Greetings,

I was shopping at a local sporting goods store when I noticed several boxes of 9mm ammo cheaply priced (less than $9.00/box of 50). I was going to buy several boxes when I noticed that they were steel cased as I recall hearing that some firearm manufacturers won't honor their warranties if steel cased ammo has been used. Is this because the steel casings are, or can be, rough on the chamber? If so, would there be any negative consequences in shooting this ammo in a revolver?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,

Dave

Greetings,

I was shopping at a local sporting goods store when I noticed several boxes of 9mm ammo cheaply priced (less than $9.00/box of 50). I was going to buy several boxes when I noticed that they were steel cased as I recall hearing that some firearm manufacturers won't honor their warranties if steel cased ammo has been used. Is this because the steel casings are, or can be, rough on the chamber? If so, would there be any negative consequences in shooting this ammo in a revolver?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,

Dave

Steel cased ammo is hard on extractors. Also, if it still has the lacquer finish on it you will have to clean more frequently and thoroughly. Regarding the manufacturers, many also claim you should not shoot reloads either. Take it with a grain of salt. Shouldn't be any problem in a revolver.

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It does not function well in full auto weapons

It would sure rust around here, South Louisiana.
Steve

I have used steel-cased ammo in many calibers and in many different firearms without a problem. I have a Bersa .380 that I have read has an anodized feed ramp and supposedly the warranty can be voided by the use of steel-case. I think the argument against it is in respect to the extractor wear (although I have heard about the lacquer problem from people who have never used it; none from those who have). My guess is that it should present no problem whatsoever in a revolver.

I use steel cased ammo from Wolf (.40) in my 4003 - never a problem, they are more dirty then Remington brand, but half their price!

what about steel cased bullets,,I have a thousand rounds of it in 9mm

Only time I ever had a broken extractor was using some steel cased stuff in a rifle. The main reason I don't like it is the same reason I don't like Blazer aluminum non-reloadable rounds.

Folks won't police it and throw it away and it litters up the range - it's a blight on the environment (had to get that in there since that qualifies as "doing my part" for earth day Now I can go home tonight and dump my used motor oil in the creek and burn some old tires)

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I think the BATFE may consider steel jacketed bullets to be armor piercing. If so, there may be prohibitions on retail sale if they can be fired in a handgun.

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Big bang, much smash'em.

Nframe i agree
I always dump the used oil back into the ground..hell it came out of it too start with

Thanks to all for your responses and advice. I have shot the ammo before, but in a brass case, not the steel (Monarch, made in Russia). The ammo functioned just fine, but as is reported by others who use Russian/Eastern Block manufactured ammo, it is dirty ammo. I have an H&K PSP that I was wanting the ammo for, and until recently, I never planned on reloading for it, but now with ammo prices the way they are, I am reconsidering. I really need to find a good deal on a used 9mm Sigma that I won't feel bad about shooting the Monarch ammo out of.

Regards,

Dave

Sorry, I had to edit my comment on account of being rude, but I disagree with dumping oil or spraying on roads. Sorry it doesn't have anything to do with steel cased ammo...that's been answered here successfully.

I've used nothing but steel cased ammo in my AK with no problems. Of course an AK is quite robust. Yes it is dirty ammo.

The little steel shavings and chips from the cases will rust very quickly and adhere to the metal parts inside your gun.

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M&P Pistol and Rifle Armorer

When I was a kid just about everyone dumped their used motor oil on their dirt driveway to hold the dust down. Havent you ever seen county trucks spraying down dirt roads with oil?
Gad! If its okay for the goverment to do it, just how bad is it really? I just dont happen to belive everything the greenies tell me. I have seen natural oil seep out of the ground around santa paula california area and never heard of trouble with their water. Chill. Kind of like the libs stopping lead shot. Where do they think it comes from? And I thought the guns were made of metal. Maybe they should blue those caseings?

Yes, I remember the trucks oiling the dirt road in front of my grandparents house in the '70s. The reason they stopped is because the oil was showing up in the wells and lake. I'm far from Green peace and it may be a different story in Texas or AZ, but dumping oil near fresh water is a bad idea no matter how old and stubborn one might be.

Only if they were 1. could be fired in handguns and 2. if the weight of the steel jacket was more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile would a steel jacketed round be classified as an AP round.

Sreel cased ammo has higher extraction forces than brass cased ammo. Steel cases are less resilient ("springy") than brass cases. Military designs that routinely use steel cased ammo have notably large and strudy extractors (SKS, AKM, AK-47, SGM, PKM, etc).

