Steel-cased .38 Special?

[Swing]

Whilst looking for cheap plinking ammo for our .38 Spls/.357 Mags, I came across steel-cased ammo. It is very reasonably priced, but I don't recall ever using the stuff in wheelguns.

Anyone used this type of ammo and, if so, any issues? Note I'm not interested in them for defense loads, but rather practice and plinking.

Thanks.

 

[Jim K]

I have not seen steel case .38 Special, but I see no reason it would not be fine. The only area of concern might be reloading, since steel requires more resizing force than brass and, at least in theory, would wear reloading dies faster. But those problems would exist for all steel cases, of any caliber.

Jim

 

[jandr272]

A lot of the steel cased stuff has the bi-metal jacketed bullets that most indoor ranges don't allow. Just FYI

 

[Swing]

Thanks for the notes. I don't reload nor plan to. I also only shoot on my private property at this point in time, so the indoor range factor isn't a concern.

 

[Jim K]

With the cost of copper high and going higher, we are going to see steel, zinc, plastic, and other materials being used more and more in areas that were traditionally reserved for brass. We all know that the copper one cent piece (technically not a "penny") is now made of copper plated zinc because a coin that is worth more in melt value than its face value wouldn't be around long.

Jim