Brass vs. Steel Case test, AR15 Platform

[thatGuy]

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

Give it a look and see what you think. I for one was appalled.

[Grudgie]

Time to sell all of my Tula and reload only.

[thatGuy]

Yeah that steel case shit really tore that rifle up.

[Outonowhere]

Conserve ammo...



 

[RS762]

It's amazing how much perfectly good ammo can screw up a rifle made of aluminum and plastic.
...
 

[JohnyMac]

Great article TG! Thanks for posting.

I am cheap so I lean towards the brass BUT the article explained that shooting steel would still be cheaper than brass if you reload and have to replace parts less often vs. no reloading and replace barrels & parts more often when using the steel.

[thatGuy]

The side by side of the breach and rifling was what did it for me.. You can make good use of that stuff..

[tominphx]

It should be noted, that the rifles used where not exactly milspec, and the barrels especially where not of the highest quality.

Good chrome lined cold hammer forged barrels will last much longer.

[Grudgie]

I may have overlooked it, but can someone tell me why the steel cased ammo was more destructive to the rifling? All the projectiles were copper.

[Alex1992]

I here this all the time I don't need to read the article to know that steel case is bad for AR's. The steel case was probably only designed for AK's, Mosins, etc not American guns.

[RS762]

I may have overlooked it, but can someone tell me why the steel cased ammo was more destructive to the rifling? All the projectiles were copper.

No, the russian stuff uses copper washed steel jackets, harder on rifling.

[Grudgie]

Then that's the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm selling all my communist steel cased shit.

[CrystalHunter1989]

Well....nuts. Spent all that time and money on steel ammo because it was all I can afford. Now this? I don't think anyone in their right mind would trade me brass for my steel, especially since the market is now hyper-inflated.

[thatGuy]

A bird in the hand beats two in the bush Crystal.

[JohnyMac]

Crystal,
There is still fair prices for 5.56 out there. My neighbor just purchased 420 rounds, 62 gr, green tip, on stripper clips and in a military can for $200-. 48? is still a little steep for me but cheaper than what I see on gunbroker.com.

Maybe sell half of your steel cased ammo and hold the money till the prices come down. Then buy brass. Just thinking out loud.     

[CrystalHunter1989]

Crystal,
There is still fair prices for 5.56 out there. My neighbor just purchased 420 rounds, 62 gr, green tip, on stripper clips and in a military can for $200-. 48? is still a little steep for me but cheaper than what I see on gunbroker.com.

Maybe sell half of your steel cased ammo and hold the money till the prices come down. Then buy brass. Just thinking out loud.   

I've had others suggest that very same thing. It's a good idea, just don't know when I'll be able to get around to it.

[thatGuy]

DON'T SELL YOUR AMMO!

While it may not be ideal it is functional. All the rifles shown in the test still operated.

If you sell half your ammo you will only have half of what you thought you needed and lord only know's when you will be able to replace it.

Make more money or spend less simple as that.

[JohnyMac]

Or thatguy, keep the ammo you gotz and buy a new barrel for your AR; put it away for a rainy day.

[thatGuy]

Great alternative JMac! Barrels are still in stock.

[brat]

I was bumping this cause as relative newcomer and AR novice, I found this to be a life saver. I was trying to find some ammo and the steel cased fit my budget better. This article saved me from what would have been a bad purchase in that if I'd bought first, then read this, I'd be having doubts and having doubts about your stuff ain't good. The bump was because there may be somebody else like me that could benefit.

Thanks for finding and sharing this TG, even if it was a year ago. 
 

[JohnyMac]

Hopefully Erick see's this "bump" because he exclusively fires steel case ammo. He swears buy it and in fact the times that we have trained together every time he wants to his rifle goes bang.

With that said, when your AR jam's with a "bolt override" while using steel case ammo, it is a BITCH to clear the weapon!  Brass is far easier (Softer) if you get a BO.

 

[Grudgie]

Just recently had a primer fail to ignite a round of tula. That was 7.62x39. I'm staying warry of the quality. Only use it if that is all you have.

[CJS06]

Just recently had a primer fail to ignite a round of tula. That was 7.62x39. I'm staying warry of the quality. Only use it if that is all you have.

Grudgie I wouldnt base your decisions on 1 bad primer. If you shoot enough you will get that with any ammo manufacturer, and we are seeing bad loads more often even with the big brands. In our last class we has a few a few failure to fires and ironically not one was Tula or Wolf (two guys were shooting this stuff). I had 1 FTF running Federal LC M193 and there were 2 from PMC Xtac M855.  Another guy had one running PPU M193.  Granted we ran about 2k rounds in 3 days each so we went through a good amount of ammo.

I personally try to run mainly brass case to cut down on wear and tear as much as possible. That said if steel case allows me to train and I otherwise wouldnt be able to then it is worth it to shoot steel case. I shoot approx 12-15k rounds of 5.56 per year so I get plenty of wear on my rifles.  Shoot whatever you can to maximize proficiency. If you shoot enough to wear out a barrel be happy and replace it with a smile knowing you got more use out of your rifle than most will ever consider.

BTW prices are getting to fairly reasonable for Brass case.  I just picked up 2k of LC M193 for $299/1k. I also generally try to buy from Steven at Freedom Ammunition.  His prices have always been reasonable even when others were out of whack.

[brat]

I can't bite off enough to get 1k at a time, so I do 250 and just order more often. Man I'd love to be able to run that many rounds a year CJ, you're fortunate. I've ordered from Freedom, LAX and Lucky Gunner. I didn't know about Lucky Gunner until this article. They're just up the road and I get my ammo in two days. Another plus for me from this article. 

[Erick]

http://unchainedpreppers.com/forum/gear-review/review-wolf-military-classic-in-62-gr/new/#new