HKPRO Forums banner

Steel cased .223 in C93 ?

4K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  SWolff 
#1 ·
I have a C93 (HK93 clone) that runs great with steel and brass cased ammo. Any reason not to run a lot of steel cased ammo with the American made barrel of unknown origin ? Unlike an AR15 , a HK clone does not lend itself to easy barrel changes or cheap and easy to find parts, if something wears out. Plus, AR15's have known quality chrome lined barrels. Any thoughts ? -Thanks
 
#2 ·
I run the sh** out of my 93 with steel case ammo in full auto all the time. Really don't see much wear after 6000 rounds about. Figure the cost of a new barrel and having it installed vs the price difference between steel vs brass ammo and how long it takes to wear a barrel out and decide if its worth the savings. I shoot what I can get cheap and when it comes time to re barrel it I will go the 33k route.
 
#3 ·
I have to say, I would be more concerned as to whether the ammo has actual copper jacketed bullets or plated bullets than whether the ammo is steel or brass cased. My understanding is jacketed bullets tend to have a thicker softer layer of copper over the lead core. The plated bullets tend to have a thinner bullet jacket that is made from a harder copper alloy. So my limited understanding is that the plated bullets tend to wear the rifling more so than jacketed bullets do.

It is also my understanding that a plain steel or plain stainless steel barrel should have decent accuracy for 8,000-10,000 rds of brass cased jacketed ammo use. Of course wear will increase if you use plated bullets and pound mag after mag so the barrel gets very hot. The warmer the steel, the softer it gets, so the greater the wear per round when the barrel is at higher temperatures.

Do you actually plan on running 10,000 rds through your C93? If so, how do you plan to do so and what kind of ammo will certainly effect the wear rate of the rifling. If you think it might take 15 or 20 years to do so in semi, then I don't think this is an issue to worry about now. You could always buy a RCM CHF Nitrided barrel now. Then in 15 years if you need it, you'll have one. I'd think it would be very tough to really know what the clone market parts availability might be like 15 years from now. YMMV.

Scott
 
#4 ·
I agree with Anopstyx. My HK93 on full auto eats 40rd mags with no problems, runs great. My M16 is very picky and does not run well on steel cased ammo at all. I am not a big fan of the steel cased ammo and will burn up the little I have left in the HK 93.
 
#8 ·
Good article on the subject Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo - An Epic Torture Test

Steel jacketed ammo will strip you rifling out sooner than brass jacketed bullets but you are talking about 10,000+ rounds or thousands of dollars in ammo later at which point you really shouldn't be to concerned about a $500 C93 clone. Just replace or re-barrel it. I don't shoot steel cased threw my quality guns though for this reason.
 
#10 ·
The HK9x battle rifles were designed to function just fine on steel in case of brass shortages. The fluting in the chamber aids in extraction of the case. If you're running a sear or post sample pack your going to accelerate wear on the barrel more so than semi auto. The extractor claw may wear out a little quicker on the bolt face over brass since brass is softer, but its a drop of water in the money into the guns and ammo to get that far.

Like stated, the bi-metal jacketed bullets are the bigger concern in terms of barrel wear. Its part of the reason why I prefer to run CHF barrels over button rifled 4140 barrels, as the CHF will last longer but it does cost more
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top