i have noticed in guns, and artillery the shell casings are always made out of brass. brass is expensive, weaker and dosnt look as good as steel. so why use it for casings? i am aware some of the case must be deformed. but just a small brass percussion cap could be used just for that and steel for the rest. whats going on?
Brass has a natural lubricity that makes easier to extract after firing. It also can easily be resized for reloading. Steel offers neither of these properties. It cannot be reloaded so is good for only one single use. Brass has simply shown, by virtue of its metallic characteristics, to be the best choice for manufacturing cartridges.
soft steel is used at times...(com block ammo is flush with steel cased products) Steel rusts so you have to paint it or coat it... the coatings leave residue in firearms that can cause a stoppage. Brass is the A choice for casings. No Rust, it has no issues for reactivity, wont spark, expands to seal chambers... and in many cases can be reloaded and used over again.
Expansion and more resistant to rust. Besides, steel cased ammo is made in East Eur..abia in all kinds of calibers but many people complain about it not being able to expand or that the steel wears out the extractor faster (not true), then they go and buy some.
Basically all the others are right, except Skeptical who never answered your question. Just thru out an insult....what was that you said about growing up?...hmmmmm Also Skeptical...take a look at modern day guns (pistols and rifles), holsters, knives, even bullet, packaging and boxes for the above. You don't think looks play a role in design? Aesthetics and whether something is pleasing to the eye ALWAYS plays a role in marketing. To answer the question though, it allows the shell expansion to seal the chamber, it's lighter, and also much easier and prolongs the life of the extractor.
