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Posted On: 10/17/2013
By: Steve
A: Generally speaking, the brass cased .223 or 5.56 will tend to be more reliable in the AR-15 platform. This should not imply that steel cased rounds are going to malfunction or underperform. Some shooters, including myself, have never experienced any problems due to the use of steel cased rounds in the AR platform, or handgun calibers for that matter. I recall 2 primers that would not fire, thats it.
With the AK-47 family of rifles seeing steel rounds fired through them a majority of the time, American made brass cased rounds will fire just as well. If the chamber has a lot of dirt built up over time, you may find that the brass will want to stick in the chamber. This is due to the brass expanding onto surfaces in the chamber better than steel since they are softer. 95% of the rounds fired through an aftermarket barrel in an AK-47 I've worked with have been brass cased rounds. Switching back and forth have not resulted in any issues. This can be said with the .223/5.56 caliber as well.
Each rifle will be different and a select few may function better with brass .223/5.56 over steel, however most rifles should be able to switch back and forth between brass and steel without any issues. There is also personal preferences between the two which will usually lead to lengthy discussions and debates.
My recommendation would be finding a round that you and your rifle like and make this your go-to type of ammo. Trying out new brands can also be fun. You may find that brass cased 7.62x39 will have a little more kick to it. I've found accuracy to increase over steel cased rounds at greater distances.
Posted On: 7/10/2012
By: Corey
A: This steel cased ammo will not work for reloading. The steel case is harder than brass which will not resize as well, which is not safe for reloading. Additionally, these cartridges are Berdan primed and will not accept de-priming tools found on die sets.
Boxer primed brass is ideal for reloading.
