[Mustangt69]

I know we aren't supposed to use steel cased ammo in our guns. Does anyone else have a plr that shoots better with steel than brass? Mine has ftfs with brass about every third shot.
Steel i have shot 400+ without a problem

 

[Groo]

how does you chamber look?

I'm thinking brass will "fire form" better than steel, so it might conform to imperfections better.

My zinc plated steel is also slicker than brass, so that might be some of it too.

 

[Liberty4Ever]

That's some interesting diagnostic information (steel case shoots better than brass), but I'd recommend fixing the underlying problem. A healthy and well operating PLR-16 should function reliably with brass cased ammo.

Of course, once you've fired steel case ammo, the chamber could be crudded up with powder fouling and maybe polymer or lacquer if that's the finish on the steel case ammo. It's a bit difficult to get to the chamber on the PLR, and that's an area that's often overlooked or not given enough attention, and that can lead to failure to eject problems, or difficult ejection could leave insufficient energy to reliably feed the next round. At the very least, I'd get in there with a good bore solvent and a 9mm brush and clean the chamber well to make sure that's not the problem. I might also be inclined to polish the chamber.

There are also some gas system problems that might favor steel case to brass case ammo, although that might be an issue for Kel-Tec to resolve.

There are certainly other possible issues that might cause your PLR's unusual propensity for steel case ammo that I'm missing. Anybody?

It's an interesting problem. Please let us know what it was so we can all learn.

 

[jonnin]

the only problem I have heard of with steel ammo is broken extractor. There may be others but that is the biggie, I think. If a brass case gets stuck it should be able to take a chunk out of the case rather than break, but steel on steel and a sticky case can break it.

 

[Badman400]

The experiences I have read about seem to agree that once steel ammo is shot, then problems occur after with brass ammo. This leads many to believe that the slower expanding/contracting properties of steel casings during firing allow more contaminants to dirty the chamber wall, thereby causing problems when switching back to brass. Sounds reasonable to me, but it's just an opinion.

Brass should shoot better in ANY gun. Even an AK-47.

But my rule of thumb is: Steel ammo in the commie guns, and Brass ammo in the American made guns. This has always worked for me. As always YMMV, but I personally do not fire steel cased ammo in my Kel-Tecs. Only my AK's use the steel stuff.

Good luck.

 

[Groo]

obvious question; have you tried more than 1 kind of brass?

 

[Mustangt69]

Seems like the brass bullets are getting hung up on the feed ramp on the far side. Why wouldn't the steel hang also? No fte to speak of r
eally.

 

[Liberty4Ever]

Seems like the brass bullets are getting hung up on the feed ramp on the far side. Why wouldn't the steel hang also? No fte to speak of r
eally.

Brass is softer than steel, and the locking lugs, feed lips, or any other sharp objects can gouge into it more easily.

For proper feeding, the magazine must feed to the center. Many AR mags feed the double stack ammo a bit to the right and left. The PLR-16 doesn't like this. Hence, the recommendation in the stickied PLR-16 FAQ to try the factory mag and a Magpul PMAG.

 

[Badman400]

Brass is softer than steel, and the locking lugs, feed lips, or any other sharp objects can gouge into it more easily.

For proper feeding, the magazine must feed to the center. Many AR mags feed the double stack ammo a bit to the right and left. The PLR-16 doesn't like this. Hence, the recommendation in the stickied PLR-16 FAQ to try the factory mag and a Magpul PMAG.

I would add to this that you might benefit from polishing the feedramp to remove any sharp areas or burrs present on the "fins".

 

[Mustangt69]

The back feed ramp is harder to access. It's the actual bullet and not the case that hangs. You wouldn't think the bullet is much different between brass and steel. I only use factory and magpul pmag so that's not the issue. I also took the gun apart and polished the innards