greyling22
Member
it shot fine in my spikes middy. I ran about 60 rounds through it. printed about 2.5" groups and felt a little underpowered compared to my "starting load" reloads. printed about 3" lower too.
Tulammo .223 ammo
- Thread starter ColdDayInHell
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Fired 3 mags of the Tula .223 in my DPMS AR today after running my .22 conversion kit 225 rounds, a box of the NEW Remington. No issues whatever with the Tula. I use the same scope for both .22 and .223 so the .223 is about 1" high at 50 yards which is where I generally shoot. Accuracy is better than I can do which may not be saying too much.
ColdDayInHell
Member
I fired all 20 rds today without any problems. One light strike but after I struck it again, it shot fine. +1 TULA!
eddielewis
Member
Tula runs fine in my AR. The only problem I have had is a lot of FTF's coming out of one box.
It may have just been a fluke though. YMMV
It may have just been a fluke though. YMMV
mastiffhound
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- 420
I was told reloading steel cased ammo was a no-no. Not really punishable by death but that it could cause it. What are your loads?
I'm still searching for some logical reason (with evidence to back it up) that steel should not be reloaded.
All of the reasons I've seen stem from the same tired old wives tales; steel will wear out your chamber, steel will damage your extractor, steel will wear out your sizing dies. I've also heard that steel is more brittle and will catastrophically explode rather than give nice neck or case splits when they're worn out.
None of those are true in my experience.
So long as you treat it the same way you would any other brass, I just haven't seen any reason not to. The neck splits in the rifle cases (and the case splits in the Tula pistol cases I also reload) behave exactly the same way as they do on brass cases...ergo, it is far from a catastrophic event, but only noticed in the post-shoot processing of the cases.
I'm shooting 55gr M193 bullets over 25 grains of Varget with CCI primers. I'm getting 2-3 loads out of a batch of cases before I start seeing very small signs of neck splits, at which time I trash 'em all and move on to the next batch. Since they're "free", I have a pretty deep supply of 'em and can afford to be very conservative with junking them when there's anything remotely imperfect about them.
All of the reasons I've seen stem from the same tired old wives tales; steel will wear out your chamber, steel will damage your extractor, steel will wear out your sizing dies. I've also heard that steel is more brittle and will catastrophically explode rather than give nice neck or case splits when they're worn out.
None of those are true in my experience.
So long as you treat it the same way you would any other brass, I just haven't seen any reason not to. The neck splits in the rifle cases (and the case splits in the Tula pistol cases I also reload) behave exactly the same way as they do on brass cases...ergo, it is far from a catastrophic event, but only noticed in the post-shoot processing of the cases.
I'm shooting 55gr M193 bullets over 25 grains of Varget with CCI primers. I'm getting 2-3 loads out of a batch of cases before I start seeing very small signs of neck splits, at which time I trash 'em all and move on to the next batch. Since they're "free", I have a pretty deep supply of 'em and can afford to be very conservative with junking them when there's anything remotely imperfect about them.
mastiffhound
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- 420
I was always told that it could cause catastophic failure, the explode in your face kind. I have shot steel for a long time without problem. I always thought that it was strange that you hear "steel will hurt your perfectly American made, built to mil-spec, tough as nails AR" but my cheaply manufactured, "junk" WASR could run through 20,000 without a scratch. It just seemed like bull. At the ranges I shoot (100 yards) ammo being a little underloaded doesn't much matter. Thank you for the info. Of course I did my homework and all over the net people are talking about this. Must be the evil brass case companies (The Man!) trying to keep us ammo buyers and reloaders down!
FWIW, I shot another forty rounds of this stuff through my AR this past weekend and experienced my first failure with it - a short cycle that ejected the spent casing but that didn't cycle far enough to pick up an new round. It also still usually doesn't lock the bolt open. But it's cheap and I'm not going to war with it.
I also shot some Federal XM193 right after it without cleaning. The rifle still ran fine.
I also shot some Federal XM193 right after it without cleaning. The rifle still ran fine.
ColdDayInHell
Member
I am buying more tomorrow morning and going shooting again. I will post my results again. It seems like there are more lovers than haters with this ammo.
I think that it's really that phenomenon where only people who have a complaint post about it on the internet.
I know tons of people who shoot Tula .223 in their ARs -- including NFA rifles -- with no problems. Rarely do they start a thread about how awesome and trouble-free their cheap ammo is.
I know tons of people who shoot Tula .223 in their ARs -- including NFA rifles -- with no problems. Rarely do they start a thread about how awesome and trouble-free their cheap ammo is.
ColdDayInHell
Member
50 flawless rounds of Tulammo .223 fired today. If you keep your AR lubed to a minimum, it shouldn't get that dirty IMO. Great shooting to everyone.
ColdDayInHell
Member
Can you polish the steel case with some Flitz to give it a shine? Would a cloth or steel wool be better? Thanks.Yes, that's after stainless tumbling. The poly coating comes off very easily, and usually leaves a shiny, somewhat gray case. The only thing I do different is to swab the inside with a q-tip after they come out of the tumble so they don't surface rust inside.
I've experimented a little with the cases in terms of rust prevention, and they all essentially have stayed rust free so long as they're stored inside the house (in a humidity controlled environment, that is). Some I've waxed, some I've just wiped after sizing, and some I've re-tumbled after sizing. So long as they're not left with water physically on them afterward, they keep just fine.
Had zero issues with FTL, FTE, etc, without the poly coating.
I've used Tula in my S&W M&P15 and a build with a BCM upper (1:7 twist). It works fine in both guns. It's about the least accurate of all of the steel cased stuff in my opinion. 55 gr Brown Bear is the best in my S&W.
