Steeel Cases

OK. Got some good answers on nickel cases. Now how about steel cases. Anything good about reloading steel cases? Anything bad about reloading steel cases? I understand they wear out the chamber faster.
Thanks
Dean

They are normally berdan primed not to mention they would be harder on your loading dies as well as the guns chamber.

Good, no body else wants them, so they are basically free

Bad, they give no indication before failure the way brass does, where you can see lines or changes in color before a seperation.

That's the important stuff.

Oh, rust in the inside of the case is about impossible to spot on bottle neck cases.

My theory is, use only if nothing else is available, and you NEED to have ammo


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I've loaded steel cases off and on for decades. I started out in the late 1980s with some old 1950s USGI steel .45acp cases. They work fine, as in I never had any real problems with them, but I never loaded them in any great quantities, and I'd often leave them on the ground.

Brass is much better, and generally so cheap and abundant that I wouldn't bother loading any steel cases. If they were all I had though, I'd load them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DeanoBeanCounter

OK. I understand they wear out the chamber faster.

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That's what I've always heard.
I don't know it that's true or not, but if it's a good possibility-
that's reason enough for me not to reload or shoot them.

I have a few .45s from WWII that I've accumulated over the years,
but just keep them stuck on the safe with a magnet for their novelty.

I keep them sealed up in a bag. The way things are going we may need them if we live long enough.

In my Ballester Molina, the Wolf boxer primed steel cases lasted about 3 reloads before case mouth splits occurred on some of them. I had to know, so I found out. I made sure that they were clean, lubed them even in the carbide die, and made sure they were clean before firing. After the splits, I tossed them.

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My SKS's and FAL will eat them all day long.
That said. None of my ARs will ever see them.

Most of the old milsurp stuff had a lacquer coating. Can cause chamber buildup, and need cleaning.

I’ve loaded some 45 ACP and they worked fine in a Government Model and Officers. They were range pickups that were cleaned and rust free. I shot them and left them, but would do it again if that’s all I had.

I have only reloaded US 45 acp military cases ...they may have been from WWII ...they had a silver colored finish , zinc or galvanized , to keep from rusting . Not being as flexible as brass the steel case would split sooner . With 200 gr. cast SWC target loads Brass cases would last 10 - 12 reloads while the steel cases would last 5 - 6 reloads . Sometimes a crack would develop in the case body running longways . Resizing and crimping seemed to do them in .
The 45 acp is low pressure and with a minimum sized chambered gun they lasted fairly long.
And they didn't stick in the chamber like some higher pressure rounds do .
Aii in all they worked very well in the 45 acp pistol and I'm sure saved some valuable brass for other uses in the war .
Gary