I have reloaded and shot hundreds of rounds of boxer primed Wolf steel .223 cases. I will actually go out of my way and dig them out of the trash at the range. They almost never stretch after that first firing and the primer pockets don't need to be reamed, which saves a tremendous amount of case preparation time. CCI primers give the tightest fit and there is never any gas leakage or loose primers. I find the steel cases especially useful for USPSA rifle and multigun matches where I am not allowed to pick up my brass. My loads are no less accurate than their brass cased counterparts. I have loaded some numerous times to see how they hold up and the neckk always cracks fist. I have never seen any problems in the head or shoulder area. Obviously the rims hold up quite well. I have never annealed any of them. I also had some S&B steel .223 that worked just as well. I also load some Wolf steel .45 ACP to shoot out of my Glock 21s and this works fine too, but I would not shoot steel case ammo out of any of my 625 revolvers. And last but not least I have also reloaded some boxer primed aluminum .45 ACP Blazer, just to see if it can be done. It can be done, but the cases will sometimes split when being belled. I have no qualms with reloading steel but I would reload aluminum only in an emergency and if nothing else were available. My take on all this is that as reloaders we need to know what is and is not feasible since the face of the handloading landscape can change abruptly literally overnight.

Dave Sinko