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I been seeing some ammo descriptions that give the case material as "bi-metal". Ive always been suspicious of running anything but brass thru my guns.

Does anyone know what the two metals are? Are these non-brass cases OK?

very low grade brass coating on steel cases

Hmmm. I haven't encountered any advertised bi-metal cases yet, but Bi-Metal bullets do ring a bell, if that's what you are referring to.

I shoot Monarch Steel 9mm as it's very affordable, and most of the Monarch Steel line (be it pistol or rifle) seem to use Bi-metal jacketed bullets. If you take a magnet to the bullet itself, it will stick. It's pretty simple - the bullet is the normal lead core, but with a steel jacket that is "washed" with a coating of copper over the top (which a usually a thin coating). Most likely this is done so that the manufacturer can cut costs - copper isn't exactly cheap after all, and this is also why ammo that has a Bi-metal jacketed bullet is cheaper than "normal" jacketed ammo. People say not to use Bi-metal bullets, or steel cased ammo because of a multitude of reasons, some of which are bunk and others that are more factual. I can definitely attest that they WILL spark against a steel backstop, and thus they have a greater fire hazard. I use them because the difference in price means shooting, versus not being able to shoot because of ammo cost. They may or may not wear the bore of the barrel down faster - no clue on that, but I've shot thousands of rounds of Monarch Steel 9mm through my Glock and it works perfectly fine. Remember that there are different hardness levels of steel as well. Some will say just to spend the extra $ for non-steel cased/bi-metal jacketed ammo, and that's dandy too.

As far as bi-metal rifle ammo, I did This brief non-scientific write up.

Hope this helps!

So can anyone recommend some cheap, yet effective brass cased .223?