steel cased ammo in an ar is it ok to shoot?

[billy ahring]

Picked up a couple of boxes of steel cased 55 gr .223 ammo for my ar. It is Tul ammo brand from Russia I believe. Is it ok to run this through my gun or should I stick with brass cased rounds? Is it ok to shoot as long as I follow a prescribed regimen? Just wondering don't want to do any damage and find out the hard way later.

[skeet]

Well..what an armorer told me...gunny said..if you are gonna shoot it in full auto mode..stick with brass cases.. Semi auto it is ok..but it has been lacquered and there may be some build up of the lacquer in the chamber..?? I have shot some of the Tula stuff in my Bushmaster Varminter..it is nowhere near as accurate as US Milspec and a far cry from my accuracy reloads. A friend just loaded some ammo for a used AR. First round locked the bolt back and blew the mag out. Come to find out there was a partial neck of a Steel case in the chamber..far enough forward so that the rifle would fire unlocked. We got it out of there.and the rifle now fires just fine. Gunny checked the chamber with a cast et al and said it is somewhat enlarged but..We are puttin a new bbl on it. The used gun he got was not a bargain..Probably why he got it at a very good price. I know it can happen with any type of brass but I have decided to use only brass cases in my BV. I have a Rem 700 in 223 I will shoot what little Steel cased ammo I have left in..then will rechamber the 700 to 222 Rem Mag

[Adam Helmer]

billy ahring,

I have shot some of that Tul Ammo and agree with skeet; it is not very accurate compared to my accuracy loads. The Soviets use only steel case ammo and they do ok with it. Clean the chamber well because a lacquer is used on the cases to prevent rust. I prefer brass cases for all my guns.

Adam

[GoodOlBoy]

I can't say in your AR platform but in my remmy 700 vtr it shoots 3/4inch or better at 100 yards consistently. That's certainly minute of ardvark, ground piggie, and other red mist society favorites. No issues with it at all. At 200 it opens up a bit more than good quality premium ammo, or reloads, BUT not any more than federals American Eagle, and other similarly priced ammo. Oh as a note federals American Eagle is brass FC cases and costs the same as tula ammo around here when you can find it.

I have heard more than one complaint that in a ar platform it doesn't perform well, BUT that leaves me wondering is the tula 223 or 5.56 (there is a difference as we all know) AND more importantly is the AR a 223 or 5.56 (Some sporting ARs sold now are 223 ONLY) Shooting 5.56 is a 223 only AR would give you issues, I don't know about 223 in a 5.56 AR platform, but I can see where it would lose some accuracy due to chamber/shoulder/etc.

GoodOlBoy

[buckhunter]

Never been a fan of steel cases. Yes they work and the bullet will come out then end of the barrel, most of the time. I found they jammed in semi-auto pistols so I stopped buying them. I like brass.

[Jack]

With so many American companies making good ammo, do we really need to finance Russian arsenals by buying their ammo of dubious quality?

[GoodOlBoy]

Jack mainly because American companies have gotten way too proud of their ammo. I remember the days of reasonable green and yellow box remington, white box winchester, yellow box UMC, and red and blue boxed federal. Now they want to sell range and plinking quality ammo for premium ammo priced and they want to sell premium ammo for prices that were once reserved for safari grade custom ammo.

If I am headed to the range to relax and blow off some steam and I have a choice between russian ammo for $6 per 20 or American ammo for $19.95 per 20 I am buying russian ammo. The change I will use to buy reloading supplies to make more American made ammo with at home. If the choice was $6 russian or $8 American ammo I would go American from the shelf, but that ain't the choice.

GoodOlBoy

[Adam Helmer]

GOB,

I think you got it right as far as "Condition;" that being the price of Russian versus American ammo. The "Cause" is the U.S. companies have to pay union scale while the Russian arsenals still have Convict Labor.

Tul Ammo 7.62x39MM ammo is $4.79 per 20 rounds at Walmart. It is ok for blasting and is "allegedly" non-corrosive. It shoots a few inches left in my arms compared to my handloads. It is only suitable for the last ditch useage, IMHO.

Adam