Had a problem with some ammo today...

[Heartland Patriot]

Alrighty, I know what SOME folks' answer will be right out of the gate...but I'm going to put this one out there anyway. My son and I went to the range today. I have a 16-inch barrel AR and he has a Mini-14. We took 260 rounds of Wolf Performance .223, 75 grain ammo. I know the bullets are a bit heavy for our 1-9 twist rates but I got a good deal on it and we were shooting at 50 yards only. Things started out great. Not tack driving, of course, but the rounds were grouping pretty good. Then, less than 50 rounds into firing, I had an FTE. SERIOUS stuck case. Range officer had to go get a brass rod that had a handle to pop the case out. Thought it was a one-off problem. Then, my son had it happen with his Mini. Luckily, the RO let us keep the rod. Unstuck the case from the Mini, back in action. By the end of about 140 rounds downrange between us (me 80, son 60), we had 5 FTEs with stuck cases...the extractors ripped right past the rims of the cases, even. Now, I've fired Wolf before...hundreds of rounds, in fact, as well as Herters and some other Russian steel case stuff. Never had an issue before like this. All the other stuff I had fired was 55 or 62 grain, though. AND, these cases today were slightly bulged out. Never noticed that before, either. I know that some (a lot) of folks will say, "Stop using steel case". I understand the reasoning behind that suggestion. However, I am at a loss to understand how all the OTHER steel case stuff worked just fine, but not this particular flavor. Any ideas would be appreciated...and yes, I know, "Don't use steel case"...got it. Thanks in advance.

[SQLGeek]

I have heard quite a few reports of steel case ammo in ARs slipping extractors and getting stuck in the chamber. Not sure it helps much but the problem you encountered does not seem to be uncommon.

[Excaliber]

The increasing number of issue reports on Wolf and Tula ammo suggest there has been a change in manufacturing processes and quality control at the factory.

I've used Wolf very heavily and successfully for years - tens of thousands of rounds.

I'm no longer buying their ammo.

[Heartland Patriot]

Thanks for the replies so far...as a secondary question regarding this, does anyone know of any .223 brass cased ammo that is hollowpoint, or softpoint, that is also fairly inexpensive? The range I go to (and several others in the DFW) have a thing about no FMJ rifle ammo. Thus the hollowpoint or softpoint need. Wolf and other Russian brands make inexpensive hollowpoint range ammo, which is why I have been using it. I hope someone has a suggestion for me so I can avoid the steel case stuff from now on (and I can't afford all the necessary gear to reload right now).

[Excaliber]

Thanks for the replies so far...as a secondary question regarding this, does anyone know of any .223 brass cased ammo that is hollowpoint, or softpoint, that is also fairly inexpensive? The range I go to (and several others in the DFW) have a thing about no FMJ rifle ammo. Thus the hollowpoint or softpoint need. Wolf and other Russian brands make inexpensive hollowpoint range ammo, which is why I have been using it. I hope someone has a suggestion for me so I can avoid the steel case stuff from now on (and I can't afford all the necessary gear to reload right now).

I've bought reasonably priced boxes of 50 hollowpoint .223 55 grain ammo at Bass Pro Shop in the past.

[MoJo]

The first thing I would do is clean the chamber. It only takes a minute to pull the bolt carrier and scrub the chamber with a chamber brush and wipe it with an oiled patch. The mini might take a little longer but not much. I learned to keep the chamber ln an M 16 clean back in the '60s that spilled over to my AR 15s.

[Bob Wolff]

How old is the Wolf ammo?
Old Wolf ammo used to have a lacquer coating that could cause caases to stick.
My understanding is that this process was stopped several years ago.

Bob

[TX Rancher]

The increasing number of issue reports on Wolf and Tula ammo suggest there has been a change in manufacturing processes and quality control at the factory.

Heartland Patriot:

Excaliber hit the nail on the head. Wolf was having problems with their manufacturer and switched over to a new one. You probably have some of the older ammo.

I wouldn't necessarily give up on steel cased rounds based on a bad batch from Wolf. Many folks who used steel cased rounds were starting to have problems with Wolf and either switched to the newer Wolf or bought from the other steel cased suppliers. If your rifle ate the steel cases before, just switch to another supplier (Brown Bear for one) and you would probably be good to go.

It seems some folks have problem when switching between brass and steel cases, so it may be a good idea to avoid that activity (although there are plenty of folks in the camp that claim it's not an issue...YMMV)

As MoJo stated, cleaning the chamber would be a good idea, especially before you switch back to brass...

[Heartland Patriot]

Concerning the thought about older Wolf ammo, and a bad lot, can anyone tell me how to date the stuff? I know I've had this batch for a while, but I really can't remember when I bought it...once again, and as always, thanks for the insight and assistance.