Is steel casing worth reloading?

[elkhuntfever]

I acquired a few 9mm cases marked Talammo? which looked to be steel. Are these worth reloading?

Jim

[1Shirt]

NO!
1shirt!

[km101]

Steel does not reload, as it is too hard to resize properly. Trash it!

[historicfirearms]

You can reload steel casings. Do a little google searching online. It's probably not worth doing with 9mm unless in survival mode. I've kept all the 223 and 9mm steel casings for a rainy day. Until things get real bad, best to stick with brass.

[BCRider]

I would expect the finish on the outside of the steel cases I've seen to gum up the dies pretty quickly.

Also before you were to even bother to try check the inside flash hole(s) to see if there is one hole or three. One indicates a Boxer primer which we're used to reloading and three smaller holes indicates a Berdan primer which requires fancy stuff to de-cap and proper Berdan primers instead of our typical Boxer primers.

I've done a test on about 20 to 30 rounds of aluminium reloads. THey worked fine and as a result I've got a bunch of collected aluminium 9's saved up. At some point I'll load and use them for matches where I can't pick up my brass. But I'll mark the heads with a felt pen to show they were reloaded and not use them again. Once only as the aluminium fatigues sooner than brass.

[littlejack]

I have reloaded Wolf steel 45acp cases without a hitch. No problems whatsoever. I do NOT use my SDB press. I use the Lee carbide sizer die, with some Hornaday One Shot dry lube sprayed on them. You can size without it but, I used it because I had it.
I do not know where folks get the information that "steel" cannot be reloaded, but it is not true. It also shoots just fine.
I plan on reloading all I can pick up, and put it away for ????????
Regards
Jack

[MtGun44]

Hogwash. Steel in .45 ACP reloads just fine IF IT IS BOXER PRIMED. I have
not personally done this with 9mm, but know of no reason why it should not
work as well.

Look at the inside of the cases. If there are two flashholes, it is berdan and
very difficult to work with, recommend tossing. If one flashhole, it is boxer
and can be reloaded with normal tools. There is a bit more force required to
size the cases. I do NOT go looking for or intentionally pick up steel cases,
have PLENTY of brass ones in .45 ACP, but occasionally a few find their way
into the mix and they work just fine. Used to cull but don't worry any more.

Bill

[BD]

I've also loaded a fair number of steel cased .45acp, not necessarily on purpose. I guess if they're not rusty they just get by me. I don't think they last as long as they are disproportionately represented in the cases I cull for split mouths.
BD

[jp99]

As has been said it's not so much the steel case that you have to worry about it's the Berdan primer. You can get Berdan primers on occasion, however I have also seen people remove the berdan priming system and converting it to boxer primed. Takes a lot of work but is doable.

Regards,

JP99

[izzyjoe]

i too have loaded 45acp wolf cases, i would not admit it for awhile, it was one of my kept secret's. i pick up all that i can find, then i size them with an old RCBS die that is not carbide. i use Imperial wax, and they work like a champ. the cool thing is i don't mind losing a case or two in the grass.

[km101]

OK, I mis-spoke. It CAN be done. In my estimation it is not worth the trouble. When steel cased ammos first became available years ago, I tried reloading some. I had problems with resizing and it had so much "spring-back" that it did not size down sufficiently to fit the chamber. Also the shellac coating on the outside of the cases tends to peel off and clog sizing dies. Not to mention the berdan primer hassle. If you want to drive yourself nuts trying to reload marginal cases that's your choice. I find it more productive to trash it and spend my time reloading. :Fire:

[elkhuntfever]

Ok, taking the advice, I checked and they are Berdan. Two holes instead of one. Looks as if the majority of you say trash them.

[Catshooter]

I'm not a naysayer like many, but if they are Berdan primed I'd have to be pretty desperate before I'd try to reload them.

I've reloaded some Wolf 45 ACP steel. With carbide dies it was no different than brass. Boxer primed, of course.


Cat

[DLCTEX]

No problems reloading Boxer primed, steel 45ACP cases. They will last for at least six reloadings, IME.

[NickSS]

I load all the steel wolf cases in 45acp that I can find. I load them and put them in an ammo can and when I go walking in the woods or go to a match at my club I use them. That way I do not worry about loosing them. With brass I always worry about that.

[Mud Eagle]

I also have no issues reloading steel in 45 and 223. Last year a thread or two from this forum inspired me to try it and it has worked well for me.

All of the Tula and some Wolf cases are boxer primed and reload well. I have observed no problems with die wear.

[remy3424]

True recycling there fellas....might have to try it the next time I see a pile of them....Casting and reloading is a great form of recycling!

[Mud Eagle]

My "super cheapskate" load: Tula/Wolf steel case with 230g cast RN.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Hacker15E/BA913011-3F6E-44E2-B928-D9292FA71BEA-135-000000033A84D014.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Hacker15E/media/BA913011-3F6E-44E2-B928-D9292FA71BEA-135-000000033A84D014.jpg.html)

...and my "Assault Weapons Ban Scare Ammo Shortage" .223 load!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Hacker15E/4A1283CC-D624-4AD9-8742-A10414708BA8-10957-00000D1F03CF5428.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Hacker15E/media/4A1283CC-D624-4AD9-8742-A10414708BA8-10957-00000D1F03CF5428.jpg.html)

[161]

67264
4 gr. Red Dot 230 Lee TL. I've loaded 223 and 40 S&W also.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mud Eagle: those are really nice looking cartridges. Did you tumble the cases to get them that bright? Maybe some Nu finish to keep them that way?

