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Posted: 3/11/2008 2:46:10 PM EDT
| I was told that you aren't supposed to shoot steel case ammo through ARs, what is the basis for this and is it true? I seem to see a lot of guys shooting steel case. Is it OK? |
You mean more than once a day now. Zhukov is slackin' man  SHoot all the WOLF your heart desires. It is great for the $$223SAINT |
Nah - you're all so well trained by now, I hardly have to do anything. 
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I still think that some people post up ?'s like this even after reading search results ect. just to have the answer PERSONALLY addressed to them. Kinda like getting a second opinion just to be SURE. Heck, if you spend a grand or more on a weapon, I can kinda sympathize with wanting to hear "it will be fine" again. |
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Easy guys, first of all thanks for the replies. Second, I did do a search, I typed in "steel case" and nothing came up. I went through some recent threads and didn't see anything. Later I found out I performed the search wrong, I only searched the past 24hrs so nothing came up. So I did at least try to search for something before I posted it. Like I said, thanks for the input. |
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As you'll find once you learn the proper search terms, steel cases are not at all a problem. They aren't as springy as brass cases so you WILL have some soot on the cases and in your chamber, but that's just a cleaning issue. Likewise steel jacketed bullets won't hurt your barrel because the steel used in jackets is really, really soft. It's good that you question these "thou shall nots" that you hear, keep it up. Just spend a lot of time reading here to pick up the vocabulary and vernacular.
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Fair enough - I'll modify the Ammo FAQ to cover this later today. |
Gas-key loose? Gas-tube wear due to misalignment? Gas-rings all where they should be (meaning are all 3 there, alignment doesn't matter, but with weak ammo like wolf, you may NEED all 3 in place, I know with 5.56 ammo, most rifles will work with just 1 or 2 on the bolt). Properly lubed? Cleaned the chamber with a chamber brush recently? Check up on this stuff and you might be able to "enjoy" Wolf again |
It was already covered in #13, but I expanded on it a little bit. I'll probably pull a couple of sections of the Ammo FAQ into the Ammo Oracle when I update it later this spring. |
Yeah, I had read #13, I just didn't know why I was told by CMMG not to shoot steel case. I didn't know if it was safe in all ARs. I understand now so thanks to everyone. I know how annoying it is to answer the same questions over and over. Next time when I search I will pay more attention and search past 30 days instead of past 24hrs. |
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The only problems I have ever heard about concerning steel case or Wolf ammo, had to do with it being a little underpowered but never doing any damage or excess wear to any rifle or handgun. I shoot a little bit of Wolf on occasion but also use it to test any new upper I've built. It being an underpowered round makes it a good test of the gas system. |
Wolf tends to cause more problems than some other ammo (stuck cases, ammo too weak to completely cycle bolt, etc.), so the rifle manufacturer gives himself a "carte blanche" to dismiss any problems arising from the use of that ammo. Kinda weak, if you ask me. Wolf has never KB'd a rifle as far as I know. |
There's nothing magical about steel cases. They have been successfully used for something like 90+ years in autoloading weapons, and were the staple of the Wehrmacht for their whole run. No chromed chambers or bores, no fancy coatings, just plain steel with a light coat of lacquer, and they were "quite successful." The Ordnance Corps experimented with steel cases in both .45ACP and .30M1 Carbine and it was not their performance that limited their use. |
I havent ever seen brown or gold bear for .223 since I have owned my rifle (got it back in october '07). However, with my rifle came a information card saying what ammo to buy and what ammo to not buy...Bushmaster says shooting wolf wont void the warranty of their rifles. |
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