Light rust on steel casings

[Rainy Winchester]

I have some once fired 5.56 and 7.62 steel casings that have been sitting for a bit and have started to show a little rust in spots. Is this someting to worry about? Will it clean up when I tumble them and what might be the best media to remove these rust spots? I need to get in the habit of prepping these cases once I get home and not sit for so long. Thanks.

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[Nwcid]

Generally people do not reload steel cases........

Generally steel cases use Berdan priming, do you have a source for those as they are less common? They also use special tools to remove.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=reloading+steel+cases&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Well it appears my 223 and 5.56 steel casings are boxer primed, so I can reload those as normal. But the 7.62 calibers seem to be Berdan like you say, with a few maybe being boxer style. I have not reloaded any steel rounds yet, just gathering and cleaning until I can learn how and I can get a hold of some reasonably priced components.

 

[ridnjon]

You can reload steal casings, but it is really hard on your dies. Would not recommend.

 

[Rainy Winchester]

Have you had trouble with it? The reloading dies are hardened tool steel and the steel cases are much softer in comparison. If lubed well there shouldn't be a problem right?

 

[Nwcid]

My understanding it is has more to do with the ability of the cases to be safely resized. I have never tried but I know some people do it. I posted a link that contains lots of info from folks that do reload or have tried to reload steel cases so you could gather more first hand info.

I do know some reload steel. I do know it has different issues then reloading brass. I do know most people do not do it.

 

[PMB]

I have reloaded a few steel cases on a lark, just to see how it went.

I bought a separate set of dies that I ONLY used for steel and was keeping track of the number of reloads.
They are a bit tougher to resize, but so far haven't shown any damage or wear to the dies. (Might have done some damage, just not visible to the nude eye.)
The cases on the other hand- they started showing cracks on the 3rd firing (2nd reload.) They were small cracks, and I didn't have any case failures, but I figured that my experiment was finished.

The dies and berdan primers and about 200 near perfect steel cases were packaged up, had a few cakes of dessicant tossed in, and then sealed airtight.

If I can find a reason to reload steel, I will do so, but only 1 time each case.

Can anyone think of a good reason for a home reloader to whip up some steel case ammo? I haven't yet.