8 Comments

  1. I used to be anti-steel in ARs, but I have since learned to stop worrying and love the steel cased. I have heard that the ammo companies have learned a lot about making steel cased ammo right since Wolf first made it big in the US and they have far less problems than previously. Considering the number of first run manufacturers making steel cased now I am not too worried about it.

  2. The only steel cased ammo I have had any issues with is the Silver Bear, I have a bunch that won’t run, cases stick, extractor tears the rim off of the case.

  3. This. Softer jacket materials (like copper) wear down the rifling much more slowly than steel.

    Given what I tend to be able to find good brass-cased copper-jacketed factory ammo for, it just isn’t worth it for me to bother with steel cased ammo.

  4. HSR47, I agree with you. The steel case isn’t really the issue. Some folks postulate that it can wear the extractor down, but since everyone should have at least one backup extractor and it takes all of about 30 seconds to change out, I see this as a none issue.

    The main issue is that almost all steel case ammo also has bi-metal jacketed bullets. The bi-metal is much harsher on the riflings than the soft copper jacketed bullets of higher quality ammo.

    Now comes the math part. At what point does it become better to shoot the cheap stuff and save the difference for a new barrel than it does to shoot the expensive ammo and make your barrel last longer?

    Course this all depends on cost of ammo, what kind of barrel etc.

    For me, I shoot the cheap stuff and have an extra barrel waiting for when I start getting key-holes.

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