I was just wondering, Has anyone tried to reload steel cased ammo? I kept some wolf empty cases just in case the world ran out of ammo.

Quoted: I was just wondering, Has anyone tried to reload steel cased ammo? I kept some wolf empty cases just in case the world ran out of ammo.

Some one on this board posted a link on reloading the ammo and had relativly good results.


I'll see if I can find the link to the thread.

Found it...

Archived LINK

I wouldn't...

I might be wrong, but Wolf might be Berdan primed, which just about shuts down reloading.  As cheap as this crap is, why would you want to reload it...shoot it an dlet it lie where it falls.

One round, It was a mistake on my part but since you asked.
Its was .45 ACP. 230 fmj, 4.8gr of win 231, cci primer.

The one round worked fine out of a well worn P220. I gave the case a once over before and after and notice no change.

It is posible to do.

You need a berdan decappiong tool for sure. You might need different primers.  I'm not sure if Wolf crimps in the primers. If so, removing that crimp on a few hundred steel cases would be a bit of work.  And would remove the finish leaving a place for rust to form.

It would certainly be harder to resize. You'd need to find a good lube to use.  Some of the case's finish would probly come off in the die. That would make a mess and create a spot were rust could form.

If the case mouth is rough even brass will remove some copper from the jacket.  Steel would be worse.  If you try to polish the mouth you'l leave another spot for rust to form.

If you're willing to spend money on tools and put out extra effort to produce ammo that will rust, have at it.  I'm sure not going to do it.

Not worth the effort to reload steel cased trash.

Berdan primers are totally different than boxer primers.

Berdan have no anvil. There are also 2 flash holes, 1 across from the other and a "mound" in the
center of the case that acts as the anvil. The primer fits over the mound.

Boxer primers are 'self contained' meaning there is an outer shell, primer compound, then the
anvil. The brass has a 'pocket' that the primer fits into and a singular flash hole in the center.

De-priming tools, and primers are available, but as a previous post indicates, steel may not
re-form properly to the minimun case dimension and the wear and tear on the dies is not cost
effective. Especially considering the cost of 'brass' cases.

Hope this helps

Art

I reloaded 100 Chinese steel cases about 10 years ago when you could get RWS berdan primers and had no problems. They resized just fine as the steel used to mfg. them is very very soft. The copper plating and lacquer coatings of the cases is what came into contact with the dies not the steel of the cases.
Also have reloaded a handful of Wolf 45acp and S&B 223 steel cases. Both were boxer primed and had no problems. I reloaded the Wolf 45acp cases twice and then left them lay on the ground at the range ater checking them for splits. They had started to rust on the inside as they were left in my  garage for several months between loadings. After firing them I got to thinking the idea of iron oxide(rust) blowing down the barrel of my pistol didn't seem to be a good thing so I didn't load them any more.
RWS berdan primers have not been imported in over 5 years and the Russian large rifle berdan primers that PMC imported last year are sold out. So finding berdan primers is going to be difficult.

I've reloaded the Wolf .45 and .223. I don't have the tools to do berdan primers so I haven't done any of the 9mm or X39 calibers.

I've also reloaded the older S&B steel .223 cases that look just like Wolf polymer but are many years older.

My world isn't going to run out of brass anytime soon so I don't do it on a regular basis but goo to know it can be done.

Quoted: I've reloaded the Wolf .45 and .223. I don't have the tools to do berdan primers so I haven't done any of the 9mm or X39 calibers. I've also reloaded the older S&B steel .223 cases that look just like Wolf polymer but are many years older. My world isn't going to run out of brass anytime soon so I don't do it on a regular basis but goo to know it can be done.

If you've done any real quantity, did you notice unusual wear on your reloading equipment?

FYI, Wolf .223 is Boxer primed....

Quoted: Quoted: I've reloaded the Wolf .45 and .223. I don't have the tools to do berdan primers so I haven't done any of the 9mm or X39 calibers. I've also reloaded the older S&B steel .223 cases that look just like Wolf polymer but are many years older. My world isn't going to run out of brass anytime soon so I don't do it on a regular basis but goo to know it can be done. If you've done any real quantity, did you notice unusual wear on your reloading equipment?

Haven't noticed any wear on my equipment. All the brass cased reloads I've done after have gaged just fine. The cases are polymer coated and this provides lubrication between the case and the dies. I use carbide dies for the .45 stuff and I don't do it often but have experimented with multiple reloads on some cases and discarded the .45 cases after 8 reloads. They seemed to work just as well as brass for the number of times they were reloaded. No splits and the primers stayed in the pockets just fine.
Some people use the steel case pistol reloads when they don't want to or cannot reclaim their brass.