[JDirk]

Has anyone used steel cased ammo in their Spectrum? Academy had Monarch steel cased at a price that was too good to pass up. I bought 2 boxes, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

 

[oldtimer]

I would not use it in a Spectrum although I read other have, I've only used steel cased ammo in a Makarov and a mini-30, opinion only I consider the spectrum and TCP not suited to steel case ammo but I'm especially careful with all my firearms some would say too much so however I seldom have a problem with any gun.

 

[Shooter9mm]

I purchased a box of 200 of the Monarch polymer coated steel case at the time I bought my Ruger LCP and have run about 120 thru the LCP without incident.
Even though they have worked fine, I intend to stay with brass after they are gone.
I think you get a much better gas seal with the brass cases over steel.

 

[olfarhors]

what does YOUR owners manual say concerning this?
there are a few things that are different in steel case and brass case, but then there are also a few things different in a aluminum case and brass as well.
depends on the gun as to how it will run on either, but the owners manual will make notice of what is intended for use as to ammo.

 

[Fishinkeylargo]

Has anyone used steel cased ammo in their Spectrum? Academy had Monarch steel cased at a price that was too good to pass up. I bought 2 boxes, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Did you get a chance to try some out?

 

[JDirk]

Finally got to the range this past Thursday. I had numerous ftfs with the Monarch steel (the first time this pistol has had a failure to fire) but they all fired on the second trigger pull. I will try to post some photos when I have time. The first strike cases didn't look terribly light, and the primers on the second strike cases looked deep and had the typical "striker stripe" on them. After trying the Monarch, I switched to some Remington UMC. It worked much better, but did have one ftf. I should note, when I cleaned the gun, I did dig out one small piece of "smegma" out of the firing pin hole with the tip of a toothpick. I followed that up by adding a drop of oil in the firing pin hole and then swabbing out with a Q-tip. I still have some of the Monarch left and will be interested to see how it works after cleaning out the firing pin hole.

 

[Martensite]

I did dig out one small piece of "smegma" out of the firing pin hole with the tip of a toothpick. I followed that up by adding a drop of oil in the firing pin hole and then swabbing out with a Q-tip.

Never, ever oil a firing pin or firing pin hole. The oil picks up gunpowder residue and other debris and can lead to all kinds of misfire issues. The pistol can even go full auto if the firing pin gets stuck sticking forward out of the hole. Swabbing the face or external surface of the hole does not remove all of the oil either when there is a high chance the oil has already run back into the firing pin tunnel.

 

[oldtimer]

Some steel case ammo also has a wax substance on the case which will build up in chamber causing a feeding failure.

 

[Martensite]

Some steel case ammo also has a wax substance on the case which will build up in chamber causing a feeding failure.

Not wax...it's lacquer.

 

[olfarhors]

might think about this as to steel cased ammo-- its generally always foreign made, so the primers likely are harder than Most american companies use.
also everybody makes decisiosn about thier weapons but its generally accepted that no WET type of lubrications hould be added to the firing pin flash hole. channel or striker chaneel as it simply collects dirt, spend powder and lint.
IF one has OCD there are dri lubricants that can be used.

 

[rjr573]

I own many pistols both large and small and use steel case in most of them a majority of the time with little to no problems. My Spectrum runs quite good with steel case Wolf, Tula, and Monarch. Obviously I would never carry it with any of this stuff but for range use it is good enough. Yes the Steelcase seems to have harder primers but I have very little problem with them igniting most of the time.

 

[oldtimer]

Certainly it works fine in most cases however it is hard on extractors and does not seal as well in the chamber, steel case works best in "loose" firearms like the AK47. in my opinion ammo has declined in quality unless you purchase top of the line or reload. The truth is if it works for you use it, I guess I could be called an ammo snob since I've been reloading nearly 50 years.

I own many pistols both large and small and use steel case in most of them a majority of the time with little to no problems. My Spectrum runs quite good with steel case Wolf, Tula, and Monarch. Obviously I would never carry it with any of this stuff but for range use it is good enough. Yes the Steelcase seems to have harder primers but I have very little problem with them igniting most of the time.

 

[anabolicarms17]

I own many pistols both large and small and use steel case in most of them a majority of the time with little to no problems. My Spectrum runs quite good with steel case Wolf, Tula, and Monarch. Obviously I would never carry it with any of this stuff but for range use it is good enough. Yes the Steelcase seems to have harder primers but I have very little problem with them igniting most of the time.

I have some wolf ammo I tried running. Mines would run, but hard to load one in the chamber. I had to violently rack the slide several times before it would load the round. Once it was loaded it ran fine. Had no problem with brass ammo though.

 

[jlewis39]

Old thread, but...has anyone been steadily using steel-cased ammunition in their Spectrum for a few years now? How is the gun holding up? Any failures that can be directly linked to the steel cases?