Hornady Match Steel

[.308LiteHunter]

I searched this on the forum and came up with some steel vs brass talk from last year. Im not trying to rehash any of that. I just want to know if any of you use/ or would use these bullets in your .308's. I know Hornady has a good reputation and I have used and like there other bullets ( even if Im not supposed to run them in my lr.308, they worked just fine) so I would hope these bullets are decent. Thoughts?

[Matt.Cross]

I wouldn't for one very simple reason, and that is chamber wear. It's going to be far more aggressive with steel than brass.

[.308LiteHunter]

I wouldn't for one very simple reason, and that is chamber wear. It's going to be far more aggressive with steel than brass.

Thanks Matt,

So since  steel is a harder metal it would overtime produce more wear and tear inside the chamber? That makes sense I guess, any idea on how significant of wear that is? I mean is that going to reduce the life of your chamber by 5%, 25%....?

[Matt.Cross]

Thanks Matt,

So since  steel is a harder metal it would overtime produce more wear and tear inside the chamber? That makes sense I guess, any idea on how significant of wear that is? I mean is that going to reduce the life of your chamber by 5%, 25%....?

 

I don't have any cold hard numbers on the wear factor, just a working knowledge of brass and steel. With what I have invested in my barrels, I don't want the wear that will result from shooting steel cased in it until the barrel is worn to the point that chamber wear won't influence accuracy or repeatability. I want my chambers to wear as little as possible for as long as possible, and brass is far preferable to steel in that respect.

[planeflyer21]

Someone did a side-by-side test of brass vs. steel cases, on identical ARs.

 

The steel did in fact wear parts faster but they were going mag after mag, and didn't get the first broken part until around 10,000 rounds I believe.

 

Jon

[unforgiven]

Brother Al had a great article on that.What it did show that in 5.56 com-block ammo wore out barrel faster.Then the question was price of a barrel vs. brass ammo.He had a great link.

[98Z5V]

Brother Al had a great article on that.What it did show that in 5.56 com-block ammo wore out barrel faster.Then the question was price of a barrel vs. brass ammo.He had a great link.

Here is that thread:

 

[.308LiteHunter]

Awesome, thanks for the info! I knew joining this forum would be a good thing. Its priceless to be able to tap into a vast wealth of knowledge.

 

The tests that were performed, and the amount of data provided is incredible. That would have been a fun test to be part of!

 

From a cost point it does show that it would be cheaper to shoot steel and buy to new replacement barrels compared with shooting brass over the same amount of time.

 

However, since I have a tightly chambered DPMS lr.308 I will probably stick with brass since I hear they don't like steel anyway. Anyone else no this to be true?

 

How does this stuff shoot,  Prvi Partizan 168gr HPBT Match?

 

Again, thanks for all the info, this is a great resource!

Edited May 15, 2013 by .308LiteHunter

[ripper51]

I normally don't wade in, but this time....... I had some Hornady 155 Steel that I tried in my LR308 Classic. Broke the extractor, twice. Have since consigned the ammo to a bolt gun and treat the LR308 to FGMM 168's. I am NOT saying don't use it. Just warning of what I went thru.

[Robocop1051]

I have about 300-400 rounds of 7.62 steel. I keep it for emergencies only... Along with a spare bolt.

I have yet to actually shoot any of it though.

In my 5.56 I shoot about 70/30, brass over steel.