[Quentin]

Any 5.56 chambered barrel that cracks or blows from using .223 steel case had to be a pretty sorry barrel. Hundreds of thousands of rounds of .223 are safely run in 5.56x45 guns every year, a lot of it steel case. I'll take those odds! Honestly I'd rather use brass case (and often do) but I'd be shooting a lot less without the cheap 20 cent stuff.

[mjkeat]

Tell that to the guys running 10k+ rounds of steel cased ammo through their rifles a year. I bet it'll give them a nice chuckle.

I run steel through a couple real nice higher end rifles w/o so much as a second thought.

The only time I've known people to have problems w/ steel is due to out of spec. rifles.

[Sniper03]

As everyone here would agree this post can go on forever as the debate surely will. So I will just inject a couple of thoughts. First Stag as well as Rock River who have been mentioned in this thread make fine products. I understand buying Wolf ammunition due to price. Although I must admit it will never be chambered in any of my good ARs. There are a lot of good military ammunition that can be purchased as reasonable as possible. If reasonable is existent today!
And the only caution! Do some research on what surplus ammunition and from what country is good and check with a reputable dealer. For example Israel and other countries production is good. I buy some cans or battle packs when I can. But I have had experiences with many rifles that shot the old varnish coated Wolf casings. And if the operator was not very - very diligent with his or her cleaning they did create a problem if the chamber was not cleaned properly. What would happen if the chamber was not cleaned properly some of the varnish that had became hot and then cooled in the chamber formed a coating in the chamber unbeknown by the shooter. And builds up over time. So extraction problems started occurring. I understand the new Wolf does not have that coating and also they are in the process of making brass case ammunition today. I had one officer who had a Bushmaster Rifle that the varnish had also built up a coating in the locking lug area of the AR and we could hardly pull the charging handle which had a severe drag when pulled back as the locking lugs attempted to turn as they were in a bind due to tolerances. So I do not think they are using that coated ammunition anymore but if you shoot any be aggressive about cleaning your chamber and lug area after each range outing.
You must also understand that some companies hold tighter chamber tolerances than other manufacturers. With the element of the coating involved, some might have problems sooner than others or not be that sensitive to some build up.
03

[mjkeat]

I spray a bore snake w/ solvent, run it through twice, wipe down the BCG and call it a day.

[Tommy34]

Originally Posted by shrugod

it is steel cased ammo (wolf). barrel is 556 nato. i had a colt years ago before it got banned in my state, and that thing never had a problem with the wolf stuff. i guess maybe i just got a bad one. im gonna take it to stag on wednesday (they are right around the corner).

Its got to be the ammo use brass its less likely to be out of spec when it comes to the steel plinker cheep stuff i found the tula ammo at walmart works pretty well

[whisky1alpha]

It sounds like the head space and timing are off. I have Stag M-4 and ran alot of ammo though the weapon with no issues. If you are using cheap stuff like wolf, brown bear etc that ammo tends to jam more often do to the lacker coating. bass is the way to go but thats just me. contact Stag Arms they will repair or replace it

[mjkeat]

Or you could just throw in a lighter buffer and see if that changes things.

[Bools]

I run wolf ammo thru my bushmaster consistently without any problems. Not one jam yet in 600 or so rounds of it. I ran 150 rounds pretty much non stop to heat that barrel up nice and it worked fine. Granted cleaning it afterword took some elbow grease.

[ArmedCitizen]

The problem is not your rifle. It's the ammo. Wolf Ammo is cheaply produced. Which is why it's so cheap to buy. The casings aren't 100% uniform and are Coates in an anti-corrosive material that melts in a hot gun.
A goof friend of mine owns a Stag Arms AR. I've put a few hundred rounds through it myself. Never a problem with brass casings. Not even my reloads.
I would never dream of putting wolf in my Colt after witnessing a jam with it on the range. Took a hammer to get the bolt loose.
If you're buying factory loads, spend the few extra dollars for decent rounds.

[mjkeat]

Originally Posted by ArmedCitizen

The problem is not your rifle. It's the ammo. Wolf Ammo is cheaply produced. Which is why it's so cheap to buy. The casings aren't 100% uniform and are Coates in an anti-corrosive material that melts in a hot gun.
A goof friend of mine owns a Stag Arms AR. I've put a few hundred rounds through it myself. Never a problem with brass casings. Not even my reloads.
I would never dream of putting wolf in my Colt after witnessing a jam with it on the range. Took a hammer to get the bolt loose.
If you're buying factory loads, spend the few extra dollars for decent rounds.

What was the malfunction?

Like what has been stated before, steel cased ammo is ok to put through any AR. The problems can be fixed the majority of the time w/ a lighter buffer. Some rifles have tight chambers that can cause problems too.

It may not be as accurate but for $189 per 1K minute of man is cool w/ me.

Ive never had a problem w/ steel in any of my ARs. DD, Spikes, BCM, LWRC, franken builds, etc... Even a 7.62x39 AR.

A lot of high round count hard use shooters use steel cased ammo.