Thread: NEA AR15 Ammo

Hey guys

going to place an order for some gear this week with the guys at NZAR15

great outfit and i have one of their NEA 14.5" AR's

i am currently using some shit box foreign .223 ammo and groups like a preschoolers finger painting (all over the place) vs the drafts man (precise)

They offer HP steel match hornady in either 55gn or 75gn

anyone had experience with either? would rather buy a few boxes off the cuff than buy some of each and test prior to buying?

thanks

Im not a fan of steel cased ammo so haven tried it in my nea my one shoots the brass 55gr training ammo at about 1.5 inches at 100

Originally Posted by jakesae101

Im not a fan of steel cased ammo so haven tried it in my nea my one shoots the brass 55gr training ammo at about 1.5 inches at 100

where do you get that stuff? i cant seem to find it?

I got it from gun city was on special to run my gun in when i got it and to get more brass to reload 223 Hornady 55 GR Soft Point

and whats wrong with steel vs brass?

Brass is able to be reloaded for starters but steel cased ammo is lacquer coated when firing rapid fire or just lots of rounds the lacquer comes off the cases and is deposited in the chamber and can be quite hard to clean out and apparently can cause stuck cases Barnaul i have seen it happen hornady i don't know but thats my reasoning for not using it

After some more reading most are now polymer coated i think but hey brass isnt that much more and if you get into reloading you have some brass

hey guys , I looked at all sorts of ammo to run in all my guns , and everyone at the range is saying , don't buy steel , or the lacquer will melt ... etc etc .... but reading more , and finding various articles on it , I don't think its an issue these days ...if the gun gets hot enough to melt the coating , .. its gunna start cooking rounds in the chamber .... I don't use steel because I reload , ... I also use my cast boolits in my very short barrel guns which the manufacture says not too ..... Barnaul ammo seems fine , cheap enough to buy a few boxes , try it and see ....if the cases stick , buy another brand , but I bet you they wont . just my opinion .. and mine alone

I have used over 10000 rounds of hornady steel training ammo between five ar15s and not had any sticking problems-due to lacquer. Hornady use barnall cases FYI.

What I have experienced a couple of times is after firing a few hundred steel cases in a sitting I decide to fire a group with brass cased ammo and have had the brass case stick. My googling leads me to believe that as the steel cases don't expand into the chamber as much on firing it allows some gas to bring some carbon/powder back into the chamber that the brass cases then grab when they expand.

Please not this has only happened after a lot of rounds.

I'm all for reloading but I don't think there is any issue with using modern steel ammo in a ar15

Having had a look at some youtube clips on steel cased 223 frankly Ive yet to see any real evidence the stuff is a problem in a modern well made AR15. Accuracy however may well be somewhat worse. So have ppl actually had issues with Barnaul etc? or is it "ive heard its bad so avoid it" ? In terms of for it, I have some kindle books on the Ar15 going back 10 years by Patrick Sweeney and he did some tests and had no issues cycling steel cased at all, this seems consistent with anything newer I have been able to find.

Now I will probably reload as its what I do and I can save $s so I have to run brass. Oh and looking at the ground around Kaitoke there is a lot of rusty 223 cases....so someone(s) sure is using it.

Steel cased rounds usually have steel jacketed projectiles, which have shown to significantly reduce barrel life.
Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo - An Epic Torture Test

Originally Posted by jakesae101

I got it from gun city was on special to run my gun in when i got it and to get more brass to reload 223 Hornady 55 GR Soft Point

That stuff is $55.00 for 50 rounds at Reloaders Supplies.

The lacquer does not melt nor the polymer. It is correct that the steel can cause increased carbon build up in the chamber. It is also true that bi metal jacket bullets fired from Russian and eastern bloc ammo will reduce barrel life. Lucky Gunner basically proved it. The argument is made that the money saved shooting cheap bi metal ammo will pay for a new barrel. Unfortunately the Russian ammo tends to group like dog shit and has lack luster terminal performance.

The Hornady ammo is pretty good value for money. It will usually group at least 2 moa with a milspec barrel, and is capable of sub moa consistently with a good barrel. We ream through Hornady steel case FMJ ammo in our club. Only failures I have witnessed is when people use shit mags, poorly adjusted gas blocks and little or no lube. I have never ever had a stuck case with any AR I have owned even when mixing brass and steel cased ammo.

I shot over 6000 rounds of hornady steel cased ammo through my 3gun rifle in the past 12 months doing club matches and practice. Have never cleaned the chamber and never had any issues to date. Im not going to stop using it because someone on the internet believes its bad voodoo to do so.