Just how bad is it for your gun? I've shot 100 rounds through my ar, had one fte, it actually broke the side of the case. I shot 50 rounds through my 40. I've heard steel cased rounds are bad but I'm wondering just how bad and why? I clean my guns after every range trip.

It won't hurt it contrary to what people say. Some guns just don't like steel cases while others will run fine. They expand and contract at different rates than brass and depending on the gun it may not extract like you've experienced. They also have a tendency to get chambers dirty which contributes to the problem.

How much more ammo do you have? If its not a lot shoot it up and be aware that buying more will net the same results. If you have a lot give it another try if it's the same experience find someone to trade or sell it too.


Now I'm sure someone will come running along saying its going to F up everything cause its steel and its harder than brass... but that's not necessarily true. C2600 or cartridge brass which is Cu-30Zn can be HARDER than 1020 steel....

I don't have anymore currently. Just wanted to know for future reference. The only problem I had with my ar was it broke the side of the casing. 1 out of 100 isn't too bad I don't think

Alot of people like to defend steel case garbage but i will not. Let me tell u why.

This past Sunday i took a friend with me to the pit to shoot my bushmaster. I had 4 mags filled with federal brass and 4 with tulammo steel. Four mags of brass shot perfectly and the third round of the first steel case mag stovepiped so bad i had to pack up and come home. Took me 5 minutes to beat the shell out. Its not worth ruining your day to save a few bucks. Btw Never had a problem with the gun until this.

I have fired thousands of rounds of Tula steel cased .40 S&W ammunition in a Glock G-22. Function, on target accuracy and performance was in every respect precisely equal to the best domestic production without exception. I have fired I don't know how many rounds of steel cased Wolf .223/5.56mm in a number of rifles with very good results. One little Rossi break-action single-shot rifle produced MOA w/ the Wolf 55 gr. FMJ ammo. I could not see that it shot less than th same as normal domestic ball ammo in any rifle in which I fired it.

When it comes to ammo in general and steel cased ammo in particular, there is a lot of opinion bandied about as fact. Take it all with the proverbial grain of salt. In fact, take it with a wheelbarrow of salt!

In the mean time, the steel cased ammo is generaly cheaper than domestic brass cased ammo. So, unless you need the brass for reloading, buy and shoot the steel cased ammo!

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Steel cased ammo IS harder on extractors. I've run a few thousand rounds through a 1911 and finally broke the extractor.

No big deal since I had a spare, knew how to change and tune it.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Do you happen to own a Browning High Power as well as 1911?
Which do you prefer?

Nope. Had one but didn't like it. The trigger was horrendous and I didn't want to go through the trouble and expense of making it better.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I have shot so much steel case ammo thru my rock river m4 carbine and have not had a major problem with it a couple of fail to fire. The problem was a bad primer. It is dirty.

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Carpriver.

Shoot lots of steel ammo and the only problems i had was one failure to eject on a off brand 33 round mag for a glock 19 and had a double feed on a different day with the same weapon. 2 problems in over a 1000 rounds wont keep me away from the stuff.

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I shoot nothing but for years with sporadic cleaning. ..no problems. Ive shot it in everything from precision sniper rifles to German lugers. All my guns get a good dose of steel case ammo. My 2nd Glock 19 is probably on its 3rd case of Wolf 9mm without cleaning and its still going strong. Its not the physical steel thats bad its just some guns dont run well because steel doesn't expand as well as brass. The steel itself is very soft (of course harder than brass). Plenty of 45acp and 30 carbine were made with steel cases in WW2 for the GIs

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Bushies are notoriously bad with steel cased or polymer coated steel case ammo. I've heard of a few that run some, but most just don't like to chew it up. Those that have been successful (to my knowledge) have been with Wolf, not Tula. Odd how they are often manufactured in the same plant (the 223 is, anyhow).

For grins, I attempted to put 10 rounds of Tula through my Bushy. First 4 rounds were fine - 5th had a failure to eject. My hypothesis - based on experience, years of experience as an engineer, and research - is that as the gun heats up, chamber metal expands, and the tolerance for it to chew up and deal with the different metallurgical expansion coefficient in the steel cases is reduced.

Due to the differences in tolerances and expansion coefficients of the steel vs brass, guns that have more relaxed chambering tolerances (i.e., AKs and various AR mfgs) are much more tolerant. Some ARs just don't tolerate it well, at all.

Regarding my pistols, I've put a few mags of nickel / steel cased through both my Sig P229 and G19 without a problem. Again, it was an experimental effort, and would not prefer to do it on a routine basis. But, it's nice to know that I CAN if I need to. Now, for my Governor, I really don't care, although just on general principles, I prefer to universally use brass.

I'm neither an avid proponent or opponent of steel cased ammo. You just have to be smart about understanding your firearms and whether or not they can handle it. If it works for you, fantastic! If not, then that's ok, too.

My 1980s police trade in Colt thats never had anything replaced runs fine on steel case with intermittent cleaning. The last time I poped the rear pin was in June and 2 weeks ago ran 250 of Silver Bear.

Its not the ammo. Otherwise all guns would run bad

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I used it and won't use it again it jammed my gun.My friend a gunsmith said get rid of that garbage and I did.No more problems with my gun.It was Wolf 9mm.

During the later part of WWII , the US produced steel cased .45 ACP ammo at the Evansville Chrysler and Sunbeam Army Ammunition Plants. Steel cased .30 Carbine was made too. Never heard of problems in 1911s , Thompsons , Grease Guns , etc.

