The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Reloading => Topic started by: crocodile_dondii on January 20, 2013, 04:25:27 AM
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I am not a shooter of 7.62x39 but a friend IS, and he showed me some Chinese-manufactured ammo he recently bought.
Steel cases, and I am wondering if that stuff is reloadable? And if it is, can you run it through carbide dies (if they exist) or do you lube it and size it like brass cartridges?
Also, will an SKS or an AK handle soft-pointed ammo, or does it deform with recoil or have feed problems?
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Not recommended. Trying to reload would be hazardous to a person's limbs. I don't shoot steel cased ammo. Many have corrosive primers and are hard on extractors.
Reloading is much more than putting in primer, powder and bullets.
Throw them away. This is why they are usually cheap.
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A lot of steel case ammo has the wrong type of primer for reloading .
(I can never keep "Boxer" and "Berdan" straight)
Reloading is possible, but it requires drilling a new flash hole between the 2 existing ones and is generally more of a PITA than it's worth.
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I would guess steel would be tough on dies designed for brass.
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Boxer = Yes
Berdan = No
Steel = trow them out
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Lets see If I finally have this memorized .
Berdan primers, developed in the US ( Berdan commanded 1st US Sharpshooters during the Civil war)
2 flash holes , widely used in Europe .
Boxer primers, developed in England, one flash hole, reload friendly, most common in US.
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Lets see If I finally have this memorized .
Berdan primers, developed in the US ( Berdan commanded 1st US Sharpshooters during the Civil war)
2 flash holes , widely used in Europe .
Boxer primers, developed in England, one flash hole, reload friendly, most common in US.
You got it. I remembered the countries switched....I just never was able to remember which country made which.
I tried remembering that the Boxer Rebellion wasn't here...but then got confused about whether the primer wasn't invented here or wasn't in popular use here
So I remembered Boxer was in my ammo box
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Lets see If I finally have this memorized .
Berdan primers, developed in the US ( Berdan commanded 1st US Sharpshooters during the Civil war)
2 flash holes , widely used in Europe .
Boxer primers, developed in England, one flash hole, reload friendly, most common in US.
You got it. I remembered the countries switched....I just never was able to remember which country made which.
I tried remembering that the Boxer Rebellion wasn't here...but then got confused about whether the primer wasn't invented here or wasn't in popular use here
So I remembered Boxer was in my ammo box
Memory tricks ;D
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Memory tricks ;D
Your memory is newer than mine ;D ;D
I'd remember one of them did the Sharpshooter thing during the civil war...but without something in there to tell me which one, no go for me ;D
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NO
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NO
No? No?
An accurate one word answer?
You trying to cramp our style or what?
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No? No?
An accurate one word answer?
You trying to cramp our style or what?
Guy doesn't give us much to work with does he ?
Although, there is an "O" in "no" which reminds me there are 2 "o's" in "boobs".
Voila ! Thread drift !
We truly are masters of the art. ;D
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Misc%20and%20Humor/Grass06.jpg)
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Berdan - Boxer
Both have the letter "e". 2 e's. Ah. Beer has two e's.
Get a cheap bucket. Dump all the steel cases in the bucket. When it's full take it to a recycling center for cash. Spend cash on beer and bullets. (two l's)
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I'm kind of disappointed though.
This is the 2nd page.
Special note for Locnload
We don't usually drift (to much) in technical threads.
But as a special welcoming present to you we are giving a demonstration of our skill. ;D
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This guy thinks you can: http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2013/02/14/reloading-steel-cases-reload-steel-case-ammo/#more-16593
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I'm gonna stick with those O's
+1 Tom :D :D
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This guy thinks you can: http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2013/02/14/reloading-steel-cases-reload-steel-case-ammo/#more-16593
You can put toothpaste back in the tube as well
But as with reloading steel cases, unless you are REALLY desperate it's a lot more trouble than it's worth.
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You can put toothpaste back in the tube as well
And the cat will go back into the bag, but the damages caused are not worth it.
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Thread Drift for the win!
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Thread Drift for the win!
Yes!!!
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Misc%20and%20Humor/Grass06.jpg)
BOOBIES!!!!!
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Hard to argue with that and who would want to! :)
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I once acquired a small number of WWII steel .30 Carbine cases. They were Boxer primed.
Carbide dies worked just fine with them. They all made several trips through the gun, ended up
losing them long before they wore out.
But then, I'm crazy. Just for fun I used to reload the aluminum Blazer cases. The .45ACP and .38Spec would be good
for half a dozen or so reloads. The .357Mag and 9mm cases would split after the first reload.
