steel case ammo

[kevco]

Any adversity to using steel cased ammo? Other then brass case looking purty, will steel case hurt anything? Are steel case for a specific purpose, or for a specific type of gun?
Here is what I found:

www.ammoman.com/images/WOLF/40sw180.jpg

[/dev/null]

Any adversity to using steel cased ammo? Other then brass case looking purty, will steel case hurt anything? Are steel case for a specific purpose, or for a specific type of gun?
Here is what I found:

www.ammoman.com/images/WOLF/40sw180.jpg

I personally havent had any issues with steel casing. Matter of fact JUST ordered another 2k rounds of Wolf .223 in steel (cant have enough). Ive heard that its simply cheaper to make, although its a one shot deal (not re-loadable), so if reloading is what your after go for brass. If your shooting paper at the range, Im all about economy (especially at todays prices).

[kevco]

So steel case ammo would be ok to use in my sw40ve?

[justsayno]

Some guns don't like the cheap ammo. For some reason, my buddies panther 223 jammed using it the other day.. I wispered in his ear... My AK's don't do that... he was pissed... Nothing more nerve racking than having to send a rod down the tube to knock out a live one...

[/dev/null]

Some guns don't like the cheap ammo. For some reason, my buddies panther 223 jammed using it the other day.. I wispered in his ear... My AK's don't do that... he was pissed... Nothing more nerve racking than having to send a rod down the tube to knock out a live one...

Ill agree on both points.... key being "some". I havent had any issues wiht the Wolf stuff (I have some really old stuff, 9 or so years old, thats lacquer coated as well - shoots fine in my AR (of course thats also 20+ years old.... I havent had a chance to run any through my new M4. I did however just (today in fact) buy 2k rounds of the new Wolf - so Ill see how that works.

As for dislodging a live round as described - well, I dont usually carry clean drawers in my range bag, but that might also be a good suggestion!

[625]

I've read that steel cases are harder on extractors and anything else they come in contact with. I suppose it depends on the gun. Some guns like the before-mentioned AK would probably take a long time to wear something out using steel cases. Other guns that aren't as durable may have more issues. For example, I wouldn't run steel cased ammo through a WW2 era Luger, but I would have no qualms about running a few thousand through a Ruger P89.

[Brick]

Nothing wrong with steel cased ammo at all. In fact it can be reloaded. Of course if it is berdan primed you're not going to be able to decap it like boxer primed. See, the steel used in the cases is purposely not as hard as other steels in other applications. Don't forget, beside holding the components together the cartridge case is supposed to act as a gas seal in the chamber by expanding to fill the gaps. Hard steel don't expand so good.

In fact the U.S. made steel cased ammo during WWII mostly cal. .45 ACP.

[/dev/null]

Nothing wrong with steel cased ammo at all. In fact it can be reloaded....

Now THAT I didnt know - thanks for the tip. How do you figure out which primer (i.e. Wolf ammo - mainly the newer stuff)? At current prices and inflation I figure the casings will be worth what I paid for the ammo in another 48 months.

[Brick]

[QUOTE=/dev/null;562950]Now THAT I didnt know - thanks for the tip. How do you figure out which primer (i.e. Wolf ammo - mainly the newer stuff)? QUOTE]

Use a light and look into the mouth of a fired case at the flash-hole in the bottom. If you see ONE centered hole it is boxer primed and you can use your standard U.S. tools and components for reloading.

If you see TWO holes slightly off center it is Berdan primed and requires special tools for decapping and special sized Berdan Primers. For that reason Berdan primed cases are not worth the effort.

[ranger7]

Wolf 45 ACP and some other calibers are boxer primed. I used to think all steel cases were not reloadable then I saw a guy at my club collecting Wolf 45 ACP cases. (He had a special reason for preferring the Wolf which is beyond the scope of this thread.) Anyway I tried the steel cases for my light target loads and they worked fine. I only reloaded the steel cases once but my friend said he used them 4-5 or more times without problems. I liked the steel case reloads for shooting in places where collecting the empties was difficult. (I didn't feel much guilt leaving them lie.)

I currently have all the .45ACP brass cases I'll probably ever need so I don't reload steel anymore. When I see a bunch of nice clean Wolf .45 ACP, I still pick them up (super easy with a magnet) and I run them through my tumbler and save them for the time when brass cases may be unavailable at any reasonable price.