Would it be considered ok to fire steel cased ammo such as Tula, Brown Bear or Wolf through a top quality rifle such as KAC, BCM, DD, Noveske and Colt?
I’ve seen some pretty good deals on steel ammo and have thought about picking up a few thousand rounds just to keep around for plinking and range use.
I would think if its a high quality rifle, things should be fine, but I might not have all of the facts.
I know the steel case does not expand the same as brass and will sometimes leave a lacquer in the chamber, which could cause problems with brass extraction if not removed. However if you clean the weapon thoroughly before using brass things should be fine correct?
I don’t see any reason why not, It’d be good to know that your rifle will use steel cased stuff, In the proverbial “SHTF” situation, you need to know it’ll work with whatever you can find…
I do it all the time through my DD, BCM uppers. Shoot steel through my ACR fine as well. It would not be a confidence booster for me if I had a rifle that only eats the more expensive stuff. If I can shoot the lower quality stuff fine then it will shoot the better stuff fine as well.
When I take friends out to the range they shoot the cheaper steel stuff, they arent going to shoot my more expensive brass.
I used to shoot it a lot until I got my two current BCM uppers. They do NOT like steel ammo. I would not normally have an issue with it, but I’m forced into brass cased.
That’s ok, though. I’d rather have a high-quality rifle that shoots only expensive ammo than a lower-quality rifle that shoots steel and brass.
I’m an RSO with the Quantico Shooting Club aboard Marine Corps Base, Quantico. It never ceases to amaze me how people will spend big bucks on a rifle and then feed it shit ammo. :eek:
I understand, because, I’ve found Wolf and BB to be both accurate and much cheaper. about $100 a case cheaper - and it doesn’t affect the gun. That is why we do it.
Would you say it’s better to shoot less with better ammo?
Seriously, feeding a gun with enough ammo to become proficient isn’t cheap. If all they’re doing is shooting dirt clods on the weekends, and you want your gun to last 4 lifetimes, sure buy the good stuff, but if you’re sending 3-4k rounds down range per year, the 0.20 cent differential can replace anything that goes wrong by shooting steel cased ammo. (not that I’ve seen any ill effects over the years) The plus side is, you actually can afford to shoot the rifle rather than worry about how expensive it is to do so.
Nowadays, I can afford to buy IMI when it’s available, but back in the days of pinching pennies, I shot a metric shit ton of steel cased ammo thru all sorts of guns. It kept me shooting so I didn’t lose any skill thru lack of use.
Guns have and always will contain “consumable” parts. We all know the basic ones… magazines, springs, etc. but barrels and uppers fall into that category as well, just on a longer time frame.
I’d rather someone shoot what they’ve got with steel cased ammo than let it sit in the safe because their wallet cries every time they shoot it.
If it’s reliable in your rifle and you’re happy with it, then do what ya gotta do.
OTOH, I routinely see people have problems with it when I open a range and I wind up supervising someone clearing his malfunctions instead of keeping an eye on everyone else like I should be doing, so I won’t waste my money on it. Federal sells Lake City M855 for a good price at Brownells and trouble-free ammo at that price is a bargain in my eyes.
This EBR hobby is not for penny-pinchers. Also, we’re shooting one of the cheapest rifle rounds in existence fer cryin’ out loud. If you want to save money, buy a nice Ruger 10-22 and shoot Mini-Mags. I spend an inordinate amount of time supervising shooters clearing jams and ignoring God only knows what else because the shooter wanted to be a cheap-skate.
I run steel case just fine in all of my guns (Noveske, DD). Just because the people you supervise might not have a handle on things and need your help does not mean everyone does. This past summer while I was shooting Wolf for 4 days I observed more malfunctions with XM193 (5-6 from other students) than I had with steel case ammo. My gun was also 3,000 rounds deep without cleaning. This has actually been a trend in most of the classes I have taken.
I realize it’s not a cheap mans game, but when I first got into the game, I had money I didn’t know what to spend it on. Things changed as things do. Changed jobs, moved, money got tight. Shooting steel cased ammo allowed me to continue to do so until things turned around.
As far as spending time clearing jams… I’d venture to guess that they didn’t spend “big bucks” on a rifle if they are experiencing jams. My Noveske’s eat anything I throw at them, even steel cased ammo with nary a jam. I also think there’s a vast difference between ammo you train with and ammo you keep for “unfortunate loud noise” incidents. I keep high quality ammo in the gun when it’s on standby.
I much prefer to use higher quality ammo, but sometimes it just ain’t available. Look at the whole IMI ammo thread here about them running out and may not be able to get more. I’m not going to let that stop me from shooting. If it becomes necessary, I’ll shoot steel cased ammo again because for the most part, I can buy it anytime with very little wait.
Either way, if you got the money, shoot what you want, if you don’t, realize that guns are a collection of consumable parts and steel cased ammo for training won’t be the end of anyone, but not training (enough) because they hear it’s bad could very well be the end of someone.
2 years ago my very first AR was a DD. I just bought it cause I wanted an AR and this one was used at $900 never knew they were considered top quality ARs. All ARs were the same to me. Anyways, I shot nothing but wolf through it in the short time I owned it and never had a problem. Only had the rifle for that one summer. Ended up selling it to fund my AK sbr.
Now I have a Colt but havent had a chance to shoot her yet
I can see saving money or shooting more rounds for the same money, but the differential does not seem to be enough for me to try it out. I shoot a lot of 45ACP and 9mm as well. If I could get twice the ammo for my money I would give it a try… Ron
Lake City ammo doesn’t cost much more and in 36 years of shooting it, I’ve never once had a problem with it. Remember, aside from .22LR, 5.56 is the cheapest rifle ammo I know of, and in the end, you get what you pay for.
If you’re on my range and you start having malfunctions due to cheap ammo, you’ll be asked to leave. However, as I said before, if it works in your gun and you like the results, then go for it.
I pay $149 per can with 420 rounds already on stripper clips. That’s $0.35/round. I have no doubt you can buy cheaper ammo, but compared to what 7.62 guys are paying, it’s a pittance.
Because if I am repeatedly forced to supervise the same shooter and ignore all of the other shooters, it is a safety issue.
Aren’t you the guy that hasn’t cleaned his rifle in over 3000 rounds? I’ll have to keep my eye out for you.
