Steel case ammo

Guns & Gear DIY
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I have heard you should not use steel case ammo in any gun. I am looking at AK-47 cal: 7.62x39mm. Need opions please

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You should be fine. The steel/brass debate mostly comes from a conceal carry perspective. Run a few wolf rounds if no malfunction I’d say you’re good to go.

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Some of that come’s from the makers of brass ammo. A billion rounds of steel case ammo have been made and fired.
I shoot nothing but steel case ammo in my AK. I have fired it in my .45 and 9mm with no harm. :roll_eyes:
If you can find it try Red Army Standard 7.62x39 it has a coating that makes it feed and eject better and the bullet and primer are sealed for water resistance. :+1:

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Welcome to the family, brother! I ran steel case .308 for a while when the hogs were real bad out here, and I never had any problems :+1:

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I think some of that is fueled by the theory that steel cases are harder on extractors and all that, and I was told once they were more corrosive. Take that however, but I haven’t noticed any excessive wear, and I don’t let my guns sit dirty for months. Not only that, but at the moment, pickins are slim…

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I have a friend who got a bunch of steel cased 5.56 for his AR. He said every time he shot it, it fired one shot, then jammed.

Of course, it was cheap Russian junk ammo. When I fired a box of .45 steel case, the Taurus I had at the time had no trouble

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@Jim148 , Welcome to the Community.

Don’t worry if you are gonna shoot AK47 :ok_hand:

As other posted - if you can, don’t use steel case ammo in self-defense handgun. If you cannot avoid it - you will just end up with earlier maintenance - new barrel and new extractor. :smirk:

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In general, AK’s are pretty rugged & should be fine.
AR’s are more likely to need the earlier maintenance.
The lacquer coating on some steel cases can, with sustained fire, melt off and congeal in the chamber causing stoppages & is a beast to clean.
Your owners manual will give specifics for the individual model. Unless it says steel isn’t recommended you’ll be fine.

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You shouldn’t have a problem on AK-47.
However I wouldn’t do it with handguns.

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Not sure, but for the group, ask your gun ranges if they allow it. Thought I heard that some shooting- ranges don’t allow steel case ammo to be used in their range. Forgot the reasons why. One of my local ranges uses a powerful magnet to check the ammo I would bring in. Others here might chime in with more knowledge or experience.

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The indoor range I use collects the spent brass. I assume it costs more to filter out the steel cases. That range also uses big fans to suck out the smoke,…steel case rounds may be of lower quality, making more smoke, causing the fans to be less effective at clearing the air. The smoke part, they told me, but the first part is just a theory.

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Oh, just wait till this stuff his the market in bulk… This crap is gonna start all over again.

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:roll_eyes: oh great more plastic to trash the planet.

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Who cares? :slightly_frowning_face:

Great selling product and more money earned… That’s today’s priority… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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An AK-47 should have zero problems running steel cased ammo. In fact, I would immediately return an AK that didn’t run steel cased ammo, as that’s pretty much what it was designed around.

The reasons you mostly hear about steel cased ammo causing issues is:

  • Corrosive (mostly true)
  • Dirty (mostly true)
  • Causes jams

Steel cased ammo is generally pretty cheap stuff, which includes not only the case but also the powder and projectile. That’s why a lot of folks that run it will complain about the dirtiness of it and sometimes corrosion. Cheap ammo will tend to have more issues overall than more expensive ammo. Its great as training or range ammo as it usually goes “bang” (especially mil-surp type ammo), and an occasional FTF is no big deal. There isn’t a lot of “high-end” steel case ammo that I’m aware of.

Steel as a case is generally a bit rougher, so sometimes will bind up in a magazine. Many steel cased ammo manufacturers will add a lubricant or laquer to help avoid this issue.

Many ranges will also prohibit steel cased ammo. Part of it is if they sell off your brass they don’t want steel mixed in. The other part is sometimes the projectile will ruin the backstop.

The reason many folks get jams with steel cased ammo vs brass cased ammo is that brass will slightly expand when shot to “fill” and seal the chamber, whereas steel generally doesn’t expand. So when shooting steel a lot of the carbon, powder, etc will get into the chamber and gunk it up (aka dirty), moreso than when shooting brass. This extra gunk can cause the spent case to stick a little when being extracted which may cause extraction failures.

Firearms built around steel cased (like an AK-47) have a little extra tolerance to avoid that sticking behavior. Those firearms will generally eat pretty much anything you feed it. A well-built AR should eat steel just as well as brass, every Glock I’ve encountered that I’ve tried steel in has worked just fine.

Where you might often get into trouble is mixing steel/brass. If you shoot steel first, gunk up the chamber, then switch to brass, the brass will swell into that gunk and almost definitely get stuck. So if you must switch up steel & brass during a range trip, shoot the brass first then the steel.

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Thanks

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Thanks the way I feel not in hand guns

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What @Harvey said, all of it.

Cheers,

Craig6

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After reading about polymer casing rounds it makes sense. Reduced lead exposure as well as no cook offs. Much lighter too which makes it ideal for military use. Infantry friendly.

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Just a thought. Aks have been used for a long time & many countries use steel cased ammo in them

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