Steel vs Brass

[CTS]

I'm honestly a bit in the dark on this, but with the ammo availability problems going on, I've had a lot more luck finding steel case like Wolf or Tul 9mm. There are those out there who say shooting steel case in a modern polymer handgun will eventually cause problems significantly more quickly than brass. Is there any real truth to it, are there tests to back it up/counter it? I've been able to find some good articles on AR's, but not much in the handgun world.

 

[noylj]

I haven't seen anything showing more wear due to steel than brass. However, steel doesn't respond the same as brass and doesn't reload well. If you can't find anything else and it isn't corrosive, shoot it. However, is it worth putting cheap ammo through your expensive gun?

 

[Dolton916]

I've run a few thousand rounds thru my FNX45 and reloaded most of it to see if "They" were right. no wear to the pistol and I've only reloading the cases twice, three total firings per case. All have run fine. I stopped at 2 reloads because I found a case in the bucket whose primer had fallen out.

 

[r.gray87]

Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo - An Epic Torture Test

This is a good, albeit long read. Everything you want to know to help guide you in your choice.

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

I've never seen a problem with shooting cheaper steel cased ammo through any of my guns. In fact, I'd prefer to know that my firearms will function no matter what ammo I feed it. That being said, I tend to shoot steel cased ammo when I know retrieving brass is going to be very difficult and I don't want to lose an unnecessary amount of perfectly good brass. Steel will corrode away quickly so I have no qualms about leaving it behind.

 

[45fan]

Steel cased Vs Brass isnt really an issue as far as shooting. The steel is mild steel, so it isnt nearly as hard as the barrel steel. As far as reloading, it CAN be done, albeit not as many life cycles as brass, as the steel isnt as resilient in the sizing cycle, and as was mentioned earlier, will loose tension in the primer pocket quickly. I have even reloaded the Blazer cases in the past, just to see if it can be done, but its not something I will make a habit of.

The only real down side, the steel cased ammo is typically loaded with copper washed steel jackets as well, and over the course of thousands of rounds will erode the barrel faster than a steady diet of copper jacketed bullets. I truly doubt that the average shooter will put in the trigger time to get far enough (especially with relatively low pressure handgun rounds) that they will ever see a difference, but there have been people who have tested this, and proven it with rifles before.

 

[gm652]

Nice tip on leaving it behind...I think I will start using only steel cased ammo at any club Steel Match shoot. For some reason the brass gophers are always out at Steel Matches, I hardly get half of my brass back on those days...sneaky rascals...

 

[CTS]

Thanks guys, I had come to similar conclusions, but really can't find any credible "evidence", just some anecdotal reports and some tests didn't exactly follow the scientific method.

 

[Indynic]

Just be careful shooting anything but brass at some ranges. Most specify that brass casings are all they allow and if you are caught shooting anything but brass cased, you could could be banned from that range.

 

[SpaldingPM]

Don't shoot bi-metal bullets at hardened steel plates. I've done it, before I knew better and almost died with a wolf .223 ricochet.

 

[SaintsNSinners]

Snobs will tell you to use brass only... Realists will tell you steel is fine... It takes thousands of steel round to brake an extractor but the money you save shooting steel will pay for something like 50 extractors

 

[87iroc]

Snobs will tell you to use brass only... Realists will tell you steel is fine... It takes thousands of steel round to break an extractor but the money you save shooting steel will pay for something like 50 extractors