Steel-cased ammunition in a revolver?

[Nathanael_Greene]

I just did a gunbot search on .38 special ammunition (http://www.gunbot.net/ammo/pistol/38special/) and it returned a couple of hits with steel-cased ammunition.

Maybe I've been in my cave a little too long, but I've never heard of steel-cased .38 special ammunition.

Personally, I'd be a little reluctant to use it. Anyone out there tried it?

 

[HoosierQ]

Steel case works just fine in revolvers. By design, it should work well in auto but lots of folks think differently. However, all the things they don't like about it in an auto would not apply in a revolver except maybe lacquer causing cases to stick a bit in the cylinder.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

You might also find your cylinder gets extra fouling due to the case not expanding and sealing during firing as a brass case does.

I would also be concerned with the cases rusting if you were to carry the gun (or store it) loaded with steel cased rounds in any kind of humid environment.

 

[C0untZer0]

You also might find it harder to eject than brass

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was wondering--whether the steel cases would stick.

I remember the old Blazer aluminum-cased ammunition. That was kind of nasty, but at least the aluminum was a little easier to work with.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I shot steel back when it was cheap. Now the few cents it seems to run per round less doesn't make it a buy for me.

I like it when I know I will lose my brass or on some ranges who keep all MY brass. Since neither of those would happen with a revolver I think I would stick to brass since I can take it all home.

Doubt there will be any issues other than the few mentioned.

 

[jski]

I shot Tula steel case ammo in my .30 Carbine Blackhawk and it as an unmitigated disaster. Trying to get the spent case from the chambers literally required a hammer. It was miserable.

I now exclusively use brass, Starline brass for my reloads. The spent brass cases simply fall from the chamber and those that don't require almost no effort to get out.

 

[TruthTellers]

Haven't tried steel in a revolver, but wouldn't be afraid to. I'd imagine the steel won't conform to the chamber as well as brass or aluminum and will likely leave more residue in the chamber, but I expect cheap Tula or Bear ammo to use dirtier powders anyway.

 

[ROAshooter]

I haven't tried steel in a revolver, but see no need to.

 

[L-2]

I'd also bought a case of Tula steel-cased .38 Sp. and it kept sticking in my 642 S&W. I used a mallet with a piece of wood, which I carry to the range, to hit the end of the ejector rod to extract the casings.

I won't bother with steel-cased revolver ammo again. It just wasn't worth the few dollars of savings.

Sidenote: I'm also getting some failures to fire with Armscor brass-cased .38 & .357. I'll need to remind myself not to buy this brand again either after I shoot up this 2nd case I'd bought.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

A bit of a non sequitur, but during WWII steel cased 45 ACP ammunition was manufactured both by the Frankford Arsenal and by the Evansville Arsenal. I have a few rounds of each in my collection, all dated 1943. Eventually over 3 billion (yes billion) rounds were produced at the Evansville plant, most of them steel cased.

http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/bullets-by-the-billions-chrysler-switches-world-war-ii-production-from-cars-to-cartridges/

 

[Tallball]

My friend bought an SP101 recently. I gave him tw boxes of brass 38 special range ammo as a "welcome to the gun world" gift. He also wanted to try 357 in it. He bought the cheapest box that they had a Wally World (I think that's where he went). It happened to be steel cased.

The brass rounds ejected easily. The steel ones had to be forced out one by one with a cleaning rod. I have shot steel cased ammo out of my SKS and Makarov before, but I am now leery of shooting any of it out of my revolvers.

 

[COK]

I picked up a box a while back not realizing it was steel and ran it through a GP-100 with no issues.

 

[C0untZer0]

I can't eject the spent cases of Wolf ammo just using the ejector rod of my Charter Arms PITBULL. I know its a different setup than 38 Special, but I needed a wooden dowel to tap the cases out.

It took quite a bit of effort to tap those out.

 

[Jim NE]

You might also find your cylinder gets extra fouling due to the case not expanding and sealing during firing as a brass case does.

I would also be concerned with the cases rusting if you were to carry the gun (or store it) loaded with steel cased rounds in any kind of humid environment.

Hey. interesting thought about the rust. That never occurred to me. Thanks for the heads up...I guess you Florida folks would be wary of that. I'm guessing some oil around the casing before putting it in the cylinder might help.

Anyway, I never see .38 steel ammo. Wish I did, because I'm one of those people who's less than thrilled about steel ammo in my semi-autos, but wouldn't mind it in revolvers. I'd like to use steel in .38 Specials because I'm assuming it's less money, and I could never figure out why .38 Special factory ammo had to cost more than 9mm or .40.

 

[Slamfire]

I put a drop of oil on my steel case 223, roll the rounds around in my hand and get them all well lubed. They function fine in a AR15. Steel case pistol ammunition, I would not use the stuff dry in an auto pistol, but in a revolver, why not? All you have to do is punch out the cases with a dowel if they are too sticky.