7.62x39 ammo

[WeaponsCollector]

I have seen ads from back in the day where a case of x39 was under $80

I have a friend that has owned more ak's than i can count. he shot nothing but steel cased (much of it lacquer coated) and never ever cleaned any of his ak's. tens of thousands of rounds, never a cleaning. ran flawlessly

That's amazing, but I clean my guns every time I shoot them or at least run some oiled patches and a bore snake through them.
Guess that's too much for most of the ones that use non-corrosive ammo, but the 10/22 can get really dirty and start jamming after only about 500 rounds.

 

[OLM-Medic]

I shoot steel through everything, including AR-15's. With the AK you don't have to worry, and with the AR the most you have to worry about is a potentially to have more malfunctions and the possibility of wearing out the extractor slightly faster.

Shoot what's cheap.

 

[Patrick]

Some of the coatings on steel ammo will also bind in some ARs. Conventional wisdom says a hot chamber and a coated steel round should not stay together long or the round will glue itself in.

It's happened to me once or twice in an well-made AR rifle. Not easy to extract.

I gave up steel ammo in ARs for this reason. But the AK was made for it.