It may be heresy to say this but my S&W is more accurate than my BCM upper (CNMG lower, Geisselle trigger, Stag parts kit, Magpul goodies).
I've had one case get stuck in my AR's out of thousands of rounds of steel cased ammo. It was Wolf. I punched it out with a rod, spent 10 minutes cleaning the chamber and barrel and had no further issues. The gun was on it's 3rd range trip without a cleaning so I was probably asking for it.
All of the Russian stuff is underpowered and some AR's won't run it. The S&W M&P's are supposed to be overgassed so that helps.
It may be heresy to say this but my S&W is more accurate than my BCM upper (CNMG lower, Geisselle trigger, Stag parts kit, Magpul goodies).
I've had one case get stuck in my AR's out of thousands of rounds of steel cased ammo. It was Wolf. I punched it out with a rod, spent 10 minutes cleaning the chamber and barrel and had no further issues. The gun was on it's 3rd range trip without a cleaning so I was probably asking for it.
All of the Russian stuff is underpowered and some AR's won't run it. The S&W M&P's are supposed to be overgassed so that helps.
One_Jackal
member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2012
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- 542
People didn't have to consider steel case ammo until recently. If you buy a new Ruger the owners manual says don't use steel case ammo in their weapons. I would consider calling the manufacturer of your AR before shooting steel case ammo. I don't think beating the empty case out with a hammer is good for your rifle.
If you shop around you can find a gun shop that has brass case ammo in a barrel for about the same price. no, you don't have to buy the whole barrel of ammo.
If you shop around you can find a gun shop that has brass case ammo in a barrel for about the same price. no, you don't have to buy the whole barrel of ammo.
One Jackal said:
I've done plenty of shopping, both "real world" and online. Quite frankly, the cheapest brass ammo out there is still an average of ten cents higher per round than comparable steel-cased ammo. The barrel buy offers little to no savings, evdn if one buys the ENTIRE BARREL. In every case I've found, even the "by the barrel" price for 62 gr M855 is right around 30 cents a pop, whereas one can get steel-cased ammo at .20 cents a pop almost any time if one is willing to shop.
Sure you could, after they're stainless wet tumbled to get the poly coating off (which comes off surprisingly easily).
Dunno why you'd want to go through all that effort with a steel case (remember, the point of it is that they're other peoples' throw-aways, so you are only saving the $0.12 that normal brass .223 costs....), but I'm sure it would work.
When I was initially experimenting with Tula I'd picked up cases in all kinds of condition from the outdoor range I go to. Some of them appeared very dirty and rusty, and I was just trying to find out what condition they'd be in after I stainless tumbled them. I hit some of them with a dremel polishing tip and they shined up very nicely.
If you really wanted a chrome-looking case for display or curio value, I'm sure you could do that very easily.
In my experience, you'd have to do a *lot* of shopping around to find brass case that is going for even close to the cost of steel case right now.
As others have posted, the difference right now is about $0.10 per round between a brass case plinking round and a steel plinking round. That's between 30% and 50% more.
I still think that the possible "damage" one might do to their firearm by shooting steel (statements which are IMHO dubious and not backed up by any real evidence) is easily and quickly made up in the cost difference and then some.
Tulammo
I have an M&P-15. I shot my first 40 rounds of steel (55 GR. Tulammo) through it two weeks ago...no failures of any kind. I generally shoot the 62 GR. green tip but it runs me between $.36 - $.40 a round. Steel was $.25.....I picked up 5 boxes for this weekend's range trip.
I have an M&P-15. I shot my first 40 rounds of steel (55 GR. Tulammo) through it two weeks ago...no failures of any kind. I generally shoot the 62 GR. green tip but it runs me between $.36 - $.40 a round. Steel was $.25.....I picked up 5 boxes for this weekend's range trip.
pseudonymity
Member
16" DTI barrel with a lefty Stag bolt and it runs the 55g Tula fine.
It is dirty, not very accurate and it does have a bit of a strange smell but it is hard to beat .25/rd right off the shelf.
It is dirty, not very accurate and it does have a bit of a strange smell but it is hard to beat .25/rd right off the shelf.
ColdDayInHell
Member
I paid 23cents a round for Tulammo .223. It works awesome in my M&P15 Sport and have zero signs of damage. And can you polish the primed rounds with some steel wool?
Tula
I just got back from the range after putting another 60 rounds of Tula downrange through my M&P-15 with no hicups. I ran a box of 62 GR NATO and a box of 69 GR BTHPs too and there was a noticeable difference in accuracy between the three...with the Tula being the least accurate in my rifle.
I just got back from the range after putting another 60 rounds of Tula downrange through my M&P-15 with no hicups. I ran a box of 62 GR NATO and a box of 69 GR BTHPs too and there was a noticeable difference in accuracy between the three...with the Tula being the least accurate in my rifle.
The cases are covered in a paint-like poly coating. That coating protects the case against rust and aids in lubrication for case extraction. I don't know why you would want to 'polish' them before shooting them.
For reloading, I'm sure it would be possible to steel wool the cases and take the ploy coating off, but I think it would be a lot -- a lot -- more trouble than it is worth. I'm fortunate that the wet tumbling with steel pins takes the poly coating off with no hassle. If it weren't for that, I'd just quickly put the cases in a vibratory tumbler to clean the dirt off, and keep the poly coating on.
ColdDayInHell
Member
I've fired 40 rounds recently and only had one that the primer fell out and the case jammed. The rest fired flawless. They are pretty stinky rounds, the smell before I clean the AR is pretty bad. What can I do at 23 cents a round.
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