OK I know steel case is bad for the pistol so spare me the lectures.
I am curious, has anyone run a good bit of steel case ammo thru a M&P 2.0 and what was the outcome? Any damage?

There’s your answer.

So you "know" steel case ammo is bad and don't want any lectures. Why post? You might get some good discussion if you were polite.

I was just given 150 rounds of steel case ammo and curious to hear more as well. I’ve never used any before but always understood that it was not healthy for a gun to have excessive rounds run through with 150 not close to being excessive.


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I bought a box of Winchester steel 9mm ammo to shoot in my M&P Pro 9. The idea was to not be concerned with policing brass in a match. I could not get through one stage with out a failure to extract. You know that this stoppage requires dropping the magazine to clear. If I had brought any other ammo, I would have used it.

Was it the different expansion/contraction of the steel, or a timing issue with the stock 5 inch barrel? (An alleged issue with some Pro9s) I don't know, it worked fine with some brass cased reloads later. I am done with Winchester Steel 9mm ammo.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

I haven't had a problem with steel. It's coated with something to make it smooth and slippery (tulammo). The only thing I noticed was it makes my guns spit fire, but no issues otherwise. Read it through my Walther CCP.

I’ve been sticking with what has been working for me and that’s Brass.
Only failure I’ve had in 16 months of shooting was a few stovepipes in my Glock 19 which I’m sure was grip related.
No failures in my MP 2.0.


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When I was growing up I was always told never to shoot steel case ammo. Ironically, I continued to pass on what I was told. During the ammo panic, I bought a thousand rounds of Tule Ammo 9mm and 500 .45. I have had no issues shooting either caliber in a S&W M&PL PC ported and a Colt Gold cup. I can't recall a single FtFeed or fire. I bought a couple thousand more rounds of the 9mm recetnly and plan to shoot it all. Currently I have no concerns about it harming the gun. I may be naïve, but I will find out for myself if it is really a problem or not. The one thing I don't like is the bituminous bullet they use. I have used it at my indoor range and it sparks then it hit's the backstop, so I stopped using it indoors. Makes me nervous even though the range has never had an issue shooting with it or questioned my using it. Just my actual experience. Now is there wear on the extractor or other wear that I am unaware of ? Maybe, maybe not. I guess that leaves you right where you started. Good luck.

It is my understanding that the "steel" used in the steel cased ammo is very mild, and doesn't harm the extractor any more than brass would. Is it true? Who knows for sure? My information was the result of extensive research and reading about the subject on the net. FWIW: I read about many people that shoot steel cased ammo exclusively through their AR's and AK's and have reported that nothing has worn anymore than when using brass.....

Guess it depends on the ammo.
At least with comblock 7.52x54R there are occurrences of the case coating paint(?) building up in chambers, causing difficult extraction.

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US Army '72-'95

that's actually a myth (or not really a myth, but a misunderstanding). the Lacquer used on steel case is near impossible to melt at the temps inside of a barrel. Instead, what's happening is the difference between the elasticity of steel vs. brass. When the case expands with brass it flexes out, seals the chamber and then contracts. With steel case, it expands, but not nearly as much as brass and it won't "seal" the chamber, which causes the nasty ruskie powder to get around the shell and the lay carbon deposits around the shell. THAT is what can build up and cause the extraction issues. You just have to clean really good after use, and if you've been using steel in your gun, make sure to clean it really well before tossing brass in it, as that gunky carbon can cause extraction issues as well. Long story short, using steel is perfectly fine, you just have to clean like a mother effer between uses. You MAY have to replace your extractor earlier than normal, but not exactly expensive

I use steel in my non "self defense" guns as I want my defense guns to be in tip top shape with no fear of a dirty barrel causing extraction issues, but for the price of steel vs. brass, I'll pump it through with zero issues for a range toy. MY AR's see nothing but steel and I have no issues (as long as I stay away from cruddy TULA ammo, as its the most underpowered of the steel cased stuff)

Not really a Myth, or Misunderstanding, at least with Tula, Brown Bear, etc.
I've actually needed to scrape the lacquer out of the chamber of one of my pistols after a mere 100 rounds.

Steel cased ammo is nothing new and will not cause any damage to any firearm. Our military used steel cased ammo during WWII when brass became scarce. Put a chronograph on some Tula Ammo and you will see it is hot, not anything like the mouse fart ammo Federal is peddling these days. Tula has been in business since the late 1800,s and is used all over the world by several military units.

TulAmmo: Yea or nay? - The Gun Writer

I have purchased steel ammo for my AK-47, but I never used any in my pistols.

My understanding is the brass is softer and causes less wear on the gun internals. If you hardly ever go to the range, it probably won't be a big deal either way.

So why does the vast majority of the U.S. industry and shooters use brass instead of steel, there has to be a reason, it's sure not more economical.

I will stick with brass vs. steel in my pistols, and I won't buy any more aluminum either. My Shield didn't like the aluminum stuff at all.

I tried some Tula stuff in my M&P45 when I got some as part of a trade deal. Shot 50 rounds, seemed to shoot ok, no failures or anything, but dirty as hell and the accuracy was terrible. I could also tell a difference in the recoil between a few firings...some felt normal, others were a bit softer. Maybe the powder wasn't loaded very accurately? In any case, after that experience, I decided to stick to brass.

The steel case is only the beginning of the problem.

During the ammo shortage, I bought some Tula 9MM steel case and fired it at an indoor firing range that had steel walls, ceiling and floor. The bullets sparked when they hit. WW did not.

I have pulled the bullets from Monarch, Wolf and Tula ammo. The bullets react to a magnet. WW, Federal and RP bullets do not react to a magnet.

The Wolf website states the jacket metal is either copper or bi-metal.
I took that to mean a portion of the jacket contained iron. Why else would that type ammo leave sparks upon impact and the WW did not?

