steel cased ammo

[Destroyer]

Is steel cased ammo okay to use in a AK? I've heard it cause premature wear in some guns and want to know if it's so with the AK-47. Thanks.

[KYoon]

There are over 50 million Kalashnikovs around the world, and nearly all of them have been using lacquered steel cases.

Yes, you can feel confident about using steel cased ammo in your rifle, but because it's harder than brass, it's more likely that it'll scratch your chamber worse than what a brass case will do.

Practically, you would have to fire a lot of rounds in order for you to see the effect. Anyways, if you are not shooting for bullseyes, then don't worry about it. But if your main interest is bullseye shooting, then don't use steel cased ammo.

[onedayu2]

How would the difference between steel cased and brass cased ammo effect accuracy? I HAVE had a hard time with accuracy since I started to use steel case JHP ammo.

[LongDuck]

Here's my best explanation - corrections welcome if done nicely (!):

The steel cased ammo that is normally Russian designed has a much stiffer case wall than the same loading in brass case. What happens when the bullet is fired is that the case immediately expands to fill the chamber area, and brass expands more quickly and with a better seal than steel - which is resilient to expansion forces. The better seal around the case lends itself to more consistent chamber pressures and the result is more consistent muzzle velocity which translates into better overall accuracy (i.e. smaller groups from all ammo going the same speed/same trajectory).

The steel case ammo is great for long-term storage and plinking, and some of the HP ammo is good for hunting, but the brass case is the way to go for long-range accuracy and paper punching.

Also, as to the comment made about chamber scoring, the steel case, being a harder metal, will score the chamber and throat if it has any burrs or nicks in the case neck, which is fairly common among ComBloc mass-produced ammo, in my experience.

I shoot steel case ammo exclusively, and have never had a problem. Hope this helps,

[Necron99]

Longduck is dead on in the explanation of accuracy of steel case vs. brass case. However the AK and it's variants are not exactly tackdrivers. They weren't designed to be, both the general gun design and round were based off the German sturmgewehr44' the culmination of Wehrmacht experience during WWII. I prefer steel cased ammo for the simple reason that it's alot cheaper than brass. Besides the cases get demolished by the ejector so reloading is generally not an option. (I have a .223 Galil dents the cases to pieces so I just leave the brass at the range) The other problem with brass cased 7.62X39 ammo is , that it is rare to find mil surplus 7.62. The domestic loads (federal, winchester etc..) are not loaded as hot as most of the imports. The best AK ammo is purported to be the Finnish Lappua ammo (brass cased), good luck finding any though. My personal experience is that the old Norinco FMJ stuff (has a copper washed steel case) is a consistent full powered load for AK's. Too bad its been banned from importation for several years now, but it can still be found sometimes and is still reasonably priced.