Steel ammo?

[thumperdogg]

I have an XDM 9mm that I love to shoot A LOT! I have never shot anything out of it other than brass. I wondered what everyone's thoughts were on shooting steel ammo out of it such as Tula.

I have read it a million times, the steel in the gun is harder than the steel casing, but what does everyone think, will it hurt anything?

 

[Goober135]

Quoting another member's answers to my question about using steel cased ammo in my AR.

Is steel case dirtier? No. Cheap ammo is generally dirtier. Some cheap ammo is steel cased, some is brass cased. The 'dirtier' aspect is the type of powder used.

Should dirty powder deter you from buying a brand of ammo? No. At least not if you clean your guns periodically.

Is steel case ammo harder on your gun? Marginally yes. We are talking about mild steel and it is harder than brass or aluminum. It is simultaneously softer than a hardened bolt and a hardened chamber. If you think it will destroy your gun then go look at an AK47 where steel case is far more commonly used and show me where those break. Or show me examples where AR15s can be proven to have broken (extractor?) specifically because of steel ammo. I can't find any real definitive proof.

In my opinion, if the ammo is practice/range ammo then you should buy the cheapest steel case stuff you can find, buy a lot of it, and shoot it.

If you are planning to store the ammo for some sort of SHTF scenario where you want a 1000 or more rounds safely tucked away then I'd opt for a brass cased ammo.

Honestly, all the factory stuff is good enough for SHTF and all of it is overkill for practice shooting. The ONLY time that I won't use a steel case round is in a target grade long range rifle. But other than that, cheap ammo lets you shoot more. More shooting practice leads to better skills. Better skills equals more effective use of the weapon. There is no service grade weapon on this planet that I would not use steel case ammo in and I currently don't own a 223/5.56 rifle that has a target grade chamber/barrel so every one of my 223/5.56 guns is fair game for steel case cheap ammo.

 

[awilson82]

No problem with steel cased stuff.

 

[JohnP82]

I have never had a problem with steel cased ammo in several different calibers and several different guns.

 

[S8MS-01904]

I shoot it plenty in my XDm, no issues.

 

[WebSnyper]

Look online for some of the Blazer aluminum cased. Pretty cheap and good shooting stuff. I've never shot steel cased, but have shot aluminum.


I saw quite a few folks at the GSSF match last year shooting steel and aluminum cased ammo, since you can't collect your empties at most matches anyway.

 

[rlidgard]

ive shot over 800 rds of steel in my kimber. not one issue. and about 300 in my cz. never had a issue.

 

[Nitehunter500]

For blinking you can't beat the price of steel ammo!

 

[J10]

Steel is great for plinking.

One HUGE bonus though. If you have a a shop / contractors ground magnet, you can clean up your casings really easily.

 

[pute62]

I've shot Tula steel cased in my PF9 (which they say never to do) and it worked good. Don't think there would be a problem with a XDM.

 

[DSmith78]

all i shoot is steel cased stuff, never had any issues with any of my guns

 

[DaveO]

My Kel Tec .380 won't run steel case ammo. I can throw any brass in it and it works fine. I have also "heard" that you shouldn't use the laquer coated stuff in an AR. I am wanting to try some Steel in my .30 carbine to reduce the cost of shooting.

 

[SmileDocHill]

Fullauto (advertiser here on ingo with youtube chanel) did a great synopsis of the history of steel cased ammo and the associated misconceptions with it. I cant find it now im on my phone but it is worth looking up

 

[Jbill1]

I have shot quite a bit of wolf steel case in my AR and in my 9mm. Never had any problems. Good cheap range ammo.

 

[bevilsiz]

1911 shot tula with no issues.

 

[msirelan]

The only time I had problems with steel case ammo was in my CETME but that is because is a roller lock and it jammed extracting the case not because there was a problem with the ammo

 

[Beowulf]

My Kel Tec .380 won't run steel case ammo. I can throw any brass in it and it works fine. I have also "heard" that you shouldn't use the laquer coated stuff in an AR. I am wanting to try some Steel in my .30 carbine to reduce the cost of shooting.

Good luck finding any of the old lacquer 5.56 these days. Now they are all either polymer or zinc coated. I've put thousands of rounds of various steel ammo calibers through most of my guns (the ones that have common enough calibers) and never had any issues. The biggest thing I can find to complain about is the polymer steel is harder to load in some magazines because it doesn't roll against the rounds above and below as easily as brass does. But that's about it.

I've shot Wolf .30 Carbine both in my Inland and my Universal and they shoot it just fine.

 

[davedolli]

I have shot a lot of steel case ammo, in my XDM 4.5 and I have never had a problem, it is just dirty.

Dave

 

[williamnewman1]

steel is cheap and decent range stuff , agree with a lot on here that if it means more shooting than why not

 

[Cherryspringer]

Steel cased ammo

The steel cased ammo cannot be reloaded. So your spent casings are disposable. Many people think the powder is dirtier because their weapons will foul quicker with steel cased ammo. It's really a matter of leakage. The steel casing won't seal up as tight to the breech when it is fired. This is because the brass is softer and expands more rapidly. I like steel cased ammo for target use.