Tulammo Question

[Marty T.]

Looking at some steel case Tulammo .223 ammo that I would shoot in a Ruger Mini 14 rifle. What is the story on this? Does the steel case function ok? Ammo reliable? Cause any damage to the chamber or any other part? I've only used brass case ammo, never used steel so I was wanting info on it. Would you use it? Has 100 rds for $30. Is that a decent price? Thanks.

[Sunray]

The Ruger manual says they'll void your warrantee if you use "non-standard" ammo. Dunno if they think steel cases are "non-standard".
Steel cases are used in low quality ammo too. Isn't reloadable either.
100 rounds for $30 is really cheap(cheaperthandirt.com wants $27.29 per 100 plus shipping), but you get what you pay for.

[S.A. Boggs]

A lot of problems with any ammo is a dirty chamber and bolt. I have a bunch of Tula 5.56 that I get at Wally World for $23.00 per hundred. It is dirtier then what I am use to but I use my Otis. I am getting set up to reload with brass at $19.00 per hundred.
Sam

[bruce]

Fired a good bit of it in my COLT Hbar. Didn't have any problems at all. Shot like any other ball. One summer I put a little over 3,500 rounds of Tula .40 S&W through my G-22. Absolutely excellent ... 100% function and extremely good on target results equal to any domestic ammo fired to date. Price at that time was about $1.50/box less than what I could get similar domestic ball for. Shooting at a outdoor range ... let the steel case fly wherever ... no need to try to pick up brass. HTH. Sincerely. bruce.

[clintonhater]

Steel cases are used in low quality ammo too. Isn't reloadable either.

Low Quality? The Russian Army has been using it for decades, and distributing it to their allies. Isn't that what the Taliban has been using very successfully? I've shot a ton of it in 7.62x39 with nary a misfire.

[barretcreek]

Olympic Arms (RIP) warned against using any coated ammo. As the chamber warms up the lacquer melts onto the chamber walls and is tough to remove. CZ on the other hand specifies their chambers are cut to C.I.P. specs and will digest anything.

[clintonhater]

Olympic Arms (RIP) warned against using any coated ammo. As the chamber warms up the lacquer melts onto the chamber walls and is tough to remove. CZ on the other hand specifies their chambers are cut to C.I.P. specs and will digest anything.

Some of it is copper-washed, not lacquered. Thought at first it was some off-color brass, until I tested it with a magnet.

[p246]

I shot a bunch in a mini 14 I no longer have. It was one of the new minis with the heavier barrel. Local pawn shop carried it for $25.00 per 100 if memory serves. It was dirty but went bang. Was not as accurate as good brass ammo but wasn’t horrible either. If your looking for budget plinking ammo I would not be scared of it. I’m pretty sure the stuff I bought was copper washed, and it definitely was not the lacquer coated stuff. I remember it would leave a little powder type residue on my fingers after loading mags.

[Marty T.]

The cases on these look silver, so don't think copper washed, but would they have a lube on them?

[Major Tom]

I shoot steel cased 7.62x39 ammo in my older AK. No problems at all. I have been warned not to shoot 9mm steel cased ammo in my lugers tho.

[Allen]

I see some Egyptian ammo for sale on GB that is brass cased but usually sold as components only. As mentioned above most 7.62x39 bulk ammo is made by Tula or Norinco and is steel cased with the lacquer finish. Half the world uses it and most all AK's or SKS's have been fed this type ammo at some point in time. However, a mini-14 may be more finicky. As cheap as 223 ammo is why not just pay a little extra and get American brands with brass cases and boxer primers? You know this stuff will feed and fire as intended with no worries.

[clintonhater]

Half the world uses it and most all AK's or SKS's have been fed this type ammo at some point in time.

Seems to be good enough for ISIS & Taliban fighters--who have been beaten back only with air-power, not brass-cased small-arms fire.

The Mini-14 I once had didn't deserve better ammo.

[JB White]

First hand experience using lacquer coated 7.62x39 in a Mini 30. Range firing when the whistle blew so everyone stops and waits. Situation is reviewed by the range officers for a few seconds before the order is given to unload all weapons. That was just enough time for the lacquer to "glue" the next live round into the tighter chamber of the Mini. No, it doesn't happen with the SKS/AK type weapons with the more forgiving milspec dimensions. Tighter SAAMI specs there is a problem.

I also tried lacquer coated ammo in my bolt action 7.62x39 and got the same sticky situation after a few rounds when it heated enough to soften the coating. Had to beat the bolt handle open just to extract an empty.
The lacquer coated ammo was intended for looser tolerance semi-auto/full auto weapons, but not commercial grade firearms. No real harm in trying it but I certainly wouldn't stock up on it unless I had another rifle I knew could digest the stuff.

