I have never used steel case ammo before. Today I went to a sporting goods store in my town that has been getting some ammo in about once or twice a week. They usually sell out of it within 15 minutes after the store opens. However, when I go there today, 10 minutes after they opened, they had 1 box of Russian made steel case 9mm, so, I bought it ($15.99), I have an M&P CORE, a CZ 75 and a Walther PPQ. Is this ammo OK to use in any of these guns. If so, what difference will I experience when shooting if.
I am going to say, the best thing to do with steel case ammunition is to oil the stuff, just as you stuff it in the magazine. I have been oiling 45 ACP ammunition in the 2700 Bullseye matches I shoot, and I have probably shot about 5000 to 7000 rounds of oiled 45ACP rounds. I put a drop right at the junction of bullet and case and fire away. Because I do things obsessively and excessively, I have been doing this to all the rounds in the stack, though I think I could get away with alternate rounds. The older shooters used to lube only the top round in the magazine. Oiling cases absolutely breaks the friction between case and chamber, and also leaks oil into the mechanism, and blows oil up the tube, There is no doubt in my mind that oil blown up the barrel is reducing friction between the bullet and the barrel, I mean, it has to. And my barrels clean up very quickly, hardly any leading at all. And, the oil squeezed out of the chamber, lubricates the slide rails as I shoot.
In so far as steel cases, this will reduce chamber wear, it will keep your extractor alive longer, as steel case ammunition will not be sticking to the chamber, but rather, will pop out when the action opens. It is bad practice to have the extractor pull cases out of the chamber, because that is hard on an extractor. If you look at your extractor, it is really there to hold the case against the breech face, and that includes rifles. Extractors push the case to the side, and that provides strong ejection, as well as keeping the case on the breech face.Shoot enough semi autos and one day cases will be falling off into the mechanism. Extractor tension is gone, the poor thing is worn, or weak.
So, oil away. I used to put a drop of oil on a handfull of 223 steel case and roll the stuff around in my hand till all the cases had a light coating. Worked great in my AR15's. Got my hands messy though.