Steel Cased Ammo Test: Week 4

February 24, 2012
By

I can’t believe we’ve been shooting steel cased ammo for a month now, but we’re finally(!) starting to get more than 150 rounds a week through the gun. This week all of the ammo we shot through the Gen 4 Glock 21 was Hornady Steel Match, because that’s what I used at the 2012 IDPA Indoor Nationals.

The Hornady Steel Match is just…amazing ammo. It has everything I like so far about steel cased ammo, but uses match grade components resulting in a USPSA Major Power Factor .45 load that shoots nice little groups but costs 10-20 bucks LESS per box than brass cased match ammo.

  • Rounds fired this week: 230
  • Total rounds fired: 732
  • Stoppages/malfunctions: 0

732 isn’t a lot of rounds for a month’s worth of shooting, which is a sad fact I recognize.  We’ve seen a progressive increase in the number of rounds fired as the weather turns and I’m able to find more opportunities to get outside and get some rounds downrange.  I have thousands of rounds of steel cased ammo just waiting to be turned into smoke and noise, and as the test ramps up you’re going to see more of that ammo get burned up.

Test parameters:

  • Group: No group shot this week due to travel for the Indoor Nationals.
  • Ejection pattern:  The gun is still ejecting and acting normally, although I noticed one casing pop out kind of weird when reviewing video from the Indoor Nationals.  However, 1 casing out of 700 is an anomaly, not a significant piece of info.
  • Feed lips.  My feed lips are awesome and solid.

More updates next week!

 

This entry was posted on February 24, 2012 at 05:16 and is filed under Steel Cased Ammo Test. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

12 Responses to Steel Cased Ammo Test: Week 4

  1. Jesse on February 24, 2012 at 05:57

    As someone whose local range is closed until July I’d love to be able to shoot only 730 rounds.

    • Pyrotek85 on February 24, 2012 at 11:12

      I wish I could afford to shoot that much per month lol

  2. Ken Rihanek on February 24, 2012 at 11:35

    I know you wanted to use the good ammo for the match. Less premium ammo and more, lots more cheap ammo.

    You must be busy doing something other than shooting. This pace is way behind your average for last year.

    • Caleb on February 24, 2012 at 11:53

      I’m actually shooting a lot of bullets, just not as much steel cased right now. I have a separate gun that I’m running brass cased ammo through.

  3. Brice on February 24, 2012 at 16:21

    Seriously, where’s that chrono data you promised us at week one? :)

  4. Skevlar on February 24, 2012 at 16:31

    “My feed lips are awesome and solid.”

    That’s something would never post

    anywhere on the internet !

    • eh_D on February 25, 2012 at 06:51

      This is my favorite comment ever!

  5. JustinZ on February 25, 2012 at 11:25

    “everything I like so far about steel cased ammo”, what are the advantages and disadvantage of steel vs brass? SUpposedly they wear more, do they shoot more accurately then?

    • TS on February 25, 2012 at 11:58

      Most likely price. He said that the Hornady Steel Match was accurate.

      • JustinZ on February 27, 2012 at 12:33

        was I asking you?

        • TS on February 27, 2012 at 18:05

          It didn’t seem like he was answering so I gave my take. Sorry for upsetting you.

  6. charles in charge on February 27, 2012 at 20:53

    I don’t quite understand why people are paying through the nose for match grade pistol ammo unless you’re shooting bullseye. I had thought the Steel Match was going to be something to compete with Blazer aluminum cased ammo, something a step above Tula and Wolf, but I was ignoring the “match” part of the equation. Anyone care to explain? Do people really shoot match grade ammo who don’t get it for free or a huge discount, or at least get to write it off on their tax return?
    No disrespect to Hornady, I love my LNL Progressive. Or Gun Nuts my favorite gun blog that I occasionally disagree with.