Tula .223 is it as bad as they say?

[batmann]

I shoot a lot of Brown Bear 55gr HP and it is very similar to the Tula and have never had an issue other than a couple of FTF, but I get that with some Federal as well. One word of caution, if you shoot a lot of the steel case stuf, clean your chamber BEFORE going to the brass cased stuff.
It is my understanding the the steel case does not expand like brass and it will leave a powder residue that makes the brass hard to eject, hence the coating rumor when, in fact it, is mainly powder fouling in the chamber. hope this helps because this about as cheap as we can shoot anymore.

 

[SSgt M]

According to there privacy statement we can't even read that, but wow they actually said no to steel cases.

.....I strictly run LC, XM193F, I only shot a couple boxes of other stuff, imo this is the most consistent ammo I've ran.
Maybe I'm weird this way, but every weapon I own shoots only one type of ammo based on trial and error to find whats accurate to me, as I do set high standards for my shot groups though.
I shot competition skeet for a couple years, this really made me look at ammo differently. Before then, I shot what ever I could find and thought that malfunctions were part of the shooting sports.

 

[jsimmons]

RE: RRA voided warranty

IMHO, if a rifle can't handle SAAMI-compliant ammo in a steel case, why would I want to buy that rifle?

There is NOTHING wrong with Tula. Yes, it burns dirtier, but ALL euro-ammo does. I've shot over 4000 rounds of Tula .223 in the last three years, and have never had a problem with faulty ammo, and have even found it to be generally more consistent than Federal or Lake City brass.

For practice at the range or tactical carbine competition, you can't beat it's much lower price. However, in harsher conditions than a covered firing position at a range, and with the possibility of the ammo being subjected to a less-than-ideal environment, I'd use brass stuff (indeed, all of my ready-0 mags are filled with M855).

However I practice almost exclusively with Tula (mostly 62-grain).

 

[rojodiablo]

I stand corrected I was using Brown Bear and Tula....any how. What causes the split neck. I noticed a couple when I was cleaning off the magnet?

The steel in the cases is very soft, and it's pretty thin. As such, when the bullet leaves the case, the pressure can split the rim. It will happen occasionally on rifle rounds with brass cases, but it's pretty uncommon unless you have reloaded like 4-7 times.

As to the ammo, and to the specs, and warranties: ANY SAAMI rated ammunition that is chambered for your gun; wether it be pistol, rifle, or shotgun can be used, and WILL NOT void any warranty.
If you look to new rifle warranties, not one I have read in the last 2 years has any mention of steel cased ammo. Because- they can't really call you on it. It's rated for your gun, PERIOD.
The rifles I have read the warranty on in the last 2 years (I work part time for an FFL........ S&W- Sport, M&P 15T, OR, M&P pistols-9mm and 40 cal. DelTon-AR15. DPMS Panther, Oracle-308 and AR15. Colt- M4. RRA- LAR308. Sig Sauer-556 pistol, and rifle. LMT ar15. LWRC-308. Saiga- 7.62, 5.56, 308, 12ga. Remington- 870. Sig Sauer pistols. Ruger 556, and Ruger LC9. Ruger 38spl. Springfield pistols; 45, 9mm, 40.
NOT ONE of these has any specific recommendation to not use steel case int he instruction manuals, nor in the warranty. It says "Use only high quality ammunition chambered for the firearm you are using it in. Use only SAAMI rated ammunition."

A manufacturer might nudge you in the direction of one type of ammo or another; but unless it is specifically called out as unsafe for your rifle, they are going to warranty the rifle for any failures which are the RIFLE'S malfunction or manufacturing defect.
S&W specifically calls out a couple types of 22lr ammo they insist you do not use in the 15-22. And, as such, since it is in the users' manual..... you are warned to not use it. And I would hope S&W will toughen up the receivers to accept all types of 22lr ammo without malfunction.

 

[TangoFoxtrot]

I'll pass on the Tula ammo.

 

[oneyeopn]

I was calculating and not figuring in my time, with ammo prices where they are presently, I can still buy ammo for the same price I can load it for (within a few cents) But I am only buying brass cased now because there will come a day when that isnt possible and I want to have plenty to load.

 

[Capt Crunch]

I have no problems with it at all through my Sport

 

[crracer_712]

I was calculating and not figuring in my time, with ammo prices where they are presently, I can still buy ammo for the same price I can load it for (within a few cents) But I am only buying brass cased now because there will come a day when that isnt possible and I want to have plenty to load.

I bought 500 rounds of federal american eagle, and have some Remington UMC, should net me enough brass cases to reload over next winter.

Still hard to beat the cost of that steel cased ammo. Bought a few more boxes of Tulammo today, found some in stock at the Walmart up north of me. My dad shot the M&P15 using the Tula, not really a good shot as he used to be, so it was good for that

 

[W.E.G.]

Steel-case .223 ammo is sub-standard, and will tie up a lot of AR-15's

There are those who react every time somebody says anything against steel-case .223 ammo.
First they will tell you to "break in" your rifle some more.
Then, if the steel-case .223 still fails they will insist that your rifle is "defective."
Lastly they will begin preaching about how they "wouldn't own a rifle that won't shoot steel-case."

