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More Steel Cased Ammo

After I wrote about Winchester’s new steel cased ammo I received some upset emails. A message from Facebook directed me to this test at Lucky Gunner. First of all, I have total respect for them for taking on this test. Doing a 40,000 round test is enough to wear out any team. For me, there's only one flaw. They did this test as shooters. They picked up 4 beater quality ARs as the sole testing platform when you see just as many steel cased malfunctions, if not more, from pistols. Basically, I see a much different test structure had there been a gunsmith on the team. Here are some observations from someone who has worked at a shop with a range.

  1. Yes, dirty ammo is just as bad. Russian made ammo is usually both steel cased and uses dirty ammo.

  2. Some guns actually don't mind steel cased ammo and will run just fine with it. Others can't make it 10 rounds without a stuck casing which requires leaving the range to tap out.

  3. There's absolutely no way to tell which guns will run steel cased ammo and which ones won't before hitting the range.

So, really the best way to do this test would be to supply a public range with only steel cased ammo for a three day period. Why have three days? Because you have to consider one day to be an anomaly. Two days could give you a tie. Then you're left with the best two out of three. Having worked at a shop with a range I cannot tell you how many steel casings I've had to tap out of chambers. I've seen everything from won't properly function a single round to runs like a raped ape with surplus Russian garbage. My point is this is something you have to watch over time and with multiple firearm types to get any kind of definitive results. What do you think? Does the article make you more or less willing to run steel cased ammo?

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