Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by allanm on August 26, 2016 at 7:28

I think you will find a full spectrum of opinions Jeremy, from I love it to I hate it.

I have not used aluminum but would have no problem doing so. A friend was very anti steel case when I talked about it, saying it would wear the feed ramp, barrel etc more than brass because it is harder. My response was that it is mild steel and unlikely to do anything much to hardened steel, stainless, chrome lined etc.

I have used Wolf steel case exclusively in an AR-15 I built in 7.62x39 with no issues yet. Admittedly, a little under 1,000 rounds to date, but no signs of wear or scratching of any form.

I know somebody else who uses nothing Wolf steel case in a Glock 19 9mm, with never an issue yet and I would bet he has put many thousands of rounds through it. So far I have found decent prices on brass (Freedom Munitions) and not used steel case in my Glock, but I would have no hesitation there either. I do like the idea of aluminum if it is able to handle the pressures, because of slightly reduced weight, and would have to believe the makers have tested appropriately. For typical handgun carry I would say weight is not an issue, but think of a possible weight reduction for combat use in aluminum if it can handle pressures of rifle ammo.

I don't reload (but used to many years ago) so not being able to easily reload steel is no concern to me. My understanding from talking to reloaders is not so much that steel case can't be reloaded, but that they typically come from Russia or Ukraine (Wolf and Tul) and are Berdan primed which is a different format than the Boxer primers used in other parts of the world, that are not as easy to punch out and re-prime.

Some people also talk of Berdan primed ammo using corrosive powder, but that's generally old surplus ammo from way back. Wolf, Tul and others will tell you now their powder is non corrosive, and I have not seen any issues to indicate that it is.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on August 26, 2016 at 17:02

Thank you for your valuable input Allan. I don't see anything you said that I would disagree with. Would love to hear other opinions as well. I have used mostly brass so far, with the exception of only a few rounds of aluminum (maybe 100). I recently bought 100 rounds of steel cased 9mm rounds and plan to take the wife and kids out shooting. Only my boys have ever shot a gun (besides myself) and the have haven't shot many. I would really like to get them all comfortable with handling and shooting them. The steel cased rounds seem to be cheaper than anything else I have found and am considering buying many more boxes for the family to practice with, if most everyone agrees, there is no down side to it.

Permalink Reply by allanm on August 27, 2016 at 11:24

Just one obvious thing to bear in mind for steel case ammo Jeremy - storage if you stockpile some, becomes more important than brass. Brass will tarnish, but it won't rust. Keep steel case ammo dry, and preferably cool, and it will last many years. Get it wet and it's going to rust. But my Wolf 7.62 Polyformance is in theory polymer coated to protect it from corrosion. Some people say stay away from lacquer coated, claiming it will melt in the barrel and become sticky and cause issues. I'm not convinced that is true, but stick with Wolf Polyformance because I've come to know and trust them, and as you say, generally lower cost than others.

Flip side, I do prefer to buy made in the US if I can rather than imported Chinese or others, but that all depends. 

Don't ever spray ammo with oil to try to give it a protective coating. :-) At the shooting range where I volunteer as an RSO (range safety officer) we have a misfires can that people throw problem ammo into. There's always a bit of oil in the bottom, the idea being that oil seeps over time into the case and makes the primer and powder unusable.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on August 27, 2016 at 20:11

I think the main reasons for using aluminum and steel for cartridge cases is cost.  I have never seen aluminum cases for high powered rifle ammo (not to say absolutely that there are none).  I personally don't think it could withstand those pressures.  I have used aluminum .38 special ammo with no problems.

Berdan primed ammo is more difficult to reload.  The Berdan priming system uses two smaller flash holes whereas the boxer system uses one larger flash hole centered in the primer pocket.  An interesting bit of trivia.  The Berdan system which is used in Europe was developed in the US.  The Boxer system which is used in the US was developed in Europe.

I used to have a break open single shot .223 rifle.  It would not reliably eject lacquer coated cases.  Sometimes I had to punch them out from the muzzle.  It would reliably eject non coated cases.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on August 28, 2016 at 19:46

Thank you Allan and Charles, very helpful info.

Permalink Reply by allanm on August 28, 2016 at 20:07

One thing I have done recently Jeremy, and I mentioned Freedom Munitions before - I have bought a good amount of 9mm ammo from them. I started out with Hornady Critical defense hollow points as every day carry defensive ammo, but that's expensive. Of course you want quality, reliable ammo for every day carry, and lower cost ammo for practice. But at something like $25 for 20 (or maybe 25?) rounds, you don't want to waste that on practice. But you do want to be sure it feeds reliably, and performs with similar recoil etc to your practice ammo.

Then I discovered Freedom Munitions (no I don't own any shares!) and buy from them a fair bit. Their prices are good, shipping is fair. New customers generally get free shipping on the entire first order, and they frequently advertise flat rate $5, or $7.50 shipping no matter the order size, and frequent specials like 5% off a particular caliber

What I like in 9mm from them, is to get their 115 grain practice ammo, and their 147 grain Hornady XTP ammo - so I have the benefit of high quality proven projectiles, and the same weight and handling characteristics for both defense and practice.

And their Hornady XTP loads are a lot lower cost than genuine Hornady - so I can afford to shoot some off every now and then to ensure reliability. Not that I have had a problem with any ammo, as a gut who influenced me when I was leaning towards buying a Glock said, "my Glock eats whatever I feed it". I have found the same to be true for me. Never a problem yet.

Permalink Reply by allanm on August 28, 2016 at 20:08

I initially said 115 grain - I actually meant 147 grain.

allanm said:

One thing I have done recently Jeremy, and I mentioned Freedom Munitions before - I have bought a good amount of 9mm ammo from them. I started out with Hornady Critical defense hollow points as every day carry defensive ammo, but that's expensive. Of course you want quality, reliable ammo for every day carry, and lower cost ammo for practice. But at something like $25 for 20 (or maybe 25?) rounds, you don't want to waste that on practice. But you do want to be sure it feeds reliably, and performs with similar recoil etc to your practice ammo.

Then I discovered Freedom Munitions (no I don't own any shares!) and buy from them a fair bit. Their prices are good, shipping is fair. New customers generally get free shipping on the entire first order, and they frequently advertise flat rate $5, or $7.50 shipping no matter the order size, and frequent specials like 5% off a particular caliber

What I like in 9mm from them, is to get their 115 grain practice ammo, and their 147 grain Hornady XTP ammo - so I have the benefit of high quality proven projectiles, and the same weight and handling characteristics for both defense and practice.

And their Hornady XTP loads are a lot lower cost than genuine Hornady - so I can afford to shoot some off every now and then to ensure reliability. Not that I have had a problem with any ammo, as a gut who influenced me when I was leaning towards buying a Glock said, "my Glock eats whatever I feed it". I have found the same to be true for me. Never a problem yet.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on August 28, 2016 at 20:30

Thanks again Allan. I have heard of Freedom Munitions but haven't bought anything from them yet.