Hornady Steel Match Ammo

[PegLeg45]

Sorry if this has been posted by someone else:

Seems like the steel-cased ammo market is a big enough demographic for one of the "big-boys" of the ammo world to enter into.

Has anyone tried, or plan to try, this ammo yet?

http://www.hornady.com/store/Steel-Match-new

[JC5123]

Still gonna be a skeptic on the steel cased ammo. I've tried it on a few occasions. So far I have nothing good to say about it. I have yet to be able to get through an entire magazine without at least one malfunction with steel cased ammo. I've also noticed that it scrapes the feed ramp on both of my AR's. I am guessing that this is because steel has much less give to it than brass.

[billt]

Let me start off by saying I love Hornady, along with most all of their products. Steve Hornady has done wonders with that company since the passing of his father Joyce. But in this case I'll take a pass. I just can't see the sense of paying the same for Berdan Primed, steel cased, non reloadable ammo, as for Boxer Primed, fully reloadable, brass cased ammunition. This stuff offers zero cost savings. In fact I can buy Mag-Tech, and bargain basement Federal for the same or less, and have reloadable brass.

Another thing about shooting steel cased .308 in a weapon like a Springfield Armory M1-A is the steel case won't obturate, (sp.), and seal off the way a brass case will, Berdan primed or otherwise. The result is a lot of blow by gas gets back into the action. This makes for getting a weapon filthy in short order. Not a good option in a semi auto centerfire. The exception is the AK-47, which was designed around corosive, steel cased ammunition.

Hornady is searching for a new market. For that I commend them. This however, isn't it. I see no advantage in regards to price or performance over what is obtained by it's use. Especially when I can purchase Mil-Surp ammo of much the same type for a fraction of the cost, and end up with much the same thing.  Bill T.

[billt]

As a better example of what I'm talking about. I paid $0.1585 cents a round for this brass cased, Berdan Primed 7.62 X 39 MM Yugo Ammunition. Yes, it is corrosive, but it is Brass cased. The same thing in a steel cased Hornady comes in at $0.6598 cents a round. (Link at bottom of page). Granted the Hornady stuff comes with a A-Max bullet over a Copper jacketed Lead core. But is that in itself worth $.50 cents a round to the average AK-47 shooter? Bottom line is if Hornady wants to market this stuff, they have got to get it down to Wolf prices. $33.00 for a box of 50, 7.62 X 39 MM is insane. Let alone if it is steel cased and non reloadable.   Bill T.








http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Ammunition/Rifle-Ammunition%7C/pc/104792580/c/104691780/sc/104532480/Hornady-762-x-39-123-gr-V-MAX-Rifle-Ammunition-Per-50/706941.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-ammunition-rifle-ammunition%2F_%2FN-1100190%2B4294754892%2FNe-4294754892%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104532480%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat104792580%253Bcat104691780%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3Bcat104792580%3Bcat104691780%3Bcat104532480

[alfsauve]

OH SORRY,  I thought they were making special ammo for Steel MATCHES!

As Billt said, Steel doesn't  obturate  (your spelling was correct) near as much as brass does when the gun fires.   Brass swell (streches) easily and seals the chamber.  This is VERY important not just for keeping the gasses from blowing back but it also takes some of the force off the bolt by having the brass grip the chamber during peak pressure. 

AND IT WON'T RELOAD.  Steel just doesn't have the malleability that brass does.

[Sponsor]

[PegLeg45]

I pretty much agree with what has been said.

I'll probably pass on it also. My only experience with steel cases is with Wolf. I have a small stock of Wolf un-coated 55gr HP stuff that I bought on sale from Sportsman's Guide a few years back, but once it is gone I'm done with it. I have only shot it in a Mini-14 and had zero problems, and fired 20 rounds through a Rossi single shot (I will admit that it was one-hole accurate in the Rossi, much to my surprise). But like Bill said, the Hornady is kinda high for steel cased ammo, and I can get re-loadable brass for not much more if bought in bulk.

I just figured I'd post to see what folks thought about it.