azmark

They told me that they don't recommend using anything but American made brass case ammo.


What experiences have Mini 14 owners had with different kinds of ammo?* There are foreign made rounds that are boxer primed, brass cased and non-corrosive.* Even Hornady makes steel-cased practice ammo.

MZ5

I sincerely doubt that Hornady "makes" steel-cased ammo. My personal belief is that ammo is coming from the same place that most of the rest of the steel-cased ammo in the country comes from, and Hornady simply has them head-stamp it they way they specify. There's LOTS of contract manufacturing of cases and other things in the ammunition industry.

Hawkeye 28

I have never been a fan of steel cased ammo..........

bwinters

I use steel cased ammo and I fire it single round at a time to allow myself safety in case of misfire something I do not do with brass cased ammo. This is if i shoot steel case in a semi auto. I will load stell case ammo multiple rounds but only in a manually activated repeater.

semperfidjm

Hornady steel match is great ammo I run it in my AR's and I use the .308 SM . The casing is poly coated . After 2000rds my SR556 shows normal wear .

ExArmy11b

Ruger discourages the use of steel case ammo like Wolff, etc. because it can stick in chambers and break extractors. For guns with loose tolerances that are made for cheap steel case ammo, like SKS's and AK clones it's less of an issue. I have a WASR-10 AK clone and it will eat up steel case 7.62x39 all day long.

But, my Armalite AR-180b will choke on the Wolff steel cased .223. I would not use steel case .223 in my older Mini-14.

I think the poly coated stuff by Wolff is OK, but it isn't as cheap as it used to be and for literally, in some cases a few bucks more you can get stuff like Sellier and Bellot. Steel case is fine for beater range blaster guns, and I know plenty of people who run 1,000's of rounds of Wolff through Glocks and high-end 1911's with no problems. If your gun works and doesn't break extractors with steel case, then I say have at it. Some guns don't like steel case at all.

I run lots of steel case 9x18 through my CZ-82, the Com Bloc guns seem more tolerant to it and have beefier extractors.

There's also Silver and Golden Bear, with the copper and aluminum washed cases that don't stick as much.

Sr40ken

I run my reloads and buy stuff on sale, usually Federal. I like their brass.

Ruger Redhawk

I have never used steel case ammo and have no plans of ever using it. I'll stick with brass cases that have been used for over 100 years. I take to much pride in my guns to risk damaging them to save a couple bucks.