Brass vs Steel cartridges?

The few times that I've shot steel cases ammo has been hit or miss. In my Glock, Wolf Ammo functioned without issue. In a Kimber I found that after a few magazines the cartridges began having FTF and FTE issues. The lacquer or polymer seemed to be an issue.

I contacted Springfield Armory regarding use of steel cased ammo in their pistols. Their customer service rep. said: "We are told that steel cased ammo can be hard on the firearm and we do not recommend it."
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I would bet that Steel Match is really European cases loaded with Hornady bullets. Nobody in the US is going to tool up to manufacture steel cases and Berdan primers for them, it just wouldn't pay when they can get it cheap from Lower Slobbovia. Heaven knows what powder they are using. Maybe Hodgdon, they have been in cahoots together before.

I would not mind shooting steel cased ammunition in a pistol or 7.62x39. I would be leery of .223, the long skinny case does not seem to be well suited for secondary materials.
 
I would imagine that it would depend on the "wiggle room" in your gun. Guns like the AK, the Glock, XD, etc. will hold up to steel cases much better than a 1911 match gun or a Luger. I used to shoot steel exclusively through my Glock 26. I never had one hint of a problem after a few thousand rounds.
 
I've put 1000 rounds of wolf 9mm through my 92A1 in the last few months without the slightest problem, although it does dirty the gun up a lot more than any other ammo i've used.
 
I have never used steel ammo in any of my handguns because I have always been under the impression that brass was the way to go. I do a lot of shooting with my AR-15 and bought a case of Wolf ammo because it was so much cheaper than brass. I shot an entire case without a single problem or malfunction. And, as others have already noted, the gun was pretty dirty at the end of the day but no noticeable excessive wear or impending damage.
 
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