Steel vs Brass Ammo

A contest as old as time, brass vs steel cased ammo. There are the two main metals used for casing ammunition: brass and steel. Some people will vehemently defend steel cased as acceptable for everything and if a firearm can’t handle then it doesn’t deserve brass. Others will only feed their firearms brass. Let’s dig in deeper to find who’s right.

Brass Cased Ammo

Photo Credit: Peach State Armory

Brass cased ammunition is certainly more common in stores and online. Brass has a specific elasticity and softness that is very useful for firearms. Not too soft and not too hard. It results in a tighter seal in the chamber as the brass casing expands slightly, but also allows for better extraction.

Brass Ammo Pros

Brass ammo tends to run cleaner, can be reloaded and is easier on the chamber of the barrel. The chamber of the barrel, unless designed for steel like the Famas or many AK variants, will last longer than if a shooter used steel.

Runs Cleaner

Because brass ammunition tends to have a full metal jacket over the lead bullet, this leads to cleaner running ammunition. The exposed lead leaves residue inside the barrel and muzzle device. Not all brass cased ammunition has fully coated ammunition though, so be sure to research this prior to purchasing.

Can Be Reloaded

Due to its material properties, brass casings can be used for reloading a number of times for multiple calibers. On the other hand, steel cased ammunition cannot be used for reloading because the casing hardens after being fired and becomes too brittle to be reloaded. On an industrial scale, like the French Military industrial complex, steel is much more abundant than brass and it is easier and cheaper to melt it down and start over than to reload. The U.S. Military does the same, only with brass. Reloading brass on a smaller scale can save the average shooter significant money if they reload and shoot enough which is why it's becoming increasingly popular.

Brass Ammo Cons

Brass ammunition’s main disadvantage will be that it costs more than steel ammunition. While it is slightly less durable from mishandling, this is rarely seen and is basically a negligible point.

Price

But why does brass ammunition cost more? Well, it’s for a few reasons. Brass is generally more expensive than steel is. It also has to be manufactured a little more carefully and diligently due to its material properties. It also tends to be appropriately loaded with the right amount of powder, rather than underpowered.

Steel Cased Ammo

Photo Credit: Ammo Man

Many people are surprised that steel cased ammunition is available when they first find out.

Steel Cased Ammo Pros

Steel has one main advantage: It’s cheaper! This is really the only thing that steel ammunition has going for it.

Lower Cost

While not always cheaper, it generally is. This has to do with brass generally using better, cleaner powder. The casing material itself is cheaper. 

Steel Cased Ammo Cons

The main cons are that it will damage your firearm, if not designed for steel ammunition, faster than it would otherwise. It will be less reliable due to the casing’s material properties and because it runs dirtier very often.

Extraction & Feeding Issues

Not that you can't get away with several range days of using TulAmmo but if you look at it from a metallurgical perspective - steel is simply too strong and hard within the chamber of a gun's barrel to properly impress itself appropriately on the chamber walls. When it does impress, it can potentially scratch the chamber walls. That casing's stiffness also allows the chamber and bolt lock to open up just slightly, exposing the system to different chamber pressures and allowing it to open at different velocities then what it was designed for. While firearms are completely mechanical machines, they are very exactingly engineered from a timing and material science standpoint and this should not be disregarded. (This is for rifles, you're most likely going to be fine with handguns running steel cased ammo.) 

Dirtier

Steel cased ammunition runs dirtier not because of its casing entirely. It’s that in order to make steel commercially viable, it must be cheap; this necessitates using cheap, dirty powder. The result being that it gunk up the shooter’s gun noticeably faster and requires more cleaning. This can become a nuisance when running compensators, muzzle brakes or suppressors. Additionally, because the chamber might not get quite as good of a seal, this will also allow more spread of dirty carbon build up around your gun's internals.

Indoor Ranges

Indoors ranges will only very rarely allow a shooter to use steel or aluminum cased ammunition. This is because cartridges leave a lot of unburnt powder on the floor of the range. The floor is often concrete, which can spark with steel or aluminum if they hit it right or each other. For those that have worked in ranges, they have more than likely had to put out a small fire or two from when someone didn’t listen.

Ranges that burn down during operating hours often do so because the unburnt powder wasn’t swept properly. It’s dangerous stuff and the owners of these small businesses won’t take the risk in most cases. Please be respectful of the dangers that non brass cased ammunition can pose to others.

As for outdoor ranges, they likely gather brass casings to sell or reload. Nonetheless, it's private property so they get to make their own rules. What you'll want to watch out for if you buy steel ammo with steel core bullets. There are plenty of steel/aluminum cased rounds that actually have copper bullets - the same as what brass cased rounds would use. However, for the aforementioned reasons indoor ranges will still not allow for the use of aluminum case rounds even if they have copper bullets. So keep that in mind. 

Choosing Brass or Steel Ammo

At the end of the day it all depends on the shooter’s purpose and budget. If using guns designed for steel, that will lead to a better experience. Brass will otherwise be a better performing material given its properties. Brass ammunition is all that is allowed at indoor ranges.

Whether it’s for the sake of running your guns cleaner or for getting better performance and accuracy, it’s better to run brass whenever possible. That being said, you are going to be just fine practicing drills with steel ammo as long as it's not your only source of ammunition. Just make sure you clean your guns often!