Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
That's actually been going through my head thinking about this one. The things is that brass has always been the material of choice and I don't think anyone's ever seriously considered using anything else. I consulted Wikipedia and found the following:
Actually the Soviet Bloc used steel cases and most of them still do. The vast majority of 7.62x39, 7.62x54 and 5.45x39 cartridges use steel cases. Even here in the USA, Russian steel case ammo is extremely popular.
In fact most of the center fire ammo I shoot is Russian Wolf steel cased ammo. Since I don't reload or shoot competitively, I see no reason shell out double the money for brass ammunition. Cost is definitely the biggest advantage to steel cases.
So we can summarize 1) corrosion resistance, as Farm Boy was saying, 2) less wear to the gun, 3) less gas getting past the cartridge because the softer brass deforms to restrict that, 4) cleaner gun less likely to get jammed up, 5) has characteristics that make it more rugged for handling in the field.
Lets trim that down a little.
1) True.
2) This is a myth among gun owners. Steel cases will not harm or cause anymore wear and tear to most modern guns than brass cases will. As I said before, steel cases are very popular for civilian shooters in the US because of their lower cost. If they were damaging the guns then they would not sell.
The only gun I own that doesn't like steel cases is my Mosin-Nagant which sometimes gets a sticky bolt. But the gun isn't being damaged or worn out. It's really just an annoyance.
3) True.
4) The casing does not determine how dirty the cartridge burns when fired. That is a combination of powder and primer.
5) Can't really say.


