Introduction to Steel-Cased Ammunition

When most people think of rifle or pistol cartridges, they think of a shiny brass case with a copper jacketed bullet sitting on top. However, steel-cased ammo has become popular in recent years primarily due to the substantial price difference between it and brass-cased ammo. Most commonly, steel cased ammo is found in popular calibers such as .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, 7.62×39, and 9mm, but it can be found in other calibers as well. Common brands of steel-cased ammo are TulaAmmo, Brown Bear, and Wolf. All of these are made in Russia, and many times, the same ammo can just be repacked into a different box. Some people shoot nothing but steel cased through their firearms, while others will not touch the stuff. So, should you shoot steel cased ammo through your rifle or pistol? Or should you stay away from it?

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Benefits

The primary, and really only, benefit of shooting steel cased ammo is the price. Pre-Covid, steel cased .223 ammo could be found 10-50 cents less per round than brass cased ammo. This may not seem like a whole lot, but if you are doing a lot of shooting, it will add up quickly. With the current supply and demand issues when it comes to ammo, steel-cased rounds can be found for less than half the price of certain brass-cased cartridges.  Also, I have found it easier to find steel cased ammo as opposed to brass-cased ammo on store shelves. Availability may be different depending on where you live.

Negatives

One reason people give for not shooting steel case-ammo is that it damages their rifle or pistol. While it is false that steel cased ammo does damage to your rifle, it may decrease barrel life slightly. This is not actually due to the steel case, but the Bi-metal steel jacket of the bullet that most steel-cased rounds have. Depending on the caliber, barrel life can usually be decreased anywhere from 3-15 percent. Higher velocity bullets, such as the .223 Remington, will usually cause more wear. 

Another common reason people give for not shooting steel-cased ammo is how dirty it is. And it is true that it is more dirty than brass. The reason is because steel is not as malleable as brass and therefore does not create as good of a seal between the shell casing and the chamber. This causes additional blowback, which causes more residue buildup in the action. To me, this is not a big problem because I regularly clean my rifle. But if you skimp on cleaning your guns, you might want to be careful if doing a lot of shooting with steel cased ammo as carbon buildup may start to cause reliability issues.

Steel cased ammo is non reloadable. For most people, it doesn’t really matter at all. But for people who reload, shooting steel cased ammo may actually be more expensive. This is because brass cased ammo can be reloaded multiple times, and it is possible to reload ammo for around the same price per round as steel cased ammo can be bought.

Accuracy

Steel cased ammo is definitely not known for its accuracy. In my own experience, the accuracy of steel cased ammo in my rifles really is not that much worse than lower-end  brass cased ammo. However, this is in large part due to your particular firearm. I have found that my AR does quite well with steel case, where as my Mini-14 has trouble holding 4 MOA. I have also found some deviations is accuracy with different brands of ammo. Tula has performed the worst in my firearms, and Brown Bear has performed the best. And, just like with any ammo, bullet weight and twist rate are also big factors when it comes to accuracy. 

Reliability

I have had very few issues with reliability when using steel-cased ammo. All of my AR’s and my Mini-14 eat up steel cased ammo with the same, or better, reliability as they do with brass-cased rounds. Keep in mind that cleaning your guns is more important when shooting mainly steel-cased ammo. And you will start to notice reliability problems if your firearm is not properly maintained. 

Conclusion

I personally shoot pretty much all steel-cased ammo when it comes to plinking and occasional target practice. With the ammo supply issue nowadays, steel-cased ammo is significantly cheaper than brass-cased, sometimes less than half the price. However, I keep it out of my precision AR’s and I do not hunt with it. As for the increased wear on the barrel, my logic is that I will have saved plenty of money by shooting steel cased ammo that I could buy a new barrel and still be ahead. The only way that shooting steel casing would not save you money is if you reload your own ammo. Even then, is the small savings worth the time and patience that it takes to reload?