Wolf Steel Cased Ammo Bad for My Colt AR?

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drwindmill

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Is steel cased Wolf bad for my Colt AR-15? My friend has a DPMS and he says not to shoot the Wolf ammo or any steel case ammo. I have shot it through my Glock and don't see any problems. It just seems if I can't shoot the Wolf, I won't be shooting much. I also don't want to hurt my Colt. If someone could enlighten me on this subject I would greatly appreciate it...Thanks
 
My 2 cents

After having a few ruptured cases in 45ACP (a low pressure round) and having had primers pop out of 9mm rounds, I don't like Wolf ammo and don't trust it. I have seen two AR's with broken extractors, and in both cases they were shooting Wolf ammo. Was it the Wolf? I can't say for sure, but with their track record, I will not be shooting any wolf ammo that is not brass cased.
 
The steel used in steel cased ammo is much softer than the steel parts that in your Colt that will come into contact with it, so extra wear is not an issue. Look at some of your spent cases, see where the contact points are, and you will notice that there is little "wear marks" on the case, so there is equally, little wear marks on your rifle.

The quality of the Wolf 223 has been pretty good, for what it is. As good as most surplus that I have shot. It might smell different and be a little more dirty, but should function fine. The lacquer coated stuff had a problem with cases sticking in hot chambers, but the polymer coating seems to fix most of that. My Colts eat up the lacquer, while the J&T kit I build doesn't like it so much. Not really an issue, as it is rare to see it anymore.

Colts are "tough" they can take it. Some folks prefer to not use it, but reality is that it is fine if you choose to.

There have been some issues with the Wolf steel 308, being over/under charged and some issues in that caliber, but the 223 has been out for a long time with many users, so any REAL problem with it would be very well known by now.

Buy it, shoot it and enjoy
 
I shoot steel ammo through my bushie and it works just fine, I was hesitant for a long time, but I tried it. So far 2000+ rounds of steel and no problems, hope that helps. I think the folks who dog steel cased ammo are "purists" who can spend 500 bucks to go shoot on the weekends.
 
in my first ar which was a bushmaster, i had over 3000rds of wolf and various types of steel cased ammo and i never had a problem, i have sold it since and bought an a3 instead of the a2 that i had, and i haven't shot any through it only because i was getting such a great deal on the umc yellow box, but now that that is dried up i am gonna start shooting it(wolf) again.

i don't depend on it to save my life, but it is great for high volume shooting/ trainning, and getting the fundamentals down. it has it's place i like it and don't mind shooting it at all.
 
Thanks for all the great responses, it looks like I will be putting my order in for 1000 rds or so. Thanks again
 
Lacquer on case performs two functions: rust resistance and as friction reducer. Most steel case ammo has some sort of coating to prevent steel on steel contact. A drop of oil on the top round in a clip will aid in the extraction function of this type of cartridge. Assuming you don't attract grit after the oil drop.
 
According to Pat Sweeneys book of the AR-15 steel cased ammo doesn't hurt anything.

I don't know if i like the idea of oiling the top round. Where did you pick that info up?

I could see that oil increasing chamber pressure a bit, maybe not to unsafe levels but still...........
 
It should work fine in a good weapon. Your Colt shouldn't have troubles... but I wouldn't use it for serious stuff unless you had nothing else...
 
Not oil

A drop of oil on the top round in a clip will aid in the extraction function of this type of cartridge. Assuming you don't attract grit after the oil drop.
Click to expand...

Powdered graphite. Sprinkle a little pwodered graphite in your loaded mag to help it function smoothly. Brownels sells it in a squirt type bottle pretty cheap.
 
With the price of ammo, my AR better feed Wolf. And not hiccup.

That being said, I keep an extra bolt and the parts to fix the extractor just in case. So far, my AR shoot Wolf just fine, with proper maintenence.

ZM
 
You do want to keep the chamber clean, though. Lots of rapid firing and the high heat might cause some of the laquer to build up in the chamber.
 
What is all this talk about "Oh, just lube the ammunition and it will run fine"?!?

Is this what owning an AR has come to, where one has to OIL THE AMMO so the gun runs?

Note that I don't own an AR, and this kind of talk prevents me from ever wanting to own one if they're honestly this much trouble. :scrutiny:
 
I personally don't like Wolf Ammo, or any Aluminum cased ammo including CCI Blazer. I usually buy CCI/Speer (brass), Federal, American, Remington and Winchester. I also personally don't like Fiocchi, or Magtec(sp), I have not used Black Hills or Corbon, Hornaday.
 
@dfariswheel

I'm aware of that. Given that steelcase Wolf is $189 / 1000 rounds shipped, and brasscase is $399 / 1000 shipped, I would be inclined to shoot mostly steelcase. If steelcase is this much of a problem for an AR, I don't want one.
 
The fact that shooting steel cased ammo will actually void the warranty of some brands of AR-15s should be a clue. Shoot steel cased ammo in guns designed for it. I've shot a lot of Wolf ammo in a number of guns. It's ok plinking ammo, but I have had extractor wear in some of my guns because of it. Shoot it in your AR at your own risk.
 
Brass is elastic in that it expands slightly under peak pressure and contracts afterward. Steel expands but does not contract after the pressure spike. Extractor has to yank that bad boy out (hence the lube advice) and steel to steel contact is never a good thing. Why do we use brass tools to work on guns? Guy who told me this knows a lot more about guns than I do. Although that ain't saying much. Joe
 
Brass is elastic in that it expands slightly under peak pressure and contracts afterward. Steel expands but does not contract after the pressure spike. Extractor has to yank that bad boy out (hence the lube advice) and steel to steel contact is never a good thing.
Click to expand...

This is one of the major reasons it is inherently less reliable vs. brass casings. I hear of people getting cases stuck much more often w/ steel cases than w/ brass...
 
also another suggestion that i would like to add, though i used the old laquer covered type, the new polyformance is much better and seems to work better and not cause as much melted laquer problems like some of the older stuff which is now called the "military classic". all of it will work but if you have a choice i would go with the poly coated stuff!
 
The steel case is softer than your gun.

Even if it wern't:
The difference in ONE case of wolf VS whatever else will buy MORE than 6 extractors.

Extractors are easy to swap out.

If your gun runs with Wolf... use it.
 
Wolf is the ONLY thing I feed my Bushy!!!!
She eats it and spits it out every time.
She will "bump a 30" with no problems,even 120rd. drums of the stuff!!!
Just clean her well each and every time,and all is good!!!

MRI
 
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