AR15 Ammo

[TheJuggernaut]

Just curious about what everyone thinks about steel-cased .223 rounds? I picked up 3 bulk (500 round) boxes of WPA Military Classic 55 Gr FMJ at Kentucky Gun Company. I talked with a lot of the guys there and they all swear by it. They claim they have shot several thousand rounds through their AR's with no problems. The only thing is they say, you have to clean the chamber more. But I have heard others claim it isn't good to shoot through an AR. All the guys there said that most who are against the steel-cased ammo are saying it is bad just because that is what they have heard or read somewhere. They claim that nobody can produce any hard evidence to show that steel-cased ammo actually damages or wears a gun any quicker aside from the extractor maybe.

I have always shot brass before in all my other guns. But ammo was not in short supply in the good ole days. It was plentiful and relatively cheap. I really like my new AR and have some money tied up into it. Is it really a bad idea to practice with this stuff? I would really appreciate some "expert" advice on this.

 

[Double T]

If your gun can't handle the steel cased ammo, is it worth relying on it or betting your life on it?

 

[nucone]

The most objective review/torture test is;

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

 

[Shoots4Fun]

Runs just fine in mine...

 

[Kirkd]

No problem here either

 

[PKendall317]

I've used both Wolf and Tula when brass cased ammo either isn't available or my bank account tells me it's too expensive. Both will run fine in your AR, but has some people have mentioned, the steel cased will wear down your extractor more and it does tend to be dirtier than brass, at least Tula and Wolf do in my experience. You're AR should be able to handle anything you load your mags with, if not, somethings wrong.

 

[FrankNstein]

Many hundreds of steel rounds through my Bushmaster, no issues. Used to be $4.97 for a box of 20 at Walmart. Buy and shoot what you can find, just please leave some on the shelf for us.

 

[TheJuggernaut]

I read the article on Lucky Gunner where they did an in-depth study on the different loads. I'm not as worried about the steel casing now as I am the bi-metal coating on the tip. According to the article, the barrel suffers a lot more wear and tear shooting the bi-metal tips. I also found another nice write-up where a guy used micro measurement equipment in a lab. He studied the different ammo and had some interesting findings. The bi-metal tips apparently have a VERY thin coating of copper over the steel. And he measure it before and after shooting. The "after" round had almost no measurable copper left. So it is burning off in the barrel. Obviously steel on steel is going to cause some wear.

Now I am afraid to shoot the WPS ammo in my rifle.