Stell case ammo in a AR ?

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Hangfire

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I see tons of .223 and 7.62x39 steel cases on the range but I always wondered if in the long run it was bad for the gun........my new M & P ain't no $2000.00 AR but still I don't want to screw it up.

Opinions ?
 

O4L

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I personally don't have a problem with it.

After many thousands of rounds it will put more wear on your barrel but the cost savings over brass will more than pay for a new barrel.

The only issue is that it is usually less accurate compared to good quality ammo.

Here is a Lucky Gunner link for you.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
 

O4L

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Quote from the Lucky Gunner article linked above...

"An important factor to consider is that in the real world, barrels are wear items. They will eventually become unserviceable if you shoot enough. If you plan on shooting a lot, don’t get too attached to your barrel – think of it as a thing that does a job for a certain period of time at a certain cost. When that time is up, change the barrel. The AR-15 is a modular platform, and barrel changes are quite simple.

Think of it this way – if a barrel A costs 50-100% more than barrel B but only delivers the same level of accuracy for 0-50% more time, isn’t it a more financially sensible decision to shoot through more examples of barrel B?"
 

gerhard1

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CZ designs their excellent 527 series of bolt-action carbines around Eastern Bloc ammo. They state as much on their website. Admittedly not an AR or an M&P, but a good sellong point for the CZ 527.

BTW, I have two of them one in 5.56mm/223 an dthe other in 7.62x39. I love them both.
 

rc508pir

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Dont do mag dumps and you should be fine. Getting the barrel hot is where the bi-metal bullets do damage to the barrel.

Stuck cases are the other issue.

1 Dont leave a steel cased cartridge in the chamber as the rifle cools. Will get stuck

2 Clean the chamber periodically when firing, or run the chamber wet
 

kirk1978

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I have had no issues with the steel case stuff....Not a big fan of the lacquer stuff though. Seems to gum things up on my old military guns so I just avoid it on the ARs.
 

dlbleak

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I have no issues running it in my garage builds but higher end guns get brass or home rolled rounds
I have seen 100 yard groups go from minute of softball with steel to minute of golf ball switching to brass though
 

GC7

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Despite them being steel cases, they are a softer variant of steel because it needs to expand into the chamber for consistency and reliability reasons.

But even then, I have never met anyone who wore out their AR barrel. Even the guys who do competitive shooting and shoot thousands of rounds a year aren’t doing regular barrel changes.

So this concern seems immaterial.
 

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