monarch blue box ammo

[striker55]

Anyone try this ammo, picked some up at Academy for my 9mm. Pretty cheap stuff.

[TDDude]

It's metal cased. Unless you have an eastern block gun I'd stay away.

It is less expensive.

[Dan20703]

I've only used the green box, which is brass cased. Shoots without a problem in my 9mm guns.
I don't know a thing about the steel cased stuff. Are eastern block guns designed for this? I have a cz P-01.

[Keith B]

It's metal cased. Unless you have an eastern block gun I'd stay away.

It is less expensive.

I thought all cases were metal?

I think what you meant, is it is steel cased, coated with Teflon. It is very similar to Wolf steel case stuff. I have ran a box through my Sigma .40 and my Kahr PM9, and had no trouble. With the coating on the case, I don't see any issues with wear on the gun over what brass would do. The only negative I can see is it is not reloadable.

[bpet]

I've never tried it but am curious about the Academy price. Who knows, I may give it a try in my CZ.

[zbordas]

I picked up 5 boxes a few months ago because I thought it was aluminium case ammo. I realized that it is metal case latter when I wanted to shoot it. I checked a few forums and most users say it does not really cause any damage to the gun but it is not really recommended because it might cause excessive wear on the feed ramp. Some steel case ammo might also cause excessive wear on the extractor. I checked how my gun feeds it by manually moving the slide and it looked ok. As I lost the receipt and I could not trade it back for the more expensive brass version I am slowly using it up by putting a steel case round to the top of the mag only and use brass ammo for the rest. When I change clips I manually drive the slide back so there's no excessive force to push the case against the feed ramp. I did not notice any extra wear so far using it that way.
However I am not planning to buy that ammo any more, the $1 difference is not worth risking any damage to your precisuos tool.

[striker55]

I picked up 5 boxes at $7.49 a box only because the green box of Monarch at $8.79 a box was out. I usually use Blazer's but with their increase in price I thought I'd try something else. Just going to use it for target shooting. I'll let you know how it works.

[NcongruNt]

Monarch in general is OK stuff. It's somewhat dirty ammo, so you'll notice more buildup in your gun when you're finished shooting. I've used the green box (brass-cased) - probably a couple hundred rounds or so in my Hi-Power with no ill effects. Recently, I've been using UMC stuff, as it comes in 250-round packs.

As others have stated, steel-cased ammo is good for eastern bloc guns, where steel cases are the norm and the guns are made for it. The coating may make a difference, I'm not sure of that. As a general rule, brass is what American and Western European guns are designed for, and I would stay away from firing steel through them on a regular basis, especially on a carry gun.

[Abraham]

While I agree "steel cased cartridges" are probably tougher on pistols: Is that a fact or conjecture?

I'd really like to know the answer as the appeal of lower cost ammo is the type encouragement I need to practice more at the range.

I originally bought a 9mm for this very reason, inexpensive to shoot...and now even this caliber is very costly to shoot hundreds of rounds and that's what I like to shoot when I practice. Hundreds of rounds seem almost like blowing away money rather than lead.

Ugh.

So, does anyone know if steel cased ammo really is tougher on guns or does it just SEEM like it makes sense to think so?

[melkor41]

brass can be reloaded, steel can not. so on the $ per round alone it is not worth doing steel for the loss of reloading potential.

[aardwolf]

brass can be reloaded, steel can not. so on the $ per round alone it is not worth doing steel for the loss of reloading potential.

That assumes (1) you reload and (2) the range lets you pick up and keep your brass and (3) your time is worth less than the cost difference between your reloads and Monarch.

Those assumptions may be true for some people but not for everyone.

[arod757]

I've run about 600 of these rounds through my Glock 19 without a single malfunction so far. They are dirtier rounds, but I clean my gun after each range session, so I don't really care.

[Abraham]

All above good information, but my question remains unanswered: Does anyone KNOW if steel cased ammo really is tougher on guns or does it just seem like it makes sense to think so?

And a follow up: Is there such a thing as pistols designed with different internal metallurgy in order to withstand steel cased rounds or is this also conjecture?

Anyone here have a definitive answer or are we all in the dark on this?

Thanks

[Keith B]

All above good information, but my question remains unanswered: Does anyone KNOW if steel cased ammo really is tougher on guns or does it just seem like it makes sense to think so?

And a follow up: Is there such a thing as pistols designed with different internal metallurgy in order to withstand steel cased rounds or is this also conjecture?

Anyone here have a definitive answer or are we all in the dark on this?

Thanks

The only test I could find was from Box-O-Truth on rifle ammo http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu18.htm

Their basic conclusion is the polymer or lacquer finishes don't 'gum up the chamber' by melting. However, the steel casing does not expand as much as brass or aluminum when fired, and therefore will cause your chamber to foul since it doesn't block the gasses from coming back around the casing. If you follow up with brass or aluminum cased ammo, it is possible it will jam in the fouled chamber since it expands more, thus causing more stress on your extractor or possible FTF/FTB issues.

I don't think the steel casing hardness is going to be that big an issue since Monarch or Wolf steel cases are polymer coated. If the case lip is dragging over the ramp, then it might be possible as there is minimal coating at that point. But, in a properly functioning weapon there should be minimal contact at the lip point. The polymer coating should be as soft or softer than brass or aluminum and shouldn't cause issues where it contacts the metal of your ramp and chamber.

My theory.

[M9FAN]

I've only used the green box, which is brass cased. Shoots without a problem in my 9mm guns.

Anyone have experience with the Monarch green box in .223? I bought 5 boxes for my new AR but have yet to fire it...