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

Thought I would share since I have not seen anyone post this.

P.S. I realize this is factory ammo, but it goes into comparisons on the affects of the cases and bullet types in the rifles. There have been several threads asking about steel cased ammo recently so I believe this is relevant.

You may not have seen it, but it was posted.

Interesting results which, depending on your preference, could be interpreted either way.

My basic take away from this this is that I am now more educated but my buying and shooting of booth brass and steel will not change.

Thanks for the link.

My own takeaway is that the case material was less relevant than the ammunition manufacturer.  US manufacturers (making brass-cased ammo) produce rounds that are intended to be very consistent and to meet specific standards.  European (Russian) makers using steel cases have different standards.  The data show that, while Brown Bear was not as consistent as Federal ammo, it was significantly better than both the Wolf and Tula in terms of function and reliability - and it was the only lacquered steel ammo they used, yet it did not "gum up the gun" and cause stoppages because of the coating.

For precision work, buy precision ammunition.   For range time, buy ammunition that lets you get lots of trigger time and that still performs.  I will continue to buy Barnaul-made ammo (Brown Bear or Monarch) for range time.  I will continue to collect Wolf and Tula .223 cases to reload.  But I am still unlikely to buy Wolf or Tula on purpose...

My takeaway is that the bullet jacket material is MUCH more important than the case material.

These results are also incomplete, as many other factorys were not taken into consideration such as barrel cost, gunsmith time to replace (if you don't have the tools/ambitition/knowledge to DIY), as well as how much longer the factory barrel WOULD have lasted.  IIRC, it was not shot out by the end of this.  If it would have made it to 15k?  20k?  That significantly alters their financial argument.  Especially if you have an expensive barrel.