Steel vs. Brass in an AR

[Daryl Licht]

I shot 500+ rounds of 55 gr soft point Wolf WPA through my gun and never had any issues with any failures at all. I've never run any TULA through it. I saw a guy who ran TULA who had CONSTANT stuck cases that stuck so hard he was tearing the rim off the case on attempted ejection.

I try and stick to brass as much as possible but have shot Wolf steel case and wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

How is your friend's rifle chambered? Is it .223, Wylde, or 5.56? I doubt that Russian ammo makers hold the tightest of tolerances on their cases. A commercial spec chamber would likely have trouble with it.

As for the OP's question, I've burned a ton of the zinc plated Silver Bear ammo in my AR's and had no issues at all. I have some Brown Bear to try next time out. It's older lacquer stuff so I'm not sure what to expect, though I suspect it will be OK. Most of the newer steel cased stuff is poly coated, never tried any of it.

 

[AllOut]

I've ran about 1500 rounds of Tula and Wolf 55g fmj this year through my 16" .223 barrel and only had maybe 2 failures and not a single stuck case.
I put about 200 rounds through my 22" heavy .223 wylde barrel in a few weeks ago of the same ammo and it ran flawless.
All I buy is Tula and Wolf Bulk steal cases ammo and shoot the crap out of it.

 

[green_machine2]

all my plinking ammo is monarch steel case. no problems. just frowned upon by some. lol

 

[mr ed]

I shot 500+ rounds of 55 gr soft point Wolf WPA through my gun and never had any issues with any failures at all. I've never run any TULA through it. I saw a guy who ran TULA who had CONSTANT stuck cases that stuck so hard he was tearing the rim off the case on attempted ejection.

I try and stick to brass as much as possible but have shot Wolf steel case and wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

the correct spring and heavier buffer will probably stop that problem and maybe a m-16 bolt carrier.
its trying to unlock before the pressure drops. need to slow the cycle rate down.

 

[ripnbst]

All chiming in on my post: that was just a guy in my group an Oil Capital carbine match. I have no idea what his rifle specs are. I do appreciate your input anyway and next time I see him I will ask him if he's still having problems and make recommendations. Y'all will make me look good

 

[bettingpython]

never mind see video on page 1...

 

[AKguy1985]

I've never had an issue with steel cased ammo in an AR.

 

[O4L]

I have ran 500 rounds of TulAmmo .223 through my M&P15 with no problems at all.

 

[BrandonM]

All chiming in on my post: that was just a guy in my group an Oil Capital carbine match. I have no idea what his rifle specs are. I do appreciate your input anyway and next time I see him I will ask him if he's still having problems and make recommendations. Y'all will make me look good

I think you are talking about me. I have a LOKI 3G rifle. The upper had some issues with all ammo not just steel. The steel is the one that got stuck that day. One xm193 case got stuck a few weeks later. I sent the upper back to LOKI. They checked the head spacing and chamber and didn't see anything wrong so they test fired it. The upper lasted 3 rounds before the chamber ruptured and split the upper receiver. They built me a new one with some upgrades, bolt, and barrel. I haven't shot any steel cases through the new upper only about 100 brass. No issues thus far.

 

[Cowboy2000]

I was shooting my PSA AR at USSA this past weekend. I shot 200 rounds of Federal 5.56 brass ammo with no problems. I ran out of ammo so I went to the main office and bought the cheapest ammo they had. Tula steel 223 ammo. My rifle is stamped for 5.56 ammo. I had three FTF, one was a serious jam, it me a while to untangled it. I am going to stick with 5.56 brass from on.