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Posted: 10/1/2009 11:19:33 AM EDT
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My last trip to the range I took some Wolf Steel case .223 to fire. This is the first time I have used this ammo. After several magazines, I had a case remain stuck completely in the chamber while the bolt cycled. Had to hammer it out with a cleaning rod. A few rounds later, same thing again. The RSO at the range told me that the laquer on the steel cases will tend to build up in the chamber and cause cases to stick. This seems to make sense, but I've never heard of this problem before.
Has anyone else experienced this before. Is the problem the ammo, or could it be something else like a weak extractor? |
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Wow, I had not seen this until now! That was news to me, thanks. |
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Quoted: Quoted: lacquer won't come off, gun store hooey This. And just for arguments sake, I ran a nonstop 250rd belt of lacquered Wolf through an RPD - it didn't flinch and, the spent cases showed 0 sign of the coating 'melting'. just sayin' I flew to a carbine class once so I only had about 1000 rounds of american eagle stashed at my wife's apartment. I spent a day driving all over and all I could find was wolf. I blew through probably 1400 rounds of wolf and some of the AE over a weekend. Never had a problem. Of course there are obviously ARs that won't seem to run it. I talked to the Wolf guys at the Shot Show once. They claimed it was the waterproof coating around the top of the shell/bullet that would heat up and come off but that they had discontinued using it. Course that was a couple of salesmen, so who knows. |
| Steel cases cannot seal the chamber as effectively as brass can-steel isn't nearly as springy as brass. So when you fire steel-cased ammunition, some soot and gunk in the gasses gets deposited inside the chamber. When the ammo is not so powerful, you wind up with more gunk building up more quickly. Hotter steel ammo like Brown Bear is usually not a big deal, but Wolf is pretty wimpy, so more gunk stays there and slows down the cases. Sometimes it makes them just plain stick. Keeping a chamber brush handy while firing steel-cased ammo is a Very Good Idea, no matter who makes the ammo, but using it regularly is Very Important when you're firing Wolf. |
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Good info, guys. FWIW, it was Wolf Black box. I had heard the bit about the laquer melting and gumming up the gas tube before (obvious B.S.), but it didn't seem outside of the realm of possibility the the case coating was "softening up" and getting sticky. The only other commie ammo I have fired has been through my Mosin-Nagant.
So is the consensus that this sometimes happens to Wolf, but Brown and Silver Bear are GTG? I just can't afford to shoot M193 all the time. 
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Quoted:
So is the consensus that this sometimes happens to Wolf, but Brown and Silver Bear are GTG? I just can't afford to shoot M193 all the time. I'd say a qualified "yes" to that. Keep the chamber clean in any case, but Barnaul's (the "Bears") products seem to be loaded with better powder that seems to burn more completely than what Wolf uses, resulting in cleaner rounds that generate less gunk and thus fewer problems. And of course Barnaul ammo is hotter than Wolf, which helps too. I would not be able to say "do mag dumps all day with it," because I think you'll still find enough buildup to be a problem with small diameter rounds like .223/5.56 after firing enough, but keeping an eye on the chamber and cleaning it a bit now and then while at the range should keep you going all day. |
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So is the consensus that this sometimes happens to Wolf, but Brown and Silver Bear are GTG? I just can't afford to shoot M193 all the time.
I can't afford M193 all the time either....Solution to high priced ammo I'm running about a 3:1 ratio of Spikes to M193. My dilemma with Wolf is that I'm currently running a 10" piston rifle as my fun gun. Wolf just isn't enough to ensure that it will cycle every time. The other aspect is price...the absolute best price on Wolf is about .27 a rd delivered and I'm finding M193 Privi for about .34 a rd. Just can't justify the wolf anymore. I'd rather run the .22 for a few sessions and then run it hard with M193. Seems to work out fine, not ideal but pretty cost effective. |
 there is an easy soulution to this problem. a well cleaned and lubed chamber will greatly reduce or elininate this problem. i found out about the stuck case/wolf problem the same way you did. i put about 120 rounds of the stuff through my m4 two days ago without a problem. just keeep the chamber clean and run your ar wet.
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Quoted:
Good info, guys. FWIW, it was Wolf Black box. I had heard the bit about the laquer melting and gumming up the gas tube before (obvious B.S.), but it didn't seem outside of the realm of possibility the the case coating was "softening up" and getting sticky. The only other commie ammo I have fired has been through my Mosin-Nagant. So is the consensus that this sometimes happens to Wolf, but Brown and Silver Bear are GTG? I just can't afford to shoot M193 all the time. I don't believe that Wolf Black box is lacquer, it's polymer, so lacquer shouldn't be the issue. What color are the cases? Grey, then they're polymer coated and should be ok, but I have one rifle with a match chamber that will jam on them reliably. I have a bushie that'll eat anything. |
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Quoted:
Used it once couple times at the range, 55gr FMJ in Colt carbine, HBAR and RRA carbine. Kept sticking in chamber of the Colt carbine and RRA. ... When I got home and cleaned my gun was dirtier than normal. Have not used since. My experience. After a couple blown primers and a few FTEs over the course of less than 250 rounds on a clean/wet weapon, I've sworn off Wolf for my RRA carbine. |
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