Is steel cased ammo a bad idea?

[jeep45238]

I just can't find stress on the weapon from running steel cased ammo. My 5.45 AR is on its original extractor, close to 30,000 rounds of steel cased and corrosive Sov surplus.

Mine only made it to 10k (defective extractor). I’m just shocked you found mags that worked, that drove me out of the 5.45ar market.


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[BobM]

I just can't find stress on the weapon from running steel cased ammo. My 5.45 AR is on its original extractor, close to 30,000 rounds of steel cased and corrosive Sov surplus.

My agency has been going through about 10,000 rounds per year for several years of Hornady steel case training ammo without any issues.

[03RN]

Whatever coating it is now, you know what doesn't need it? Brass. I'll openly admit I haven't touched a steel case round in 5 or 6 years. And that USP 45 was caked in clear sticky mess and cheap unburnt powder from steel cased ammo. It was definitely lacquer. It's a non-factor for me, plus with the cost of ammo now a days I'm stocking brass to the roof because of how cheap it is now.

I don't see the need to stress your weapon on running steel cased ammo ever. Because it's $20-40 cheaper a case isn't a good enough excuse for me. If you want to run and train on it that's your call and I'm not faulting you for it. But I don't support it and I won't do it.

I'm sorry but you cannot get the laquer to melt off a case with by the temps seen in handguns and I'm un aware of any extra stress. Could you elaborate.

[LittleLebowski]

Mine only made it to 10k (defective extractor). I’m just shocked you found mags that worked, that drove me out of the 5.45ar market.

ASC and some C Products. I had to fix or shitcan some of the C Products ones. My 5.45 AR runs like a good Glock Gen3 9mm.

[navyman8903]

I'm sorry but you cannot get the laquer to melt off a case with by the temps seen in handguns and I'm un aware of any extra stress. Could you elaborate.

IT gets deposited throughout the gun somehow. I definitely didn't put it there. If you're firing high volumes then it isn't unlikely it will melt. Guns get hot bud. What other possibilities do you see? Clear sticky stuff is definitely not oil or anything else.


But this safety data sheet says Lacquer begins to soften at 80 degrees C. Which is definitely not out of the realm of possibilities for a firearm, they definitely get hotter than that. It also shouldn't be stored at 50C either as per the data below. I don't know about you, but running drills back to back and intense defensive courses of fire gets the gun pretty hot for me.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1801711.pdf


And again, I don't run the stuff. EVER. Because it's trash and causes pointless issues in your guns. The brass doesn't need to be coated. The clear sticky garbage and cheap powder didn't deposit itself into my gun from running brass or just sitting there.

[LittleLebowski]

The thing I notice most is the red coating on the primers. I will try to remember to yank the BCG on my rarely-cleaned 5.45 AR and post some pictures. Original bolt, aftermarket FailZero carrier that someone gave me. Probably about 15k rounds on the carrier, nearly 30k rounds on the bolt. The only problems I ever had with the ammo was the corrosive primer salts, not the case itself. Before I started reloading (god bless Dillon!), I pretty much only used steel cased ammo in my Glocks (9mm) and my ARs (mainly 5.45 but sometimes 5.56). I documented most of my training classes and never had an ammunition issue except for gas issues with a suppressor on the 5.45. I will say that a factory BCM 11.5" upper runs like clockwork suppressed with a Saker 556 can and a mix of brass and steel cased ammo.

[JonInWA]

While initially wary, I've consistently run Federal Champion aluminum-cased 180 gr .40 through both my P30L and VP40, with absolutely zero issues. My firing sessions generally are between 50-150 rounds in duration, and run the gamut from practice to IDPA.

After each session, I do field-strip and clean them. If the .40 Champion stuff is like the 9mm Champion, it's a bit on the lightly-loaded side; their brass-cased American Eagle is probably spicier.

That said, I do not run steel through my guns. Regarding Tula, the last stuff I ran of theres was in .45 ACP several years ago-It was filthy and had numerous discernable pressure variations within the same 50 round box....

Best, Jon

[Clusterfrack]

...I will say that a factory BCM 11.5" upper runs like clockwork suppressed with a Saker 556 can and a mix of brass and steel cased ammo.

Same here, with SilencerCo Omega. My BCM 11.5 ELW fluted upper works flawlessly suppressed and unsuppressed with every type of ammo I've tried (H1 buffer).