Randy

[Mud Eagle]

Stainless tumbling polishes the cases quite well. I don't do anything additional to them, outside of using a compressor to blow the water off them following the tumble.

[khmer6]

Reloading steel is possible if you're in a pinch. I separate my cases, load brass when I can, steel if I can't find brass

[fatelk]

I used to reload some old USGI .45 steel cases from the '50s, and a few from WWII as well. I don't remember any problems with them. On the other hand, I don't bother with steel now, as I have buckets of brass.

I've loaded some aluminum 45's that worked fine (just to see if it would work). Aluminum 9mm didn't work so well, lots of splits.

[NSP64]

I have a bunch of steel tula cases in 40S&W . I loaded some today and they worked great.
And while I was at the range, some rich person shot up a 100 round box of S&B brass 40S&W in a Hi-Point carbine and left me the brass.

[161]

I don't think they hold up like brass but definitely worth picking up.

[Bullet Caster]

When I decided to try and reload steel cases I posted this and was told not to do it. Members told me that the steel cases might blow up my gun. So I scrap them and go for brass. Same for aluminum. BC

[Catshooter]

There are always some nay-sayers about. They are very quick to jump on a thread that goes against some opinion of theirs, especially if they have no experience to back up that opinion.

As you can see there are some here who have indeed reloaded steel/aluminum case successfully.


Cat

[dmclark523]

I've successfully loaded about 50-60 7.62x39 Wolf casings so far for my AK. A healthy amount of case lube and it works nicely in the dies. Of course, I use Tula Berdan primers, so that takes out some of the guesswork...

[Bullwolf]

Steel cases shine up real nice, after you knock the lacquer coating off of them.

I add a cap full of automotive car wax to the tumbler to keep the steel 45 ACP cases from rusting.

Here's some old (1943) military boxer primed 45ACP steel cases after polishing. I've been reloading them for many years, long before any internet experts were around to tell me not to do so.


67530 67531

They look even nicer when loaded with a shiny cast lead boolit.


- Bullwolf

[cat223]

I discovered what a berdan primer was when I broke the decapping pin on my brand new Lee full length resizer/decapping die. I had just gotten my Lee single stage press and all the accessories to load .223. I was heartbroken. That kind of made it personal. I hate berdan primers.

***Now back to your regularly scheduled thread on reloading steel cases.***

[Bullwolf]

Wow Bullwolf, seeing those kinda makes me feel like a crow or a raccoon, Shiny! so no extraction problems? and do you think the wax helps w/ extraction?

I have quite a few boxes of older steel case 45 ACP hard ball, from the Twin Cities Arsenal, and Evansville Ordnance Plant. I have been shooting and re-loading it over the years. The steel case stuff loads, shoots, and extracts just fine. I don't even bother separating it from my brass cases anymore. I saved a factory box of each for my own personal sentimental/collector value.

I never had any problems with extraction from the lacquer coating on the factory stuff, or with my tumbled re-loaded cases that have a coating of automotive wax.

I like to add a cap full of automotive wax (Mequuiar's Carnauba, or Nu-Finish) in my tumbler with all of my cases, brass or steel. It's not something I add to help extraction, but to prevent oxidizing and corrosion. The wax really helps the steel case stuff though, as it will corrode just from handling perspiration once the lacquer coating is gone. I have somewhat acidic sweat, and I am very hard on things I touch, especially blued gun finishes. For that reason I have been using wax to protect my cartridge brass, and my gun finishes for a long time now.

http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/87/10302282/36834fae759e022bbc6056c322917e44.jpg

http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/87/10302282/a1961ae7cc4aea5a936fd9908591cbf0.jpg

http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/238455/10069791/acf4d.jpg

A pair of 1911's, and a very durable 4506 have seen the majority of my steel case 45 ACP loads. The pistol chambers, and extractors are fine. One would likely not know they were shooting steel cases instead of nickel plated cases unless they were told so.

Despite the shiny pictures, steel casings don't hold up as well as brass if neglected, or when left outside. Especially when forgotten on the ground in snow or rain. They will quickly rust once the lacquer coating has been removed from the outside of the cases.

http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/238455/10069791/acf4f.jpg

Cartridge brass is a lot more resistant to that kind of neglect. It's also easier to clean tarnish off of brass. When a steel case get rusted, I assume that it's been compromised and throw it away rather than trying to clean or restore it.

If you tumble your brass (or steel cases) after firing, and store them indoors, you can easily keep and re-load steel cases. Ive been doing it for many years.


- Bullwolf

[MtGun44]

"steel cases will blow your gun up"

LOL!

"Everybody knows" that them thar lead boolits will ruin your barrel, too!

Bill

[justing]

i reload steel alot just need to have carbide dies.

[frkelly74]

Yep! When I find them free on the ground and they haven't already rusted, I save them and load them.