[Jack of Hearts]

I read a lot on steel case ammo that busted myths about steel case being bad for your gun, the steel used is anealed which puts its hardness down around that of brass. Thought I would give it a try for parctice plinking. Lot’s of guns seem to eat through this stuff with no problems. Unfortunately my TH9C jammed on almost every round, failure to extract.

I measured the case compared to Brass and there was no difference. The unfired cartridge fits in the chamber freely. Unfired rounds extract ok.

Anyone using this ammo? Can anything be done to reduce failure to eject, i.e. polish the bore?

I know using brass solves the problem.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

You can either polish the chamber or oil the cases. I wouldn't go through all the hassle of polishing, though. If oiling the cases doesn't solve it, I'd ditch the steel. I'll never shoot steel case because the thought of steel rubbing steel doesn't sound like something I'd want regardless of what anybody says about it being fine and all. That's just my opinion.

 

[Smokewagon]

My S&W Shield doesn't like steel cased ammo. I won't use it in it anymore. Issue solved.

 

[Jack of Hearts]

I don’t think oiling the cases is a good idea, as it can leak into the primer and cause mis fire.

 

[Bellows1]

The problem isn't the "hardness of the case" the problem is how quickly it expands and contracts within the chamber. Slow contractions of the case, cause the slide to retract and the extractor to jump over the rim of the case. After the case cools a little, it will easily fit back into the chamber. Softer steel helps the life of the extractor, but it doesn't eliminate the problem of slowered contraction.

Guns with large chambers may function fine, guns with tighter chambers may not. You can find good brass cased ammo for the same money as the steel stuff, I wouldn't mod on my gun just to save a few pennies a box of ammo. Unless your chamber is rough, I'd leave it as is. JMO.

 

[Jack of Hearts]

The problem isn't the "hardness of the case" the problem is how quickly it expands and contracts within the chamber. Slow contractions of the case, cause the slide to retract and the extractor to jump over the rim of the case. After the case cools a little, it will easily fit back into the chamber. Softer steel helps the life of the extractor, but it doesn't eliminate the problem of slowered contraction.

Guns with large chambers may function fine, guns with tighter chambers may not. You can find good brass cased ammo for the same money as the steel stuff, I wouldn't mod on my gun just to save a few pennies a box of ammo. Unless your chamber is rough, I'd leave it as is. JMO.

Your explanation makes sence. I buffed the chamber a little with a dremel using cotton wheel and polishing compound. When I first got the pitol new I had mis feed issues (brass ammo), buffing the feed ramp seems to have resolved that issue. I will likely just go back to brass ammo as I don’t think the little bit of buffing will make a difference.

 

[aznboi3644]

I don’t think oiling the cases is a good idea, as it can leak into the primer and cause mis fire.

I have cleaned and lubed Tula steel case for years. I dump the ammo on a towel and spray WD40 on the rounds and fold the towe and rub it all down. It doesn't leave a thick film but cleans the rounds and very lightly lubes them. The rounds insert a lot smoother into the magazines. I have done this with 223, 45acp, and 9mm and never a problem.

 

[Jack of Hearts]

I have cleaned and lubed Tula steel case for years. I dump the ammo on a towel and spray WD40 on the rounds and fold the towe and rub it all down. It doesn't leave a thick film but cleans the rounds and very lightly lubes them. The rounds insert a lot smoother into the magazines. I have done this with 223, 45acp, and 9mm and never a problem.

I might give that a try.

 

[Echo40]

Tim from Military Arms Channel on YouTube/Full30 has made Winchester USA Forged ammo the butt of many jokes in his videos. I recall in an old video he did on the H&K VP70 he made a joke about how the stuff was only good for practicing clearing drills because of how often the cases got stuck in the chamber.

Frankly, I've never heard of steel cased ammo functioning reliably out of anything save for Glocks and Russian Military Surplus firearms which were designed to shoot it in the first place.

If I had to guess why steel/aluminum cased ammo has such a tendency to stick in chambers in spite of being more or less the same as brass/nickel cased ammo, then I would presume that something is going on there on a molecular level, like galling or something causing the steel cases to bind against the steel chamber.

 

[jeeper1]

Just a reminder, during WW2 the US was producing 45ACP ammo with steel cases. I do not remember hearing of any problems with them.

 

[Ralph_Kirk]

I haven't seen steel cased ammo around here that was any cheaper than aluminum. Haven't yet seen a reason to use it. And my local range (which is only five minutes from my house, so I'm not going anywhere else) doesn't permit it.

 

[Bellows1]

Just a reminder, during WW2 the US was producing 45ACP ammo with steel cases. I do not remember hearing of any problems with them.

WW2 1911's were not known for tight tolerances.

 

[Backpacker]

I do not know the reasons, and I don't care. A round of steel-cased TulAmmo jammed my S&W386NG tight. Could not rotate cylinder by hand or with the action. My son and I forcibly turned the cylinder while forcing the lockwork and opened the gun to remove the unfired cartridges. Sent to S&W for examination. Replaced cylinder stop and hand. No charge.
No steel-case ammo for my guns, period.

 

[taurustoter]

I haven't seen steel cased ammo around here that was any cheaper than aluminum. Haven't yet seen a reason to use it. And my local range (which is only five minutes from my house, so I'm not going anywhere else) doesn't permit it.

Yeah. I have quite a bit of aluminum cased ammo, that works great for range practice. I do have a few hundred rounds of the steel cased pistol ammo (got it as a Christmas gift from someone who does not know much about firearms), and I try to shoot like a magazine of it, each time I go to the range...just trying to use it up.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I don’t think oiling the cases is a good idea, as it can leak into the primer and cause mis fire.

This is 100% false. It is a common thing to do with steel cased ammo and some brands will have a light coat of oil on them from the factory.

 

[CWB]

I don’t think oiling the cases is a good idea, as it can leak into the primer and cause mis fire.

WD-40 certainly will. at least in older ammo. Even excess being sprayed into the firing pin area can cause problems. If I sprayed the ammo directly, I'd want to use it up and not keep it in storage.

 

[CWB]

WW2 1911's were not known for tight tolerances.

I nominate this post for "Understatement of the Year".

 

[osbornk]

Frankly, I've never heard of steel cased ammo functioning reliably out of anything save for Glocks and Russian Military Surplus firearms which were designed to shoot it in the first place.

I functions fine in my S&W Sport II AR-15 and my son-in-law's Ruger Mini-14.

 

[Bruntson]

Just a reminder, during WW2 the US was producing 45ACP ammo with steel cases. I do not remember hearing of any problems with them.

During WW2 the US had such an acute copper shortage that to save copper, 1943 penny's were made of steel.

45acp were not only used in 1911's but Thompson Sub machine guns, Grease guns M3 series, and 1917 revolvers left over from WW1. Some TSMG with chambers on the tight side of the specs, occasionally fail to fully chamber .45acp steel cased ammo. There were also reports that sometimes it would be difficult to extract steel cases from the 1917 revolvers.

 

[Jkoht]

I've ran steel 9mm through both my taurus autos, my hi point carbine, and my walther p.38 and haven't had any issues. Of course I've only bought it when it was on sale for $5 a box. I've also shot a lot of aluminum case too and never had a problem. As to your issue I'd say just for fun to check that your extractor is clear of any debris.