Free For All Friday: 4-18-14, Ammo Casings, Gun Finishes, and How to Help GunNoob
Friday again! Before we get to the questions, let me just say that I can’t begin to properly convey how much I love working on this site. Without all you readers, however, I’d just be a geek in the corner talking to myself. You, yes you are the ones that make this site. I get messages every now and then with readers asking if there’s any way they can help. I don’t like to beg for money, so I don’t. That’s not to say I’m not above shameless self promotion. The banner ads on the site pay for the hosting and adding an exception to your ad blockers can go a long way to making sure we can continue to afford the site. Beyond that, the biggest thing anyone can do is just spread the world, particularly on Facebook and Twitter.
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Thanks again for your continued support! Let’s get to the questions, that’s why you’re here after all…
I was going to buy some 9mm the other day and had a choice between steel case or copper. what is the difference? which is better? Will both work in my S&W? Thanks for your help as always! -Skylar R.
Beyond just your hollowpoints, full metal jackets and so on, there’s other classifications concerning ammo to consider. In fact, there’s a dizzying array of ammo combinations that can sometimes make even long experienced shooters try to avoid thinking about it. The short rule of thumb is: if it’s just range shooting, grab whatever is cheapest. Now, some ranges won’t allow steel core ammo, which is understandable because that stuff does carry a bit more punch than lead core and can cause havoc with the backings at the range.
When it comes to steel case vs brass cased….well..that’s a flame war waiting to happen. Steel cased ammo is almost always cheaper than brass cased. It’s also harder than brass so the general belief is that it’s harder on your gun’s extractor. Considering how cheap it usually is, there’s an overall belief that it doesn’t perform as well and what have you. I have poured over test after test comparing the performance of the two. Pretty much every one of them comes to the conclusion of “While there is a performance difference, most people aren’t going to notice the difference so you’re better off buying [insert whatever type the author prefers]”.
I should note, however, that if you reload then brass should always be the preference. While steel cases can be reloaded, it’s much more difficult and most people just don’t bother.
Ultimately, ammo is ammo and as long as it’s the right caliber it should work in the gun. Keep in mind, each gun is kind of like my schnauzer, Ms. Pepper: there’s some food it prefers to others. A 9mm round from Hornady might not work in Gun X but it’ll eat wolf ammo all day. So my best advice in this situation is to find out what kind of ammo your range doesn’t allow then buy the cheapest stuff it does allow. That’s concerning your practice ammo, mind you. When it comes to the stuff for your home/personal defence you want the best stuff you can get.
Hey, guys, I’m the guy who wrote in a couple weeks ago about the smoke smell in the gun. Let me just start by saying that the vinegar wash worked great! However I’ve also been looking at handguns recently (it will be my first), and was wondering if you could give a brief explanation or guide about finishes. Words like duracoat, parkerizing, and bluing, are all used a lot when looking at different guns. What exactly are these and what’s the benefits? Thanks for all your advice! -JD
Glad to hear you got the smell out! The coating of a gun is about 80% aesthetics, in the grand scheme of things. Don’t get me wrong, the coating’s main purpose is to keep corrosion off the gun but ultimately, the preference comes down to durability and how it looks.
At the most basic, you have stainless steel. Personally, it’s one of my favorites just because it’s not only durable and easy to clean but it also looks cool. Bluing is kind of the next step up. It’s a plating that’s put on plain steel and get’s its name from the blue/black color that results. It’s one of the oldest and most common coatings and has been in use almost as long as there’s been guns. With that pedigree, you can’t go wrong there. From bluing we move to parkerizing which is applied in a similar way that bluing is applied, just with different chemicals. While it is more durable than bluing, it created a matte finish that some don’t like. I’ve always thought it looked like someone just painted over the gun with primer.
From parkerizing we move to the various metal plated styles with things like nickel plated, chrome and such. While these are good and durable coatings, you have to be careful of the solvents you use to clean them. Many solvents specifically warn against using them on nickel plated surfaces and those shouldn’t be used on gold, copper or other electroplated surfaces either. As the owner of a nickel plated gun, I can honestly say that they are some sexy looking firearms. From the electroplated metals we move down the line to anodized coatings. The upside is anodized metal is that it looks awesome and it is one heck of a durable coating, the downside is that there are only a few kinds of metal that can be anodized with the most common one being aluminum.
That finally brings us to the Duracoat/Ceracoat coverings. These are basically spray painted coatings except slightly different. This isn’t the same stuff as a can of Krylon from your local hardware store, however. This stuff creates amazingly hard surface that hold up very well against punishment. It also now comes in a wide variety of colors so you can tailor your gun to just about any look or style you want. If you’re good at taping off sections, you can make some patterns and designs that will make you the envy of the gun range.
Hope that helps and thanks for sending in your questions!
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