Steel Case reload quesiton

[Thompsoncustom]

I just have a question about the pressure levels that a steel case can handle vs a normal brass case. You would think a steal case would be stronger and if one were to reloaded it they could go to a higher max because the properties of steel. Am I off here would you be able to load a brass case hotter than a steel case?

 

[beatledog7]

Steel cases are not generally reloaded at all.

 

[W.E.G.]

The Russians seem to think steel is just fine for any caliber - even .308 Winchester.

 

[W.E.G.]

If you have the strong urge to reload steel cases, you'd be best advised to stick with low-pressure pistol rounds.

 

[Certaindeaf]

The Russians seem to think steel is just fine for any caliber - even .308 Winchester.

Hasn't everyone used steel for artillery casings, even?

 

[kingmt]

I reload steel for .223 Rem. They work great.

Why do you need more pressure tho? The case will hold up but the chamber is what determins the max pressure not the case.

 

[Slamfire]

I just have a question about the pressure levels that a steel case can handle vs a normal brass case. You would think a steal case would be stronger and if one were to reloaded it they could go to a higher max because the properties of steel. Am I off here would you be able to load a brass case hotter than a steel case?

That is a very complicated question. We would have to know the steel used in the case and how hard it is. I have old WW2 era articles on steel artillery cases and case hardness varied up and down the case walls.

If the steel is very hard it could break instead of stretching, such as those broken case head pictures.

I highly suspect that steel cases will stick at pressures that don't bother brass and thus function would be worse. But, heck if I know.

 

[jcwit]

I have reloaded a few pistol calibers with steel cases just as an experiment.

With that said, the steel and also the aluminum cases are not meant to be reloaded. No more than your average family sedan is meant to be driven 100 plus MPH even tho its capable of doing it. I'm also able to only hit targets even with people down range, doesn't mean at all that its the right/smart thing to do.

But if you wish to do it, go ahead, its your equipment.

 

[evan price]

Steel CAN be reloaded. It's not the best idea but possible.
Brass is more ductile than steel and it can stretch and be reformed. Steel work hardens faster and gets more brittle and thus fails sooner.
The rather low-grade steel used for shell casings will also aggressively rust if the coating is disturbed (Zinc galvanizing, lacquer coating, polymer coating, etc) and scratches from the load-fire cycle or the resizing process will displace the coating. I've seen steel cases start to rust just sitting on the table unloaded.
Steel also has less springback than brass- when a brass case is fired it swells to seal the chamber but springs back and shrinks to allow extraction. Steel won't do that as well which is another reason for the coating.

Yes, you can reload it, but there's a lot of brass out there so why bother?

 

[Thompsoncustom]

lol well I have never even shot any steel cases I was just wondering thanks.

 

[Hacker15E]

There are two extensive writeups on blogs where guys have loaded steel .223 with no problems whatsoever.

They didn't get all that many loadings out of the cases before there were split necks, but it worked fine.

 

[jcwit]

So just because it worked fine for a few reloads its the thing to do?

Does that also work for overloads if the firearm doesn't blow?

 

[kingmt]

I normaly FL new to me brass then NS & have several loadings on them. I tumble them with car polish after the first sizing then do nothing but keep loading. I had some cases that hadn't been used in over a year that started to get some surface rust on them so I wiped them off before loading.

The cases won't show ware as much as brass but I wouldn't suggest trying to shove the pressure up. The weak spot is the primer. If you run the pressure up high enough to stick a case then you are way over pressure.

 

[FROGO207]

I also have loaded steel cases just to prove to myself I can do it if the need arises but the need is not here at this time so I will not bother at the present time. Seems like a lot of extra work if the cases have a significantly shorter lifespan in my way of reasoning. I am however collecting the boxer primed aluminum casings as they tested good for one more reloading for me and I will load them once and use them where I will not be able to retrieve my empty casings.

 

[Hondo 60]

As evanprice said: Steel CAN be reloaded. It's not the best idea but possible.

I just don't understand why anyone would want to reload steel.

 

[Certaindeaf]

^
Why do people weave/form useful items out of old grocery sacks?
Why do people?.. it is infinite.