice one thing that they all have in common. They are all military weapons. Generally, what used to be referred to as "Eastern Block" countries. There are two reasons why they do this. First, steel is cheaper and easier to come by in the eastern block countries at the time this stuff was made. Second, with the tolerances that the Kalishnakov rifles were manufactured to (On Purpose) steel cased ammo worked fine. Steel cased ammo works OK as long as the hermetic seal doesn't break.

It's OK for plinking but I wouldn't want to fight a war with it.

As for cleaning rifles with stainless steel brushes, I do it all the time. The Stainless in the brush is much softer that the stainless in a barrel and a whole lot softer than a chrome moly barrel. You would have to scrub for several years to have any adverse effect on any barrel steel that I am familiar with.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ December 02, 2001 11:43: Message edited by: danr55 ]</font>

 

[dgibson]

Dan, I'm referring to the el-cheapo new production stuff from Russia (bingo!) under the "Wolf" brand name. They are by-and-large military calibers, but they come in PSP and so forth in addition to the FMJ. They sell 9mm, .30-06, 7.62x39, .223, etc., and are marketing to the average Joe with whatever brand o' firearm, not just military weapons. If you ever go to a popular range you're bound to see the casings on the ground; laquered green steel and rust spots! Lots of folks are shooting it so I know it "works," but I did worry about the chamber and feed ramp wear. I'll stick with brass anyway since it can be reloaded (the steel stuff is Berdan primed, and purportedly ruins sizing dies anyway).

 

[MLM]

Morning Darren, first of all the lauquer they put on the cases will come off and gun up the works in some rifles. Fast firing means higher temps in the chamber. Like you said it will show wear quicker than brass , but will take a lot of rounds to do this. Biggest thing is there are more than three rifle makers that have warnings out on NOT USING IT. I guess if you wnat to plink around like we all do , no harm no foul. BUt If you are like me , I would clean the firing pins and chamber after shooting some of it. Just my 2 pennies worth.
Mike Murphy

 

[dgibson]

Interesting, Murph. I hadn't thought about it from the laquer angle. Didn't know about the manuf. warnings, either. That seals it for me!

 

[Fatman]

I would not shoot anything with the Wolf brand on it, there was an article on another board several months back that was talking about Wolf replacing several Glocks because the ammo had blown the slide apart. That stuff is cheap. There is cheap and there is inexpensive. A Jennings is cheap, a Ruger is inexpensive.

 

[danr55]

Pesonally, I have never heard of "Wolf" Ammo. I guess I lead a sheltered life. I would not consider shooting any "steel cased" ammo from any of my weapons. Bearing in mind that it was originally designed and built with weapons that were considered expendable in mind, I don't believe they would fit my needs. Thanks to Murph for the info and to Darren for an interesting topic.