Myth or Fact: Steel cased ammo wears down extractors

Myth or Fact: Steel cased ammo causes significantly faster extraction wear

  • Myth- No damage to extractors from steel cased ammo

    Votes: 94 77.7%

  • Fact- I witnessed the damage

    Votes: 27 22.3%
  • Total voters
    121
  • Poll closed .
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leadcounsel

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Myth or Fact: Does shooting steel cased ammo, common to Wolf, Bear, Tula, etc. wear down your rifle and pistol extractors significantly faster than brass.

Has ANYONE here personally needed to replace a worn extractor, or can speak of personal knowledge of this?
 
I haven't broken one, but keep a spare for both my AR-15 and AR-10 just in case. It is a fact that steel cases will impart more wear on an extractor than brass or aluminum. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that. To what degree it is problematic is another issue, and probably highly subjective to other variables.

But......for the money saved buying the steel cased stuff, you can buy lots of extractors.
 
I picked up a couple of extractors at the gun show. They're cheap and I'm saving about $4 per box (at least) shooting Bear.
 
It is definitely harder on the extractor and I know at least one gun servicing center says to steer well clear of it.

Of course if you can get extractors cheap and shoot a lot it might be worth just writing off the extractors.
 
I voted for "I've witnessed the damage' because I did a little experiment with my Sigma when I had it and there was significantly more damage with 3500 rounds of Wolf run through it instead of brass. The damage was like the extractor had been shaved a few thousandths of an inch whereas the brass induced one looked pretty much new with only minor wear. Not sure if it tranfers to all weapons, but it did happen in that one.

Damian
 
This sounds like a question better answered by a call to gun manufacturers, and not the armchair engineering that these threads often degrade to.
 
True,

the heat involved when firing will leave a metal oxide in your chamber, this in turn makes it more difficult for the extractor to pull out the empty because of the increased friction between the empty and the chamber.

I had a 1911 that I got used, the previous owner shot steel cased ammo to the point where the extractor could not pull out them empties. The extractor actually would skip over the rim, and I would need plyors to pull out the empty.

I polished the chamber and replaced the extractor, and now I'm good to go.
 
I think it is a myth. Even if it were true, what is the cost of an extractor?
Click to expand...

That's precisely why it doesn't matter, unless you own an M&P and then you have to worry about that due to it taking a press to take out the extractor:banghead:

Damian
 
I broke an extractor on an AR with brass cased ammo, should I stop shooting brass cased ammo?

This is such a silly topic.
 
Logic tells me steel on steel will cause accelerated wear. How accelerated?...anyone's guess. Extractors are cheap and easy to replace.
 
I looked at the steel cases ejected from an AR at the range, and the paint was still on the rim. The extractor snapped over the rim and then pulled the case out, but it didn't even wear through the paint!!!

Does the extractor actually touch steel or not?
 
It's hardened steel vs. soft steel!!! RRRRRREady to RRRRRRumble!!! Do steel drills get dull drilling into wood? Brass? Steel? Aluminum? Yep they sure do.
 
dunno I shoot only brass, Have been told they put a coating to stop rusting. during repeat shots it can melt and build up in the chamber. This causes cambering problems and its very difficult to remove.
 
i know a gunsmith that had a cust bring in a beretta to him where the chamber walls had been gouged from wolf steel cased ammo. it's made for russian guns with chrome lined barrels and chambers that won't gouge. steel is cheaper than brass in russia.

i have also talked to 2 other smiths that have seen extractor and ejector damage from this ammo.

not to mention that black lacquer crap melts off into your chamber and is impossible to remove.

people may use it and never see these effects. it depends on the gun and the amount of wolf fired through it, but i won't press my luck. considering wolf costs the same s american made factory ammo, i'll stick with quality stuff.

i never use steel cased ammo, but a lot do. it's all theirs.
 
OK, so I just took a file to some empty steel cased .45acp. Wolf, to be exact.
It is probably the softest steel I've ever filed in my life.


Where did you hear that steel is cheaper than brass, FMJ?
 
For the price of 1000 rounds of Wolf ammo versus, say, Federal, you can buy the Wolf plus a spare extractor and a spare magazine and have $ left over. Extractors don't wear out in 1000 rounds, you so will have a plethora of extractors if you are a regular shooter.
 
^^^^where are you getting these prices from?? i've haven't seen wolf cheaper than US made quality ammo in years. it was cheaper back in the day, but not now.

i've checked in stores and online.
 
Myth. It won't wear it out. In a properly timed gun, the extractor is under relatively little stress. In some guns, that stress is practically zero, as there are a few 1911 and Hi-Powers around that will function surprisingly well without an extractor.

I haven't seen any of the new Wolf pistol ammunition, but the older stuff was hard on extractors because of the short, sharply angled extractor groove...and that's not a myth. That's a fact.

When the extractor nose is bearing hard against the forward portion of the groove...the angled part...the case slams hard against the extractor when the gun fires. This condition isn't present in all guns as the specs and tolerances stack up differently...but it's certainly present in a good many.

Insert a case under the extractor and use a dowel rod through the muzzle to press it firmly against the breechface. If the extractor blocks it from sitting flat...it's gonna take a hit when the gun fires, and a broken hook is a certainty. It's not a matter of "if" but "when."

cheers
 
where are you getting these prices from?? i've haven't seen wolf cheaper than US made quality ammo in years. it was cheaper back in the day, but not now.

i've checked in stores and online.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's the type of gunstores you hang out in.

Everywhere I've been to except one type of gun store has Wolf for much less.
 
I've read in several threads here and in other forums that the steel used in cases is as soft/softer than brass. Any truth to that? I know it won't expand like brass will but I don't think it's made out of tool steel or anything.
I haven't broken an extractor yet but with the amount I've saved on ammo I could probably just buy another AR. It's not good ammo and I wouldn't take the stuff into battle but for range fodder it's cheap and goes bang.
 
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