Tula Steel cased ammo. Safe or not?

[astra600]

I've found the 9mm to be underpowered, the .380 to be fairly hot (surprised me) and the M1 carbine sticks in the chamber. I've shot Silver Bear in .380 without problems. All ball ammo. I guess it's maybe OK, but I prefer brass and reload for my most used guns. But at least I tried it.

 

[texasgun]

TULA is "good enough" plinking ammo.

have shot thousands of rounds (9mm) thru my Steyr M9/S9 and Glock 26.

would I run TULA 5.56 thru a Wilson Combat Upper with match grade barrel - nope! would I hesitate to run it through a run-of-the-mill weapon? not a second.

 

[M1GarandDeerHunter]

I have had good luck with tula, wolf, barnual, et all. I saw a ruger 556 AR choke repeatedly on it. With 556 ammo in an AR make sure the Chamber is cleaned every 500 rounds. Ive had no problems in AR's YET. Knock on wood. I have experienced some low power rounds in 556 too. I have had no problems with any of the pistol ammo and will actually reload .45 steel with zero issue. I found .30 carbine Wolf to be really decent ammo, reliable and pretty accurate. 7.62x39? Works like a charm in Soviet bloc weapon systems. A Mini 30 choking on Tula doesnt surprise me. Russian ammo is noted for hard primers. I did have a friend blow up a Mini 30 many years ago using I dont know what Russian ammo. My Mini 14 perks right along on any Russian stuff I feed it. I just clean chambers real well after shooting so residue doesnt build up. I think that is what killed my buddies Mini 30. He wasnt know for steller cleaning habits at all. While it isnt primo stuff, its a long way from absolute trash IMHO.

 

[Ignition Override]

7.62x39 is not always safe. It depends on a given manufacturer's "freespace". Both Yugo M59s have all-matching parts and are in excellent condition.
Only Tula ammo was used until these events happened. I've used no other varieties of Tula, only (Tula) 7.62x39 from Walmart and Academy.

In one gun, the popped primer caused nothing noticeable, other than some smoke floating out of the action. This was strange.
In the other M59, the firing pin was pushed Out the rear of the bolt.

One of these rifles underwent chamber-reaming at Murray's, in Bowie TX. No more glitches at all.
The other rifle is about to be shipped for the precision $30 service. I'll also request that they reassemble the separated firing pin (or a better spare).

Mr. Murray evaluates different factors related to either Tula 7.62x39 or too little (chamber) 'free space' in some SKS, over at his forum on "SKSboards". Despite the excellent work at Murray's which always prevents any more popped primers, for my guns no more Tula 7.62x39 will be bought.
With 6,000+ rds. of Wolf stored, no sweat.

 

[ol' scratch]

Ain't much of a gun if steel cased ammo breaks it!


Barrels are wear items, there are other factors besides ammo that will determine their useful life.

Again, I mentioned the rifles, I mentioned the tests. All were quality firearms. Look them up for yourself. I understand a barrel is a wear item, but a barrel that swallows a throat erosion gauge at the muzzle in 6000 rounds indicates premature wear. The "Lucky" test found that the rifle shooting federal ammo went above the 10,000 round mark and still held accuracy.

 

[Hacker15E]

Again, I mentioned the rifles, I mentioned the tests. All were quality firearms. Look them up for yourself. I understand a barrel is a wear item, but a barrel that swallows a throat erosion gauge at the muzzle in 6000 rounds indicates premature wear. The "Lucky" test found that the rifle shooting federal ammo went above the 10,000 round mark and still held accuracy.

None of that wear had anything to do with the type of material the case was made of.

 

[ms6852]

I have never had problems shooting steel cases on my AR 15. Steel case ammo does not expand as much as brass does so the thought here is if your AR is a little over chambered to shoot the 5.56 cartridge when you shoot steel cartridge is that their may be a little blow back around the steel cartridge so the chamber gets dirtier than usual from powder residue. When you than switch to brass the brass will expand to the size of the chamber and because of the build up of powder residue from the steel cases will cause a jam and the brass cartridge will not extract as easily causing a jam. Ive never had issues with my RRA.

 

[Bexar]

I want to thank-y'all for the responses. Ignition...was that your video showing the primer pierce and firing pin getting warped?

I'm gonna stick to Merica' made stuff. I've got some TULA but that's going to be for "emergency reserve" which ain't likely to ever happen.

 

[ol' scratch]

None of that wear had anything to do with the type of material the case was made of.

Yes I realize that and I NEVER suggested it :banghead: My post before that one was concerning the bi metal projectile and a couple informal studies. There was also a post on the AK forum that suggest they wear a barrel out in 6000 rounds. Again, the Lucky Gunner test, the post concerning the SLR 106 on the AK forum and the test where someone measure the gilding material on the projectiles.

 

[Jackal]

In an AK, steel is fine, its made for it. While my AR can digest steel cased ammo just fine, for an extra 6 cents per round, I can buy brass cased instead.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I'd say yes in rooskie gonnes, maybe not so much in various American platforms/weapon systems.

I once had a 15 get a 5.56 Tula round stuck in the chamber. Had to use a mallet to drive it out.

 

[tahunua001]

I've seen a X39 AR break an extractor using tula but it was a cheaply made AR.
I regularly shoot tula from my SKS, no issues to speak of. that said, I prefer the step up to wolf, wolf is made by the same people but is just plain higher grade and often times can be had for the same price as tula.

 

[Fishbed77]

I've run Tula in AKs for some time now with no issues at all.

I finally saw some locally in .223 and the price was too good to pass up. Over the past few weekends, I've run about 400 rounds through my 10.5" AR-15 build. Short-barrelled ARs are supposed to be more finicky about ammo, but I've had no problems at all. The carbine runs like a champ on the stuff, and it's not even that dirty.

 

[briansmithwins]

I've shot thousands of rounds of Tula in .223.

It's dirty and weak. I've never noticed any strange extractor wear, and even if I did the cost savings would have payed for a few extractors.

I wouldn't run Tula at class where I'm paying $500 a day or for a match where I care about accuracy or reliability. For practice or just screwing around it's fine.

BSW

 

[Quentin]

TULA is "good enough" plinking ammo.

have shot thousands of rounds (9mm) thru my Steyr M9/S9 and Glock 26.

would I run TULA 5.56 thru a Wilson Combat Upper with match grade barrel - nope! would I hesitate to run it through a run-of-the-mill weapon? not a second.

I agree, Tula is good enough for plinking and practice. I use their 7.62x39 in my SKS and AK. And .223 in my ARs. I just bought a 582 series Mini-14 and have a couple hundred rounds through it with no malfunctions. I have had some stuck cases in the ARs but that's out of thousands of rounds. The problems do seem to lessen over time, the more you shoot steel case.

I have read the LuckyGunner report but figure the cost savings in practice ammo offsets barrel wear.

I have heard some Mini-14s have trouble with steel case but it doesn't seem to be the case with my new one, at least so far.

 

[sappyg]

Maybe I've put about 500 rounds of it in one particular AR. No safety issues in that rifle. It stinks, but that's not a safety concern that I know of.
The 223 labeled Tula looks to have a longer ogive and has caused chambering issues in some 223 chambered rifles.