Are steel cases bad for your pistol?

First, cheap steel-case ammo—especially that made in Eastern Europe—tends to utilize cheap powders, dirty Berdan primers and anti-corrosion coatings applied for shipping and long-term storage. All of these components can potentially foul guns at a quicker rate, and to a grimier degree, than top-quality ammo.

Does steel case ammo wear out a barrel?

NO. The projectile that goes down the barrel is copper jacketed, a metal softer than steel. The steel casing containing the copper bullet is loaded into chamber and is extracted from the chamber; at no time does it travel down the barrel and cannot wear it out. Steel casings have no effect on barrel wear.

Will steel case ammo damage your gun?

While I don’t generally recommend steel cased ammo, it’s not going to hurt your rifle in limited amounts. If used exclusively however it will reduce the barrel life by about 4,000-5,000 rounds. The other problem with steel cased ammo is that the cases don’t expand the same way that brass cases do.

Will steel ammo hurt my 9mm?

While I don’t generally recommend steel cased ammo, it’s not going to hurt your rifle in limited amounts. If used exclusively however it will reduce the barrel life by about 4,000-5,000 rounds. It is even worse if you fire a bunch of steel cased ammo then fire brass cased right behind it in a dirty chamber.

Is steel case ammo worse than brass?

Brass ammo is generally considered to be better than steel-cased ammo because it creates a better chamber seal than steel. Thus you have less blowback into the chamber and the receiver. Brass is better at this sealing action because it is more malleable than steel. So, it expands to snugly fit the walls of the chamber.

What’s better to shoot brass or steel?

Brass Ammo Pros & Cons Brass ammo is generally considered to be better than steel-cased ammo because it creates a better chamber seal than steel. Thus you have less blowback into the chamber and the receiver. Brass is better at this sealing action because it is more malleable than steel.

Is steel cased ammo less accurate?

Brass ammo is generally considered to be better than steel-cased ammo because it creates a better chamber seal than steel. It also means a rifle shooting steel-cased ammo will be less reliable in the long run…

Can I use steel-cased ammo in my semi-automatic gun?

Quite simply, if you plan to use inexpensive steel case ammo, also plan to clean your semi-automatic gun more frequently. If your gun tends to reject one brand, try another brand before giving up on steel-cased ammo altogether. A little extra care and attention can keep your gun running on a diet of steel.

How reliable is steel-case ammo?

Most reliability issues associated with steel-case ammunition can be attributed to this fact and not due to the steel case itself. That’s because once a gun becomes heavily fouled, space between the case and chamber wall is reduced. This creates more friction and more pressure that forces the case even harder into an already tighter space.

What’s the difference between steel-case and brass ammo?

Steel and brass contract and expand at different rates; modern semi-autos are designed and tested with brass cartridges. Straight-walled caliber cases have more issues extracting when fouled than tapered case calibers. Cheap, steel-case ammo tends to be less reliable than expensive, brass-cased ammo in semi-auto firearms.

What are the bad things about steel case guns?

The Bad. Extraction Issues: In some firearms, steel case can extract harder or sometimes not at all. This is caused by a combination of factors. Steel is harder than brass so it doesn’t have the elasticity that brass does. When a cartridge is fired, the resulting pressure makes the case expand to the internal dimension of the chamber.