I also reload my own grenade launching blanks for my M1 Garand. Heap o'fun!
And then there's the all-brass 12ga shells that use a Berdan primer. Easy to reload, but I can't find any
more of the primers since Old Western Scrounger went out of business.
Ain't reloadin' fun?!
Grizzle Bear
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I once acquired a small number of WWII steel .30 Carbine cases. They were Boxer primed.
Carbide dies worked just fine with them. They all made several trips through the gun, ended up
losing them long before they wore out.
But then, I'm crazy. Just for fun I used to reload the aluminum Blazer cases. The .45ACP and .38Spec would be good
for half a dozen or so reloads. The .357Mag and 9mm cases would split after the first reload.
I also reload my own grenade launching blanks for my M1 Garand. Heap o'fun!
And then there's the all-brass 12ga shells that use a Berdan primer. Easy to reload, but I can't find any
more of the primers since Old Western Scrounger went out of business.
Ain't reloadin' fun?!
Grizzle Bear
I see you are a "Total Reloader", GB.
I've always striven to avoid the masochistic aspects of the endeavor. ;D ;D ;D
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I once acquired a small number of WWII steel .30 Carbine cases. They were Boxer primed.
Carbide dies worked just fine with them. They all made several trips through the gun, ended up
losing them long before they wore out.
But then, I'm crazy. Just for fun I used to reload the aluminum Blazer cases. The .45ACP and .38Spec would be good
for half a dozen or so reloads. The .357Mag and 9mm cases would split after the first reload.
I also reload my own grenade launching blanks for my M1 Garand. Heap o'fun!
And then there's the all-brass 12ga shells that use a Berdan primer. Easy to reload, but I can't find any
more of the primers since Old Western Scrounger went out of business.
Ain't reloadin' fun?!
Grizzle Bear
I could see reloading the steel cases if they are boxer-primed....probably less overall distortion than a brass case.
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I've reloaded thousands of rounds of polymer coated steel cased Wolf 45acp. These are boxer primed. The few lacquer coated steel cases in 45acp I've found were berdan primed. The Wolf polymer coated 9mm is berdan as well. The steel in Russian steel cases is quite mild that they resize nicely in standard Lee carbide pistol dies. The nice thing about steel cases is that they don't deform as much as brass and never need trimming (though to be honest I never trim my brass pistol cases either). You also get a much longer case life out of them than brass. Some of mine have 15-20 loadings already. About the only thing that limits the life of a steel case is that eventually the polymer coating will eventually rub off in the tumbler and the case will start to rust.
I wouldn't reload tapered neck steel rifle ammo like .223 even though its boxer primed due to the likelihood you'll have to work the mouths and necks a lot which will rub off the polymer coating pretty quickly inside the die increasing the chance for a stuck case, but it is theoretically possible if you are in a really bad spot and have no brass cases available. Not particularly likely though.
People seem to be brainwashed by this notion that "you get what you pay for" that they immediately distrust anything as "too good to be true" before they even try it. Well, you might get what you pay for, but you should never pay more than you have to. Chances are the people making ignorant kneejerk criticisms about steel cased ammo tend to be people who are trying to sell you more expensive ammo or those who have fallen for it and are trying to justify their choice.
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i'd still rather reload brass 45 acp. They are cheap, and easy to get. lets not forget that they are actually worth something when they are not reloadable. Where steal is basicly worthless.( $50/ ton)
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Interesting. You are the first one I have heard with experience reloading steel. i am surprised to hear that it is so simple. My No! comment was based on a fair amount of reading on the metallurgy related to what make brass such a great choice. It needs to be ductile enough to deform under firing pressure with rebound enough to extract and soft enough not to work harden too much when you resize it. My impression of steel cases is that they were a cheaper solution to replicate the same properties to give a cartridge that functioned in guns designed around the properties of brass cases.
You would think that steel's extra strength would make this simple, but I don't think it is that easy. Making the cases thinner gives you the flexibility on firing, but my understanding is that it comes with a trade off of much faster work hardening of the thin case mouth when opened and then crimped to hold the bullet. Add to this that the dies were designed around brass properties for rebound etc. I would think you would get head separation as the case stretches repeatedly to reach the breach face. Probably less of an issue with straight walled cases.
Given the level of subtly in case properties, I will stick with brass as long as it is plentiful at my local range. I am impressed about how deep into all this the benchrest shooters get trying to get the last little bit out of a load. Me, I just like to shoot stuff!