Steel case 223

[m41]

I was wondering if the steel case 223 ammo Wolf, Brown Bear, etc ammo is hard on the Ar 15 Sport. I know it can't be reloaded and it works fine in my SKS, but I was wondering how it did in the Sport.

 

[Arik]

Should be fine. Its soft steel. But everyone else is going to tell you that your gun will explode, brake, melt, spontaneously combust, wear out instantly ....

Accuracy isnt great but it will function fine. My DD abd Colt have had years of steady diet of steel case ammo and they haven't skipped a beat yet, not even when switching from steel to brass in the same shooting session.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[brucev]

I was wondering if the steel case 223 ammo Wolf, Brown Bear, etc ammo is hard on the Ar 15 Sport. I know it can't be reloaded and it works fine in my SKS, but I was wondering how it did in the Sport.

I shot a world of Wolf 5.56mm steel cased ammunition in my COLT Hbar. It worked beautifully. Function was impeccable... fully 100% perfect. On target scores were identical to those obtained firing Winchester Q3131. This was for 10 shot strings fired prone slow-fire on a SR-1 at 100 yds. as at that time that was the longest range available to me. The wonderful thing is that the Wolf was less expensive and I didn't have to try to find brass in the grass and leaves.

 

[Pisgah]

The condemnatory blasts will come, I am sure, but I will say I have been shooting Brown Bear and Silver Bear ammo for years, thousands of rounds of it, without any problem in my AR. It does seem a bit sootier than domestic brands, but if clean-ups are a bit more frequent they are not any harder to accomplish.

 

[GaryS]

It seems to be firearm specific. Neither of my Bushmaster uppers will cycle steel case ammo properly, nor will a friend's AR (I forget what brand he has). On the other hand, a guy I know who has a Stag AR says it runs just fine.

I'd suggest buying a couple of boxes of a few different brands and seeing what your AR likes.

 

[austintexas]

I shoot it in my SP-1, in fact I reload the boxer primed wolf and use it in the SP-1. I'm on my third reloading of the orginal 60 rounds. I also shoot steel cased .45 ACP and reload it. Years ago I shot government surplus steel cased GI 1943 dated ammo and reloaded it.

SWCA 892

 

[JaPes]

I've had no issue firing TulAmmo 55gr from my assembled AR15 & my 15-Sport. It's surprisingly accurate out of my rifles. 100yd target, open sights, AR15:

As to whether or not it shoots dirty, I don't know. I clean my firearms after every range session.

I also shoot steel cased .45 ACP and reload it.

This is good to hear. I fired my last 150 rounds of TulAmmo .45 ACP. It always irked me that the internet consensus is that the steel cases are not reloadable. I saved 50 of the spent steel cases. I've reloaded 10 steel cases to test it out.

I'm not reloading barn-burners, so I think they'll be fine.

 

[ghost7071]

Having just bought an M&P 15 Sport myself, I was concerned with this too. A knowledgeable friend of mine told me not to use the 'steel' case ammo because "steel cases on steel chambers" is not a good combination. He's had to do lots of chamber jobs (as he called them) because of this. Also there are less QC on Russian made ammo so the powders supposidly do burn dirtier.
I think, S&W would have told us not to use steel case ammo if it were not good for the weapons. In regards to the dirtier powder, I'm like JaPes, keep your weapons clean and it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Dave from Pa]

Steel cased ammo has to meet certain standards,in this liability fueled society its a must.While not match ammo in most cases function and accuracy is acceptable.Just returned from a machine gun shoot,people seemed to have little concern about firing wolf ammo in a $15,000 m-16.Uzi subguns among others used a mixture of wolf and brown bear ammo with no problems in thousands of rounds fired over the weekend.

 

[Pisgah]

The steel used in cartridge cases is very little harder than brass -- it wouldn't work, otherwise. Millions of rounds have gone through miliions of guns, no harm. I haven't a clue as to what a "chamber job" is -- probably, something a gunsmith tells you your rifle needs so that he can make a "boat payment".

