My FFL told me that steel core ammo is not good for the AR15, is that right?  In particular he had some Czech made ammo.  He said it would mess up the barrel.  Thank you.

Quoted: My FFL told me that steel core ammo is not good for the AR15, is that right?  In particular he had some Czech made ammo.  He said it would mess up the barrel.  Thank you.

Time to find a new FFL.

ETA:  Keep the FFl if he has good prices, ignore his ammo advice.

Oh my God.  Anyone want to take 15,000 rounds of M855 off my hands.  Don't want it ruining my AR barrels  BTW, Tromatic is right.

Quoted: My FFL told me that steel core ammo is not good for the AR15, is that right?  In particular he had some Czech made ammo.  He said it would mess up the barrel.  Thank you.

I'd ask him if he runs rubber pistons in the cylinders of his car engine.

Sure he didnt mean steel cased? That would at least be arguable.

Quoted: Oh my God.  Anyone want to take 15,000 rounds of M855 off my hands.

I'll take it, heck I'll even pay you but not that much because I hear that stuff will ruin your barrel.


Is it possible he meant steal jacket and not steal core?

He is probably talking about S&B copper washed steel bullet ammo. As long as it can can be impressed by the rifling as easily as copper jacketed I can't see the big difference. If it just has the steel penetrator inside there is no diference on the outside, and the steel never touches anything.

Soft steel bullet jackets aren't any worse than tough gilding metal bullet jackets on rifling.  Note the term "soft."  You can make steel that you can mark with your thumbnail, or steel that's so hard it can't be easily machined with normal tools.  Bullet jackets out of steel are nothing new, and should be no problem at all.

Steel cores in bullets don't make any difference to the rifle.  How could they?  The bullet core never interacts in any way with the rifle.

Steel cartridge cases are probably no big deal either, except if you use older Wolf with super-tripple lacquer coatings; these tend to leave a lot of lacquer in the chamber and are a pain because cases eventually stick.

As noted above, don't pay too much attention to an FFL's opinions about ammo (or anything, really).  Having an FFL means that the person has paid a fee and maybe has some experience in selling guns, nothing more.

Quoted: My FFL told me that steel core ammo is not good for the AR15, is that right?  In particular he had some Czech made ammo.  He said it would mess up the barrel.  Thank you.

 Thanks for answers.  The make is Sellier & Bellot.  It appears to be copper jacketed.

Quoted: Quoted: My FFL told me that steel core ammo is not good for the AR15, is that right?  In particular he had some Czech made ammo.  He said it would mess up the barrel.  Thank you.  Thanks for answers.  The make is Sellier & Bellot.  It appears to be copper jacketed.

The S&B jacket will pull a magnet.  Not sure what's its made of.