[barretcreek]

First hand experience using lacquer coated 7.62x39 in a Mini 30. Range firing when the whistle blew so everyone stops and waits. Situation is reviewed by the range officers for a few seconds before the order is given to unload all weapons. That was just enough time for the lacquer to "glue" the next live round into the tighter chamber of the Mini. No, it doesn't happen with the SKS/AK type weapons with the more forgiving milspec dimensions. Tighter SAAMI specs there is a problem.

I also tried lacquer coated ammo in my bolt action 7.62x39 and got the same sticky situation after a few rounds when it heated enough to soften the coating. Had to beat the bolt handle open just to extract an empty.
The lacquer coated ammo was intended for looser tolerance semi-auto/full auto weapons, but not commercial grade firearms. No real harm in trying it but I certainly wouldn't stock up on it unless I had another rifle I knew could digest the stuff.

+1

[Tuna]

No USGI small arms weapon system has been designed with steel case in mind. It has been made by the US military as an emergency stop gap measure in WW2 BUT it was never issued for any combat operations. The Russian made ammo sold here is the dirtiest you can find no matter what caliber your shooting. The powder is if anything second rate in the amount of carbon it makes. This is NOT the same powders used by the Russian military for their own ammo. Steel case does not seal well in chambers as it does not expand as brass does so chambers get very dirty fast. Too bad the Chinese ammo was banned from import for about 20 years now. It was a much better grade then the Russian junk. Much cleaner burning and very accurate in most SKS or AK's compared to the Russian ammo. Just remember one thing if nothing else. The Russians are in this ammo market for MONEY!!!!! The cheaper they can make it the more money they make. Who cares if the ammo is junk it will sell to stupid American buyers who will buy anything if they think it's cheap.

[Marty T.]

Kind of what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks for the input and think I'll steer clear of the steel case stuff. My rifle is old but very nice and I'm not interested in messing it up now. Had it since mid-80's and not even a scratch on the stock so I'm not going to foul up the insides to save a couple dollars.

[Sunray]

"...Russian Army has been using it for decades..." That means exactly nothing. And 'quality' means accurate.
The CF used IVI crap for eons. The stuff was reliable, but inaccurate compared to W.W. II vintage ammo.

[togor]

"...Russian Army has been using it for decades..." That means exactly nothing. And 'quality' means accurate.
The CF used IVI crap for eons. The stuff was reliable, but inaccurate compared to W.W. II vintage ammo.

I have about 500 pieces of 7.62 IVI pulldown brass, unfired. Haven't got to needing it yet. As brass, any good?

(I had some RO Radway Green SS109 that was junk as ammo but good reloading brass, so hoping IVI brass like that.)

[clintonhater]

The Russians are in this ammo market for MONEY!!!!!

No doubt; but doesn't that fall under the category of "capitalism"?

[togor]

No doubt; but doesn't that fall under the category of "capitalism"?

Well Lake City it ain't. The Russian stuff is priced at the "it may be junk but it's the cheapest junk so there's that" level.

[Art]

The Russians right now are probably at least as "capitalist" as we are, that's another issue though.

I limit my use of steel case ammunition to firearms meant to fire it which means almost anything Com-bloc or former Com-bloc. Interestingly the Nazis made vast amounts of lacquered steel case ammo so I'd include their guns in that too. One thing that rifles designed with steel case ammo in mind have in common are massive extractors. I expect there's a reason for that. You can probably shoot it in ARs or Mini 14s without incident but I wouldn't for reasons mentioned in above posts.

Quality wise it is what it is as they say. All I've shot has been sure fire, I've only had two malfunctions in all of the thousands of steel case ammo I've fired in my SKS, AK clone or HS 2000 (now the Springfield Armory XD.) It's more than accurate enough for the informal shooting I do with it, but that's all I would use it for. No matches, no hunting and for darn sure no self defense.

[togor]

The only Russian I shoot is some 9mm "Golden Bear" 115gr FMJ by Barnaul. My type 1 dealer let me take it off of his hands for cheap because it didn't cycle for crap in his S&W. Way underpowered in my Walthers, stovepipes like crazy. The G17 cycles it best, to about 95% confidence.

Great practice ammo....for teaching people how to handle malfunctions.

[Jiminvirginia]

I shot a box through my G42, .380, with zero malfuncions. I still wouldnt rely on it for serious use though. Decent ammo for the price in my opinion.