 

[m41]

Thanks I just bought 250 rounds of TulAmmo at Wal Mart for $4.97/20 rounds can't beat that price anywhere, and I read online where someone has reloaded the steel cases for years without any problem.

 

[DesertFox]

Good luck here with cheap steel cased through most barrels marked 5.56, bad luck with barrels marked .223. Mostly stuck cases. Some REALLY stuck. I've blown through thousands of rounds of it and I can discern no long-term ill effects. Wolf, TulAmmo, Brown Bear, etc.

Does anyone make an AR barrel with a fluted chamber? This would allow an AR to chow just about anything fed to it but it is hard on the cases. If the cases are steel and not reloaded anyway, why not run a fluted chamber to aid in extraction?

 

[papajohn428]

At one time I had three S&W MP-15's, and fed them all a steady diet of steel cased ammo, plus a lot of PMC Brass, handloads, and whatever else I had handy. None EVER choked. I sold two of the guns off (at a substantial profit) but kept the one with the best trigger, and it has now digested about 6,000 rounds of steel-cased ammo, and still has yet to hiccup. I don't think it's any dirtier than most of the commercial FMJ ammo available, NONE are known to be real clean. My MP-15 runs fine, clean or dirty, wet or dry. It's one of the early ones, build by Stag.

 

[ArmednDangerous]

M&P15 Sport

So far not a single problem.

However, I do not rapid fire with it. A few rounds and then a few minutes to cool. I'm also a gun cleanaholic. Thoroughly cleaned and lubricated with CLP after Every shooting session.

I like to run the S&W a bit wet when running TulAmmo 223.

One thing I was impressed with was the accuracy. I took a box of Freedom Munitions reloads and a box of TulAmmo to the range a few sessions back and was able to get significantly tighter groups with the TulAmmo. Same rifle, same shooting session.

I wouldn't hesitate to use tulammo in a self defense situation. I'm confident it will perform as needed when needed.

Seems to be a good deal. Stock up while you can imo.

 

[forresth]

My KelTec does fine with it. I've shot about 500 rounds of the plated stuff through it. its not very accurate though. I think that is mainly because the soft points are getting mangled when cambering.

I think the problem isn't the hardness of the steel damaging the gun, but how it work hardens and can be inconsistently hardened going into the factory. What that might cause is for the case to be more likely to be out of shape after forming. Brass is more consistent and if it is out of whack, it isn't as strong so it wont get as stuck in the chamber.

Another problem related to the springiness of steel is that the steel doesn't fire-form as well to the chamber shape, letting more gunk build up in the chamber. I'm guessing this is more of an issue with a DI gun.

 

[rojodiablo]

I've had no issue firing TulAmmo 55gr from my assembled AR15 & my 15-Sport. It's surprisingly accurate out of my rifles. 100yd target, open sights, AR15:

As to whether or not it shoots dirty, I don't know. I clean my firearms after every range session.



This is good to hear. I fired my last 150 rounds of TulAmmo .45 ACP. It always irked me that the internet consensus is that the steel cases are not reloadable. I saved 50 of the spent steel cases. I've reloaded 10 steel cases to test it out.

I'm not reloading barn-burners, so I think they'll be fine.

Not sure of chamber pressures on .45ACP vs. 223, but I will say that the Wolf 223 cases have about a 1 in 20 rate where the case splits after firing. I shoot a ton of Wolf/WPA 223 thru my Sport. In fact, the rifle has about 10K thru it now, and a solid 8500 of that has been wolf. Similarly, I have a DPMS that has 7500 or so thru it, and I'd say 90% of that also has been Wolf ammo. The sport has been flawless. The DPMS needed the chamber polished after about 3K rounds; cases satrted to stick a bit. Once the chamber was polished up, it was perfect until the 7k round mark. The extractor started to slip regularly, regardless of ammo shoved thru it. I replaced the extractor, and the rifle has been good ever since.