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Posted: 5/11/2026 2:16:02 PM EDT
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Yea or nay? Local shop has some discontinued/no longer imported Russian stuff. I bought 200 rounds for use in my bolt mil-surps. Tempted to go back and get the last 500 rounds but am curious about steel case and FAL. The rifle in question is a DSA if that matters. Thanks. |
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I have heard of issues with the russian steel stuff in some fals blowing out near the case head. Might just be generous headspace on particular fals, but I would just avoid it. Fals love the chicom steel stuff and I have fired thousands of rounds of that through them. I have no personal experience with the russian 308. |
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From the DSA FAQ "Should I use .308 win ammo or 7.62 nato in my FAL? Due to our chambers and the action of the FAL it is safe to shoot both NATO Spec 7.62×51 and Commercial .308 Winchester. Generally, we recommend trying to stick with the 7.62 NATO but shooting commercial .308 Winchester won’t harm the rifle. You will want to stay as close to the 147-grain weight projectile as possible. We do not recommend the use of heavy or high-powered hunting rounds, ballistic/ soft tipped projectiles or any steel cased ammunition." |
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The problem with steel-cased ammo in an FAL isn't the case material itself; it's the fact that most steel-case is low quality fodder. The FAL is very unforgiving to low quality cases. I know ammo's pricey, but so is ruining your rifle or body parts. There have been plenty of kabooms with crap brass-cased ammo, let alone steel-cased. |
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I seem to remember some admonitions on the Falfiles a long time ago to avoid steel case in them. As mentioned previously, due to their alleged propensity to have them rupture. No idea if there is any validity in that, but I echewed using any when I test fired a STG58 that I built from a Interordnance-era parts kit acquired many moons ago just this past month. |
And then, he arrives at the last item on his bucket list...
| I used to buy the "TulAmmo" .308 at Wal-Mart for $10 a box on occasion and it always shot fine for me. |
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Originally Posted By campower: Any FAL deserves better. Stick to Brass. I’ve fired thousands of Wolf .308 steel case cartridges through the M60 and the only detriment is it gets dirtier faster. (That’s actually because of the powder though.) The Russians, Germans, and the U.S. all used steel case cartridges for combat in WWII with no ill effects. |
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I shot a ton out of one of mine until I had a case head separation once. It was Tula. Tula back then seemed hotter than a lot of other .308. After that little scare, only blew the mag apart, no bulging of the mag, I never shot steel again out of my FAL. I did redo the headspace though just to make sure and bought a new locking shoulder. |
| It's not the steel case, it's the crap ammo that tends to come in a steel case. Any steel cased ammo of decent quality, like Wolf, should be good to go. But there does seem to be a problem with garbage ammo such as Tula that can sometimes result in a kaboom. That stuff is so shitty performance-wise that I don't even understand why you would even bother with it. There is a point where the value gained by going cheaper just goes away. |
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I kaboomed a FAL with that shitty Indian 1998 OFV junk when I tried it. (Brass cases though). There were plenty of stories of kaboomed FAL’s from steel cased ammo back in the day, enough that I don’t want any repeat experiences so I stick to better ammo. I use the steel cased in the G3 variants, works great and no concerns. FAL is not a rifle that you want any questionable ammo in. |
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Originally Posted By KitBuilder: I’ve fired Wolf and Tula with no problems in my FAL. I did have to give it more gas to get stronger ejection. (I don’t recommend Tula and I stopped buying it many years ago.) That was my experience with my DSA FAL STG58 back around 2005. It still had the occasional issue with the steel cased ammo. I found it better to hand load in brass cases if I wanted to save money and have good accuracy. |
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I've used steel case 308 in the FAL, but much prefer good brass surplus it was designed for. I am still sitting on cases of Chinese 308 Copper Washed Steel Case - from the 1990s. It worked, but wasn't too accurate. I tested it (Fake Radway Green and the Norinco boxed ammo) it was all non-corrosive, but its reserved for last ditch use. Back in the day a $99 FAL kit and a case of Chinese ammo didn't seem like a bad pairing, today it sounds ridiculous. |
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