# Russian Ammo Help!



## mkarns (Jan 27, 2013)

I read yesterday of a horror story about a shooter using Russian ammo in his 9mm.

It misfired resulting in a pistol full of metal and a piece flew out and bloodied his face.

Several others said it is not permitted to use this ammo out the ranges they shoot at.

What have you heard or experienced?

I have exclusively stocked up on steel Russian ammo for my AK47 and have some boxes for my 9mm and .45ACP.

I appreciate as much feedback as I can get.

Thanks!


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

The AK47 was made to use steel ammo like wolf. Never had a problem using it in a ar-15 though some say it is under powered and may cause misfires.
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo


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## Old Man (Dec 10, 2012)

I shoot nothing but brass loaded ammo. I am not a fan of the steel.


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I will never use it again - had too many problems with jams and misfires.


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## wesley762 (Oct 23, 2012)

I use steel exclusively with my AK but only brass for the 9mm. just me though.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

There are so many variables to the story it is hard to give a meaningful answer. 
Was the gun properly maintained?
What kind if gun?
Rapid fire through a hot gun or ....

I'm trying to imagine a firing position that would put your face in the path of shrapnel, I would guess hip shooting or at least a hold that was not a traditional one. An untraditional hold would probably lead to limp wristing the gun, which can affect the ejection especially if the gun is dry or dirty. Maybe he stovepiped a round, damaged it but reloaded it and shot it anyway?

I've shot several thousand rounds of steel ammo 7.62x39, 9mm, .45 and never have had an issue, not even a misfire. I don't use the .223 russian as I don't find them even reasonably accurate. With pistols and AK's I don't expect them to be long range weapons.


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## Meangreen (Dec 6, 2012)

mkarns said:


> I read yesterday of a horror story about a shooter using Russian ammo in his 9mm.
> 
> It misfired resulting in a pistol full of metal and a piece flew out and bloodied his face.
> 
> ...


Usually they don't allow it at ranges, not because of the steel case but that most steel cased ammo is also steel core. I have used it for years without a problem and I have never witnessed a problem with it's use.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I have shot steel cased .223 in my Mini 14, and have some put away for emergency use. I keep and use steel cased 7.62X39 and 7.62X54R in my COMBLOC weapons. They were designed for it.
During WWII, the US military produced steel cased 45 ACP for use by the troops.
Mkarns, the ranges you mention might be banning this type ammo because the bullets themselves usually have a steel outer jacket. Many outdoor ranges do, on the theory that a ricochet could cause a brush fire.
If you are going to spend many hundreds of hard earned dollars on firearms, why use the cheapest ammo available? Keep a bunch for hard times, yes, but for a once a month range trip go with quality ammo. Just my opinion.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

When I had AK's, steel was the only option.
I no longer have AK's and I do not shoot steel cased ammo in any of my other firearms. I'm very particular about what I stock and shoot and as a result I have a high level of confidence in functionality when I need it most.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Never had an issue with a few thousand rounds through 2 Ak's. use brass for the 9's.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

I have stacked mags, from a grab bag of misc .223 in three differant bushmasters and a mini 14, wolf steel, pmc brass, federal brass, 

and burned down.

No issues,

I have fired off three to five thousand rounds of wolf steel throught the list above, and never had a miss fire. I have had a few jams.


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## Infidel (Dec 22, 2012)

mkarns said:


> I read yesterday of a horror story about a shooter using Russian ammo in his 9mm.
> 
> It misfired resulting in a pistol full of metal and a piece flew out and bloodied his face.
> 
> ...


I'd be skeptical of this story. I guess first we need to define a misfire. To me a misfire is when the hammer falls but the round fails to go off, these do not make guns blow up. I can however think of a few scenarios that would and my prime suspect is a squib load fired and not noticed and then another round fired behind it this seems like the most likely suspect. This scenario could be classified as an ammunition failure but I would also classify it as a shooter failure due to the fact that they should have noticed the squib. Another scenario I could think of would be an out of battery detonation caused by a slam fire which would be pretty rare in a handgun I think. The only other reason I could see would be a round that was very seriously over pressure, possible but a rarity in factory ammo in my opinion. I have no qualms about using steel cased ammo in my Yugo SKS or Mosin, I wouldn't use it in any of my other guns though. The SKS and Mosin were designed for the use of steel cased ammo. Not that there's any steel cased ammo for any of my other rifles anyway but if there was I still wouldn't use it. Keep the steel com bloc stuff in the com bloc guns, everything else get brass cased stuff.

Most indoor ranges ban the use of steel cased ammo due to the steel core of the bullet destroying their bullet traps. I have also heard of outdoor ranges banning but never knew the reason why until ricepaddydaddy mentioned it.

-Infidel


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## tacman605 (Nov 17, 2012)

I shoot a lot of steel cased ammo both over here and at home and don't have any issues with it.

I purchase both Wolf and Silver Bear 9mm and .45 and it goes bang everytime.

Another reason ranges may not allow it is often times they resell the brass swept up on the ranges to reloaders or ammunition companies. Since the steel cases can't be reloaded they have to spend the time separating them which they do not want to do.


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## yzingerr (Dec 9, 2012)

The range i used to work at banned steel cases for only one reason.
They couldn't recycle it and make money...
It was banned because it mixed with the brass and had to be sorted before recycling.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Montana Rancher said:


> There are so many variables to the story it is hard to give a meaningful answer.
> Was the gun properly maintained?
> What kind if gun?
> Rapid fire through a hot gun or ....
> ...


Good point all of them. Your absolutely right there are a huge number of reasons why it went bad in this case. I regularly use steel cased ammo in several of my Bolt Actions and almost exclusively in my AK, SKS and now my Mosin Nagant. No problems whats so ever. I use it in those guns due to the fact that a Bolt Action will fire and operate with anything that can be chambered. The AK and SKS were designed specifically to use the ammo loads that the Russian Steel Case ammo uses. Cycling and function aint an issue. I dont use it in my other fire arms such as my AR, M1, M1A which are a little more sensitive to the consistency and pressures required to operate them. While I am sure steel cased ammo would work just fine this type of ammo is mass produced with a wide range of tolerances. Further more these guns extractors were designed to extract brass cased ammo not steel so I have doubts about the durability of the extractors in these guns to operate with out a higher rate of breakage than normal or excessive wear and tear. I find the ammo to be dirty and inconsistent in power and in many guns this can cause a number of issues. These are rarely a problem in Bolt Actions or in the case of the AK or SKS which was designed around the use of these loads.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Never had any issues with it. Years pass some of it was not up to stanard . Some weapons are a bit fussy with differenent rounds


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## nechaev (Nov 10, 2012)

AK sporters and SKS rifles thrive on steel cased ammo, as do Makarov pistols. If you have doubts about steel cased ammunition in non-Soviet calibers, trade it or sell it for brass cased ammo, or more 7.62X39. You will get less in the trade, but it may be worth the peace of mind.


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