Steel vs Brass?

[Jerry]

Obviously brass is a better quality but I need economy, is steel casing ammo bad for my Rock River AR15 I just bought several boxes @ academy sports for 4.99 a box but was told after the fact by someone that they are bad for your rifle. Any and all advice will be appreciated

 

[sovietak474u]

Over time some people think steel cased ammo wears the gun faster and is harder on the extractor. Ive owned a couple of Ar-15s and shot lots of steel ammo. Never had a problem. I shoot steel cased rifle ammo in all my rifles. Yet to see an issue other than its some dirty crap. YMMV

 

[rasputin8]

The myth that steel-cased ammo is harmful for an AR is classic firearms BS that continues to be resurrected over and over.

1. The projectile itself is copper washed or jacketed so there is no inordinate wear on the barrel above and beyond other projectiles.

2. The casing steel contacting the chamber of your weapon is much softer than the steel comprising the chamber itself. The biggest difference between steel and brass is that steel does not deform to the chamber as well as brass, thus there is an increased gap whereby residue can accumulate on the chamber itself. This does not pose a problem if you continue to use steel-cased rounds however if you follow with a brass round (without cleaning the chamber), you pose the possibility of the brass casing getting stuck. You can usually solve this easily with a cleaning rod. However, if you clean the chamber after shooting prolonged sessions with steel, you shouldn't have this problem. This is not strictly harmful for the rifle, but more an expected consequence of using steel.

3. The extractor does contact the steel casing and theoretically may accelerate in wear. However, I bet you will save enough money shooting steel before your extractor becomes FUBAR to buy yourself another rifle or two.

Bottom line, steel is perfectly fine for range/plinking use and the cost savings (~40-50%) over brass greatly outweighs the theoretical disadvantages.

 

[Laufen]

Steel is in fact harder than brass, that is not theoretical. Neither is it theoretical that steel will wear components that it contacts faster than the saofter brass will. Personally I'd rather pay a coupe cents more per round and not have a steel casing sliding on and out of m chamber. I can easily replace a broken extractor, but the chamber is my main concern. If you don't shoot much, there are no advantages. The savings is minimal. If you shoot a lot, there are no advantages. Faster erosion of the chamber and key components.

 

[rasputin8]

No one is arguing that brass is softer than steel. What I am arguing is the soft steel used for ammo casings is much softer than the chrome-lined and hardened chambers of ARs. People make the extraordinary conclusion that because steel cased ammo is harder than brass, then it must wear your chamber at such an accelerated rate as to overcoming the cost savings of shooting steel. I have never seen evidence of this. Also, wear will occur with brass as well and it may be argued that the expansion of a typical brass shell within the chamber and the subsequent increase in surface area in direct contact with the chamber during extraction may mitigate its softness.

Furthermore, if you do not reload, the cost savings is anywhere between $70-$100/1k rounds when purchased in bulk. If you reload, then you close the gap but that's if your time is not factored into the equation.

That savings, I argue, will easily cover any "accelerated" wear you may experience with steel. Even if your extractor fails after 1000 rounds (extremely unlikely), you have saved enough money to purchase a new one and still come out ahead. Most users will never shoot with enough quantity to see these ramifications.

In the end, use what you want, and determine what makes sense given your shooting habits.

 

[Laufen]

No one is arguing that brass is softer than steel. What I am arguing is the soft steel used for ammo casings is much softer than the chrome-lined and hardened chambers of ARs. People make the extraordinary conclusion that because steel cased ammo is harder than brass, then it must wear your chamber at such an accelerated rate as to overcoming the cost savings of shooting steel. I have never seen evidence of this. Also, wear will occur with brass as well and it may be argued that the expansion of a typical brass shell within the chamber and the subsequent increase in surface area in direct contact with the chamber during extraction may mitigate its softness.

Furthermore, if you do not reload, the cost savings is anywhere between $70-$100/1k rounds when purchased in bulk. If you reload, then you close the gap but that's if your time is not factored into the equation.

That savings, I argue, will easily cover any "accelerated" wear you may experience with steel. Even if your extractor fails after 1000 rounds (extremely unlikely), you have saved enough money to purchase a new one and still come out ahead. Most users will never shoot with enough quantity to see these ramifications.

In the end, use what you want, and determine what makes sense given your shooting habits.

I use brass ammo for the same reason I use high quality full synthetic oil in all of my engines, and change it regularly. It's cheap insurance, and I enjoy taking care of my stuff.

 

[rasputin8]

To each their own. IMO, I like to use the cost savings to acquire more mouths to feed on the ODT

I use brass ammo for the same reason I use high quality full synthetic oil in all of my engines, and change it regularly. It's cheap insurance, and I enjoy taking care of my stuff.

 

[83rdrecon]

Steel has been used for years. It won't harm your gun. I have some 1943 dated usgi .45 acp casings and ammo somewhere. Wolf works fine in properly spec'd guns. If you buy a quality barrel or gun you won't have any issues. Buy cheap from some obscure vendor that changes their name every two years and well ymmv.

 

[Tackleberry]

In my 33 years of shooting M16s and AR15s, I have never used steel-cased ammo and I never will. Some manufacturers warn against and will void the warranty if a problem is related to running steel-cased ammo. My brother recently tried running some cheap *** Tula through his RRA and had cycling/extraction issues. I, and a neighbor of his, told him to ditch the steel stuff and go back to brass. Running brass, his RRA has no problems.

No offense intended, but you guys run what you will. Those of us that want to take care of our weapons will continue to run brass-cased ammo only.

 

[rasputin8]

Tula (supplies a lot of Wolf's offerings and also Cabela's Herters) is notoriously underpowered and inconsistent. The Barnaul (Bear-branded and also supplies the Academy monarch-line) products are loaded hotter and noticeably more consistent in my experience.