As a matter of fact steel cased ammo works very well in full auto weapons, and all NATO countries have alternate ammo procurement specs that include steel cased ammunition. The reason the eastern bloc countries use so much steel cased small arms ammunition is that they take their lead from Russia and the former Soviet Union which has developed small arms ammunition production based on WWII standards and have maintained a "war footing" in their production capacity. Steel is much cheaper than the renewable brass casings.

When firing steel cased ammo in revolvers, the only downside I can think of is that using the steel cased .45 ACP without moonclips can leave burrs in the chamber headspacing surface which can result in later hard extraction. Extraction problems in semiauto pistols can be reduced if you wax your cartridges. Military steel cased ammo is protected against rust with copper wash, chromate wash, lacquer, or varnish.

I've never heard of steel case ammo being unreliable in a full auto weapon, I know most of the SovBloc firearms routinely use steel case ammo. My Norinco SKS has never had anything else go through it since I bought it new. I probably don't clean it enough either but I've never had a problem with Wolf or TC steel cases.

Dan R

My only experience with steel cased ammo in revolvers was with some WW2 vintage U.S. .45 ammo that I fired in a M1917. It would stick unless the cases were lubricated - something I do not recommend but at 18 it seemed like a good idea. I don't know about current production steel case ammo and revolvers, but I don't use steel cases in anything I own.

I had a problem w/Wolf steel .45acp in my S&W ss 625. I tried them with a moon clip and had to pound the ejector rod with my fist to get them out.

This is getting way off the original subject, but in the county I work in they still do put oil on the gravel roads. Someone complains their road is too dusty, and out goes the oil truck to correct that. We are rapidly replacing the dirt roads with asphalt, but guess what. We put a lot of oil down before the asphalt goes down. And you guys know what asphalt is made of, right?

.

Depends on the gun. Many guns, German WWII, Russian, etc were designed to shoot steel case, until US companies started manufacturing 7.62X39, it was virtually all steel case. I'll run steel case through many of my guns, but stay away from shooting it in others; I know for a fact shooting some of the first steel case .223 that came in ten or so years damage a HK53 of mine.

Whole citys used to do that if they couldn't afford paved roads, still some of those towns around.

Just take a look @ Times Beach Missouri, that is how they used to keep their dust down in the summer. Too bad the contractor use oil with PCB's in it.

bob

I guess I was wrong to make a general statement like that. From what I know about steel and brass, the brass is flexible and the steel is not. When the round is fired the brass expands for mili seconds and provides a temporary seal so that the expanding gas in the chamber are able to cycle the action more efficiently. In some cases the lack of expansion with steel makes a difference in the cycling and in other guns there is no noticeable benefit of brass over steel as far as cycling.

The only real reason for steel's unpopularity around here is that the range owner's cannot resell the cleaned-up casings.

In this discussion lets remember that "steel" covers a wide range of hardness and other characteristics. Take, for example, a cheap chinese nail and try to scratch a good quality (i.e. older) US made file. Good luck. As an experiment next time at the range I'm going to take a soft iron Russian case and see if I can scratch an AK barrel in an inconspicuous place. I won't even try the chrome lined chamber.

Just to add some more to this.

When we changed the oil in the cars, growing up, we would pour the used oil in the fence-row. It killed the weeds. If there were fire ants in the yard, we'd pour oil down the hole.

My folks have a shallow well. Same yard (lived there since 1956). When they put some well water in the dogs' dishes, when it's fresh it's nice and cold, and the dogs will lap it up. But after a couple of hours of sitting in the bowl, there is an oily film on the top of the water, and the dogs won't drink it any more.

Coincidence, or connection?

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I always take precautions

The steel cased Berdan primed Russian .410 hulls are reloadable- if you have Berdan primers.

Because .410 is low pressure, the hulls don't have to be resized, and if they do, just throw them out.

Although, I have heard of people reloading steel cased .45ACP and 9mm cases, however I don't think I want to try it though.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Again, thanks to all who responded with valuable insights and advice. Not trying to sound like a snob, but being that my only 9mm at present is my H&K P7, and this was on top of my "grail gun list", I think I'll hold off and not shoot steel cased ammo out of it. I need to find a "budget 9mm" to shoot the Russkie steel cased ammo out of. I tried to look at a used Star 9mm at Cabela's yesterday, but the staff was too busy.

Thanks again,

Dave

Don't worry silver...we already know you have a $20,000.00 Tommy gun...

Or maybe you just need a better one that works...

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'Merica!