Stuck steel cases?

[Dr.Zubrato]

To preface: I have never had a stuck case before, but I have read up a little on it. I'm a little concerned because I have some steel cased 223 herters to burn through at the range tomorrow in my AR.
I understand, tap it out with a brass cleaning rod after separating the upper and the lower, but what if you can't separate the upper and lower because the bolt wont fully close?
Once the case is tapped out, can you resume firing or do you need to clean it on the spot? Solvent, and chamber brush?

For the curious, it's a BCM LW Mid 16" upper with a RRA NM lower.
Thanks!

 

[okiewita40]

I would just drop the mag. Lock the bolt to the rear and then use the cleaning rod to knock out the stuck case.

 

[Dr.Zubrato]

So there's no need to clean the chamber? I'm sure it would help with recurring stuck cases, but is it OK to just keep on firing?

Sorry, I've never had such problems before and the concept is still new to me. It's my first rifle, but I keep all firearms immaculately clean and well lubricated.

 

[nathan]

Let it cool down first and dont panic. Proceed in the rod from muzzle end to push it out.

 

[Hacker15E]

Just shoot it -- the "doom and gloom" you hear about shooting steel is vastly over-reported in what you read on the 'net. For every complaint, there are probably dozens of others who had no problems and didn't bother to post on the internet about it.

My bet is that your BCM will eat that up with no problems.

 

[Bushpilot]

Once the case is tapped out, can you resume firing or do you need to clean it on the spot? Solvent, and chamber brush?

If your chamber is dirty enough to have a stuck steel case then definitely clean the chamber before you shoot another round in it. Also, never shoot brass after shooting lots of steel without cleaning the chamber first or you will likely have a stuck case.

 

[Fremmer]

How bout not shooting cheap ammo in your expensive gun (if you're worried about it)?

 

[Dr.Zubrato]

Thanks for the excellent advice, guys. Very much appreciated

For anyone concerned about me shooting cheap ammo, the rifle is sighted in with 5.56 NATO and baptized with a little over 5 mags. I'm testing cheap ammo to see what works and get as much practice as I can. Cabelas made an offer I couldn't refuse
Truth is, as a comparison to how much you've shot in the past 2-3 years, the cost of the gun is a pittance.

 

[wally]

How bout not shooting cheap ammo in your expensive gun

After 6-12 cases I've saved enough to buy another gun even if the ammo ruins it!, which it clearly hasn't done!

Oil in the chamber is the easiest way to cause this, some times FOD will get in the chamber or on the round and wedge the case in after firing, so cleaning the chamber after removing the stuck case is a really good idea IMHO.

 

[Jenrick]

Polymer coated steel isn't going to stick unless you're running ALOT of rounds in a very short period of time (say 100+ rds in a under two minutes). The lacquer coated stuff isn't going to stick unless you get it quiet hot and then let a round cool down in the chamber. The lacquer basically starts to melt off and then solidifies again. I usually finish the day out with 5-10 rounds of brass with the gun still nice and hot, basically any left over polymer or lacquer will stick to the brass case and not the chamber wall.

Also I've shot in excess of 1K rounds of Wolf in a 2 day rifle class, with about 200 being in one drill at the end of the class. Had 1 stoppage the entire class, and it was quiet literally the last round in my last mag on the last drill. Simple mortaring cleared it.

-Jenrick

 

[Panzerschwein]

Had a Tula .223 steel case get stuck in my Bushmaster Patrolman's carbine chamber. Popped it out with my Mosin's cleaning rod. Have only run M855 through it but they all have been fine. I don't really think you need to clean the chamber.

 

[Rem.222]

I have shot over 200 in the past few months in my Mini 14 and in 2 bolt guns and never had any sticky cases at all. Enjoy and don't worry but if one does stick tap it out with brass rod.

 

[Onmilo]

The newest steel case ammunition will probably not cause a problem in rifles chambered for 5.56 Nato.
Back when Wolf lacquer case ammo was around I made pretty good money removing stuck cases from AR15 rifles and some of the jams were truely epic.

One thing I most remember is that of all the rifles repaired there were only maybe four total that had Nato chambers, the rest were commercial .223 chambered or "Match" chambered rifles and in every single case the rifles were excessively fouled, as in the owner shot and treated the rifle like a Marlin 60 rimfire.

I have also never heard or seen a single case of top notch steel case ammunition such as Hornady 5.56 ever being stuck in a chamber either.

I have shot many thousands of rounds of Barnaul Silver Bear, still do when I can get it, and never had a stuck case.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I've had 3 Wolf and 1 Tula get stuck (live rounds). All were out of spec shoulders that got wedged hard in the chamber and held the bolt out of battery. They required a pretty decent whack with a cleaning rod, but all came out without requiring surgery.

A nuisance, and I'd never trust the cheap steel cased ammo for serious use, but for plinking, saving $100+/case is worth the occasional inconvenience to me. The stuff has never hurt any of my guns.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

I keep a .20 wooden dowel in my range bag in case I need it. I only had to use it once when the AR was new and dry. I have not had to use it since while shooting thousands of rounds of wolf.

 

[Panzerschwein]

As others have said I think it is okay for plinking. I am weary of using it in ARs but it could be just one incident that soured me to it. I think for those AKs chambered in 5.56mm it would be fine.

 

[Sport45]

I keep a .20 wooden dowel in my range bag in case I need it.

I highly recommend you loose the dowel and get a brass rod instead. One of these days the wood is going to split along the grain and wedge itself ito your barrel like nobody's business. That, or it will split on the pointed end of that bullet if you aren't trying to drive an empty case out.

Brass is heavy enough you don't even have to hit it with anythging.

 

[benEzra]

I've shot plenty of steel-case in my Rock River with no trouble; I doubt you'll have a problem.

 

[Slamfire]

Put the steel case ammunition in your hands, add a couple of drops of oil, roll that around on the cases, load the lubricated cases in your magazine and shoot the stuff.

The oil will break the friction between case and chamber and improve function and extraction.

 

[Dr.Zubrato]

Thanks everyone for the help!
I had zero issues, and even fired a few 5.56 after firing 120 rounds herters .223. The ammo is pretty accurate, and relatively clean, was expecting much worse in terms of cleanup. Wish I bought more, the price was definitely right!

If it happens, I'll definitely be prepared and I think anyone else who didnt know before and glanced at this thread will be as well thanks to everyone here.
Happy new years!

 

[MachIVshooter]

The oil will break the friction between case and chamber and improve function and extraction.

It will also collect dust and debris that will score your chamber. Bad idea. Fine silt may seem harmless in your hand, but rocks are harder than steel or chrome, and fine silt is nothing more than really tiny rocks. Add heat, friction and tremendous pressure and, well, you get the idea.

(The Army rejected the Johnson rifle because it required lubricated ammunition)

 

[adelbridge]

if the case head separated feed a rod through the case neck and tap out the case head. Get a broken case extractor for the balance. If you already have a cleaning rod out why not clean?

 

[JERRY]

God bless the AK-47, for it will eat anything.

 

[nastynatesfish]

Never had a problem with steel case. Just beware the brown bear ammo or like. If it has lacquer on it it's gonna glue our chamber if you leave it charged on safe and set it for a minute on a hot barrel it gets ugly

 

[Coal Dragger]

Before I re-barreled the upper on my CMMG I decided to do some serious ammo dumps through the old barrel, and managed to get a Wolf steel case stuck after about 120 rounds of ammo dumping. Cleaning rod knocked it out, and that was that.

Of course I've never seen that happen with brass cased ammo. So I guess if you're running a rifle designed around using a brass case, and your life depends on it working you might want to run a brass case.