Back in the 90s , 900rd 'spam cans' of this ammo was reimported from Russia. $107 delivered. We ran many cans thru my friends Thompson and my 1911A1s.

Brass is elastic under extreme pressure. Steel expands to fill the space but does not contract when peak pressure drops. The extractor needs to rip it out of the chamber, which it will do until it won't. I've never shot a round of steel cased ammo. The manual with HK rifles (fluted chamber) expressly warns against steel cased ammo in their rifles. I've never shot aluminum cased ammo either although the .45 Colt Blazer looks interesting. Joe

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I'VE had good and bad results with steel case ammo.. Tula ammo is from Russia. These work great with my Shield 40, with no problems at all. HOWEVER, they will NOT work in my Ruger P238. 380. I've never been able to fire even one round. Once i rack back the slide, the gun basically locks up. can't pull the trigger or rack the slide. It stays stuck with the hammer in the firing position. In order to clear it, you need to remove the magazine, point the gun down range and pound the flat of your hand a few times on top of the gun to sit the round, so you can rack back the slide. Once you reload the gun, the same thing will happen again and again. Buy the good stuff, if you can find it..

DI rifles don't need steel case ammo,(yeh,I know yours
Has shot thousands ),if you want to run steel case you
really should use an AK type with a Real piston,because
sooner or later your DI is going to have a problem. Pete

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NRA LIFE 1974

The both contract, steel just less so. You can see this in their stress strain diagrams. Look at steel in the elastic region (its steep) vs brass (more gradual) once you hit the plastic region and permanent deformation occurs they will unload in a fashion parallel to the elastic curve. Meaning the copper shrinks more when unloaded.

I believe this has more to do with firearm timing than elasticity as both will shrink down smaller than the chamber when unloaded. But if the timing is off and the case is still under a certain amount of pressure, steel is less forgiving and gets its rim ripped off.

Its a case by case scenario with steel cases, go to ar15 forums and you'll find guys who have run thousands through their ARs without issue and guys who can't run a box without issue.

Hell. I've ripped rims off of brass cases in my garand, 3 out of 20, does that mean they're all bad, no.

I only use steel cased ammo in commie guns like the SKS and AK series, it seems to be tailored for these rifles plus reloading isn't worth it for x39 so even better.

Alot of good reading here. Im glad some of you have good luck with it. Wish i could say the same.

I think I'm just going to stay away from it. Thanks for all the good information and opinions.

Ran 500rnds of wolf military classic through a AR15 yesterday ran fine and dandy finished it off with some Hornady SP for good measure. Home built AR by the way.


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I judge guns by the lowest possible ammo. If it can't function on cheap or steel its not worth the money because sooner or later I might have no choice but to use it. Whether its the current panic or SHTF. Most of my guns avg 5k rounds a year of steel case and if an extractor should break the money I saved buying steel case will pay for another 100 extractors.

I do have one question. What do you blame if the extractor breaks on brass cases? The case or the extractor?

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If u want something that will eat anything u feed it. You may as well look no farther than the good ole trusty AK.

My AK is the only one that ever sees steel case. In fact, i dont even run brass through it much anymore. I did when i first got it many years ago, but since then ive found steel case to be cheaper and just as reliable in the AK.

As for my AR, it'll never see steel case. After all the failures ive seen through numerous AR's with steel case. No thanks, i'll pass and continue to use brass.

When someone shows me an AR that will outlast even the cheapest made AK. Then "maybe" i'll think about running steel case through an AR.

Have several in Russian, Chines and Bulgarian flavors and another 2 on the way.

My AR has kept up with my AKs. I dont run em over with cars but I dont baby them either. Im a firm believer in scratches, dings, dents and dirt and grime falling off on their own. I know that if I were to build an AK it would function like poo, so I dont. Thats why I dont believe in buying $600 Bushys/Remington/Double Star/Stag....etc...etc..

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I won't say I've never fired steel cases before, but I am not over joyed about doing so. No problems yet (used in rifles only) but it can't be reloaded so I won't buy it unless there are no other choices. They say steel is hard on extractors but so far no problems. Bought a few extra extractors just in case ($7 bucks each) and I save $10 bucks per box on the ammo. Bought a ton of it at the time and still using it. Hopefully I will be able to find brass next time that is affordable!

Im not saying they are the greatest or even good but they are excellent for range use

Photo of my target. Standard Glock 19 with only night sights upgrade using Wolf 9mm fmj rapid fire at about 15-20 yards.

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Here's a thorough analyzation of Wolf Ammo, from an intelligent source.
The Truth About Wolf Ammo - YouTube

I would expect any military, or police grade firearm to handle steel cases with the same consistent performance as brass.

Steel cased ammo works fine in my Chicom SKS. I've shot several hundred steel cased .22LR with zero problems. I've shot numerous thousands of steel cased 9mm thru my Glocks with little problems. 1K of the old WOLF lacquered 9mm thru one Glock without cleaning and only had a 1% failure to fire. Not bad for plinking ammo. 1K of S&B Range Safe steel cased 9mm with zero problems (literally the BEST steel cased 9mm one can buy).

Zero problems with WOLF .380 thru my CZ-83, same with steel cased 9x18Mak in my CZ-82.

Some guns can handle steel case ammo, others can't. As for broken extractors, when people break an extractor on brass cased ammo, do they blame the brass case and exclaim: "This is junk ammo and I'll never use brass cased ammo ever again!"? I guess some people need to blame something when things go wrong...

S&B is sneaky, they copper wash their steel. I bet lots of people never even realized they were shooting steel in the S&B.

Makes it a PITA for us reloaders though, have to get the magnet out.



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