I bought an Olympic AR about six years ago and the dealer told me I would be better off not to shoot steel cased ammo through it. I didn't ask him why just took his advice and never have. The rifle has worked fine but I wanted to see if anybody could tell me what the drawbacks might be using the steel cased rounds.
Ummm, if they are lacquer coated, they can gunk up the chamber over time sometimes, but that can be remedied with good 'ole fashioned cleaning. Mine has seen mostly steel cased ammo. IMO, steel cased ammo really isn't bad. What you DO need to watch for is corrosive ammo, though (which is also usually steel cased). Shooting corrosive ammo means you should give your gun a good cleaning basically every time you shoot it, otherwise, the barrel rifling and chamber will likely degrade much faster.
Shoot 'em! Keep it cleaned. Anyone that tells you the steel will ruin your gun is full of it.
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Steel-cased ammo will wear a barrel out faster than brass-cased ammo - so your barrel might wear out in a couple thousand fewer rounds - and since most barrels will last to somewhere between 10k and 20k rounds, the average shooter won't ever experience a shot-out barrel unless you're using corrosive ammo (and even then - I doubt seriously that very many AR owners would ever even get to the point where they noticed it even if they never cleaned it since most AR owners never even get to 1000rds).
Yes the steel used in the bullet-casing is softer than the steel in the chamber of the gun, but tires are softer than pavement, and with enough time, pressure (weight), and use, they will eventually cause enough friction to wear out pavement - if tires were made of a slightly harder substance, guess what - they would wear out the road faster (but hardly noticeable).
I wouldn't do it if I were competing with the gun and it was going to see 10k-20k rounds in a few years. I also wouldn't do it a whole lot if you were worried terribly about accuracy.
Yes the steel used in the bullet-casing is softer than the steel in the chamber of the gun, but tires are softer than pavement, and with enough time, pressure (weight), and use, they will eventually cause enough friction to wear out pavement - if tires were made of a slightly harder substance, guess what - they would wear out the road faster (but hardly noticeable).
I wouldn't do it if I were competing with the gun and it was going to see 10k-20k rounds in a few years. I also wouldn't do it a whole lot if you were worried terribly about accuracy.
Normally, I don't chime in on these types of threads because I usually have less experience than those that are already posting. But I have to ask this.
Are you talking about steel jacketed bullets? I've never seen steel jacketed bullets. Steel "cases" shouldn't affect a barrel, ever, as the case never enters the barrel.
I believe he was referring to throat erosion, which is part of the barrel.
Okay, I see. The case sliding up into the barrel constantly could enlarge that opening. Thanks for helping me out. When I see talk of barrel damage, I instantly think "lands and grooves".
Thanks again.
Although mild steel jacketed bullets washed in copper do exist.
Never used any of the laquer coated stuff in my AR's but have burned plenty of the Silver Bear Stuff and never had a problem.
I bought my Olympic and '04 and I've shot thousands of rounds of steel cased, black box wolf thru it.
I clean it once maybe twice a month depending how much I've shot. Never had a problem.
I clean it once maybe twice a month depending how much I've shot. Never had a problem.
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