The Barnaul (Monarch) website states the jacket is a specially developed low-carbon steel, which is coated with copper.

I could not find a website for Tula.

That **** is cheap for a reason.

MADE IN USA really means something.

unless it's an AK-47...then made in USA means utter garbage

Here ya go: The Tula Cartridge Works

It seems that Euro ammo may be 'dirty' due to the differences in their gun powder recipe, resulting in incomplete combustion and an increased residue?

Steel case hardball would not feed in my 1911 but my Cougar ate it just fine.
I don't think I will ever try it again, not worth the few bucks I "saved".

With respect to lacquer or polymer coating gumming up the chamber, there are brass and zinc plated/"washed" shells. Silver Bear are zinc, and Golden Bear are brass, for example.

Pretty sure that our GI WWII .45ACP were zinc washed steel FWIW.

I quit using steel ammo 2 yrs ago. 5 yrs ago we were shooting Tula and got a squib. Absolutely my fault as I had my wife cycle the slide and continue shooting. We had done that maybe 6 times in the prior 10 minutes of practice. I assumed it was good to do again but there was a bullet somewhere in the barrel and the barrel was split by the next round. No injury except to the barrel fortunately. 2 yrs ago I still had 6 boxes of the Tula so I thought I would carefully use them up in my M&P9c. About round 16 something happened because I got a stove pipe. The case would not come out of the chamber. Took it home, verified there was no bullet, just an empty case. I had to drill out the primer and a little more to get it out of the barrel. Still have 5 boxes of the **** because I don't know where to dispose them. BTW, Walmart sells Federal aluminum for $17.89/100 and brass for $1 more. this has been my practice ammo for nearly a year and have had zero problems w/ both.

Actually it works fine and does no damage for outdoor ranges and plinking its just fine.

I've run 4 thousand (4cases) of Wolf 115 grn through my 3 guns with zero problems other than a few bullets not seated properly...on a slight angle preventing easy clearing of unfired rounds.

I stopped because it is dirty....very dirty

and what I'm saying is that it's not lacquer you're scraping off. it's the excess gunk and nastiness from INSIDE the shell making it's way around the loose expansion of steel during firing. They've done tests and it would take an INCREDIBLE amount of heat to actually soften the lacquer or polymer on steel enough to actually scrape off.

Today's modern steel cased ammo will not hurt any S&W firearm period! Besides you got a lifetime warranty from S&W on any M&P line firearm if it does! Most all of imported ammo is hotter than the junk being sold as made in the USA. Now for that "dirty myth".....that's all it is a myth. Some ranges don't like or permit it because they lose money selling the brass. Do you have any idea how much money is made from recovered lead and brass at gun ranges?

I've fired thousands of rounds of S&B bronze washed steel case 115gr 9mm through Glocks w/o an issue (I had no 9mm S&W's when it was available).

Not sure I'd go with PRC or Russian ammo, pistol or carbine, but YMMV.

You have 99% of the naysayers are regurgitating what they heard. I've purchased and fired steel or aluminum cased rifle and pistol ammo for years without any issues. Nothing broke or blew up...

I've shot a lot of steel case 308 w/o issue. Use it plinking in the field w my DPMS AR10 so I don't have to hunt for the brass in the weeds.

Last week I fired 200 rounds of Wolf steel case ammo in 40 cal through my M&P 2.0 Compact 40. This was ammo I purchased during the ammo drought a few years ago. I didn't have any malfunctions, it was fairly accurate and didn't "break" anything. The thing that was noticeable was that it didn't have the "kick" that US ammo I fired that day had. The report was even noticeably anemic compared to my US ammo. I would not buy it again, but I don't have anything negative to say about it......It was cheap and met the requirement for the range day.

I just picked up some Federal Aluminum cased ammo from Walmart for my M&P 2.0 Compact in .40 s&w. I plan on shooting all 100 rounds this Saturday. From what I have read this ammo should do no more damage to my gun than brass cased ammo. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I did read the aluminum cases are softer than brass and shouldn’t wear my extractor any more than brass.

I had purchased 500 rounds of Wolf steel and 750 rounds of Winchester Forged. Both 9mm and fired them through my Shield and M&P 9 full size. Other then being a little more dirty on the fingers loading and a bit more dirty firing...it worked fine.

I prefer brass cased ammo but when there is a good deal on steel cased ammo I buy it but make sure I clean my gun cause it can be dirtier than regular brass ammo.

A few years back there was a big indoor range fire here that was deemed by the fire marshal to be caused by sparks from steel cases hitting and sparking on the range floor. Because of insurance, there are no indoor ranges that allow steel case now. There are a couple who allow it for rifles where they have isolated bays, but most check ammo and turn you away.

The HK user manuals I have say no steel or aluminum, which I understand to be because of the stepped chambers.

Steel case sticks in my revolvers so I don't use it. I haven't bothered to try steel case semiauto ammo, just because there's no incentive. It's not cheaper where I am.

Aluminum works fine in all my firearms. If you are shooting a match where you can't pick up your brass, try aluminum case.

Tula steel cased ammo has never damaged a gun in any caliber from what I can read in all the gun forums nonsense I read on the internet out there.

Does someone have viable proof like pictures showing anything to the contrary? I would love to see it. I have been shooting for over 50 years now and never seen any damage to my firearms or anyone else's firearms for that matter.

I have two Ruger SR9Cs, the owner's manual is very explicit that steel cased ammo is OK.

Having said that, while I have no reluctance to shoot Tula for example, US commercial brass cased 9mm ammo from Walmart is so close to to Tula in price that I prefer the brass. The only malfunction I've gotten in 1500 rds with the SR9Cs was a solid primer strike on a Tula round. Don