Bacnkground:
I am just thinking about 45 super loads. I have worked up my loads slowly in my Glock21 and Colt 1911. In the standard Glock barrel the case began to budge higher in the case. I never realized that the case was not fully supported until now.

Question:
Theoretically, Assume I pulled the pullet from some Wolf ammo saving the primed steel case and bullet. Since the steel case is harder than brass, should I be able to load the steel case up to or hotter than 45super brass? (Assume I work up the load slowly with know powders.)

Addendum:
I received my KKM barrels. They appear to support the cartridges better. I have not tested them.

I was talking today with my local smith today (who's pretty sharp on them) about 45 autos and the Wolf steel case ammo came up. FWIW, he said that it's OK stuff, but the steel cases can be hard on the chamber. The clear coating on the steel Wolf case acts as an "insulator/cushion" of sorts, making for easier extraction as the steel does not have the "spring back" that brass does. The more I think about it the more sense it makes.

My experiments with incremental work up overloads with 7.62x39 steel cases show that the extractor groove starts to grow first in steel cases, then large rifle primer cases, and last with small primer cases.



My experiments with overloading 45acp suggest that 45 Super brass is not as good as Starline 45acp +P brass for chambers not so well supported.



If you put an empty case in the chamber and scribe the outline of the feed ramp [with a needle], then cross section another case, the distance from the edge of the web to the case suport can be calculated. If the scribe is .235" from the rear of the case, then you need the +P brass. If the scribe is .180" from the rear, then all 45acp brass will work fine for super hot loads. That is because the case web is .180" thick.

Clark, Did you try loading any Aluminum cases?
How did they do?

No Alluminum cases, yet.