I've had bad luck with steel case in both of my AR-15's.
After about one magazine, it starts short-cycling until a case seizes in the chamber, and the extractor rips the rim off.
On top of that, its underpowered.

Don't use it.

One is a full-length Armalite A2 with standard rifle buffer (chamber appears to be chrome - cannot say for sure about the bore).

Other is a Chrome-lined J&T-sourced 10.5 SBR with H2 buffer (rips rims with, and without, the Gemtech HALO suppressor).

After about one magazine, each rifle starts short-cycling until a case seizes in the chamber, and the extractor rips the rim off.

Neither of my guns are problematic with quality BRASS-CASED ammunition.

_______________________

Seriously, you can try some of that stuff in your rifle if you want.

I recommend that you load three mags each with 20 rounds.

Fire the first mag quickly without pausing.

If the gun has not choked by the end of the first mag, quickly insert the second mag.

Quickly fire 10 rounds from the second mag.

Cease fire.

Wait one minute try to fire the next shot (shot #11 second mag).

If the gun has not choked yet, fire four more shots.

Cease fire.

Wait one minute, and fire the remaining rounds in the mag.

Quickly insert the final mag, and fire all 20 rounds in rapid succession.

If the gun has not choked by the end of the third mag, you may conclude that your rifle *probably* tolerates steel-case ammo.

Otherwise, remember to bring a stiff cleaning rod to the range to bang the stuck cases from the chamber, and remember the stuck cases will be HOT.

The cleaning rod will also become extremely hot after two insertions in a hot bore.


Somebody will be along shortly to remind us that steel-case .223 works fine in AR's so long as you ram a steel-wire brush in the chamber to clean out whatever residue it is that steel-case ammo leaves behind, that brass-case ammo does not leave behind.

Then somebody will remind us that steel-case .223 ammo is fine in AR's unless you make the "mistake" of shooting brass-case ammo in the gun after you shoot the steel-case ammo - as you will discover that if you thought the stuck steel-case ammo was hell, the stuck brass-case ammo is worse by orders of magnitude.



This is what steel-case ammo (lacquer AND poly) do in the two AR’s from my collection.

_________________________________

 

[crracer_712]

Maybe your AR's are defective.....

 

[Capt Crunch]

I shot 12 boxes of Tula today with my Colt Mags with the Magpul followers I had no issues at all. However, with my Pre-ban Thermold mags I did have 3 jamming issues but again, that was a function of bad followers. Other than that...no issues with the ammo.

 

[jsimmons]

I've shot thousands of rounds of Tula over the last three years with no malfunctions, in both a S&W M&P and a home made rifle with a stainless barrel. One thing I haven't yet done is try to use brass after the Tula in the same range session.

 

[oneyeopn]

I have been shooting a mixture of Poly or Lacquer with the zinc coated Silver bear in between so far so good. But I am getting away from shooting steel cased ammo. I cant reload them and I don't want stuck cases. Also I dont have a chamber brush yet. Thanks for the info!!

 

[kimporter]

dont like it at all.too damn dirty,smells funny and if you cant hit a garbage can lid at 100 yds with it ya dont need to use it, but my idea of plinking is differnt than everybody else's,i like to hit what i aim at,i have 2 ar's,they do not like it at all

 

[PunisherBane]

yesterday my father in law and i bought a bunch of wolf and tula ammo from a gun show yesterday and shot maybe 200 rounds(20 or so to zero in my new red dot, the rest were bottle killin, paper shedding plinkin lol) and didnt have any problems.... well except one and that was my fault.. we wont go into that... just had a set screw problem on my freaky gasblock lol..

but anyways other than being dirty like we had previously discussed.... didnt have any problems

 

[crracer_712]

yesterday my father in law and i bought a bunch of wolf and tula ammo from a gun show yesterday and shot maybe 200 rounds(20 or so to zero in my new red dot, the rest were bottle killin, paper shedding plinkin lol) and didnt have any problems.... well except one and that was my fault.. we wont go into that... just had a set screw problem on my freaky gasblock lol..

but anyways other than being dirty like we had previously discussed.... didnt have any problems

I'm all for shooting steel cased ammo, but I wouldn't zero a scope on it, unless you were just zeroing for that session. It's so inconsistent in loads it's hard to get a good zero.

 

[jeeps]

I have shot the Tula in my Sport with 0 problems. Off the bench sub 2" 100yds and the brass is in a small pile . This shows me that its uniform in it powder charge when the fired cases stay in a tight pile.

 

[crracer_712]

Glad you had good luck with consistency, for the most part, I have too. But I wouldn't bother zeroing in a scope with it.

 

[arizona98tj]

I'm all for shooting steel cased ammo, but I wouldn't zero a scope on it, unless you were just zeroing for that session. It's so inconsistent in loads it's hard to get a good zero.

I don't believe one should lump all steel cased ammo into generic statements like that.

Ever shot Hornady's steel cased training ammo?

 

[crracer_712]

No, and you're right, I forgot about the Zombie Max ammo in steel case, which I'm sure is more consistent loads. However, this thread is about cheap Tulammo, not the more expensive stuff, IIRC.