The steel in barrels is generally 25-30 on the Rockwell C scale. Not purposefully soft, but of functional use steels it is definitely on the soft end of the spectrum.
Yes, I agree. This is one of those issues on which everyone has a personal opinion, but one can find very little “official” information. I’m like you, though, in that I would like to see a definitive test, either positive or negative, regarding long term use of steel ammo in pistols.
Much of the available seems anecdotal, but then, most problems that people aren’t aware of as “problems” start out as anecdotal.
I guess the best I can say is, using the particular equipment that I’ve used, I haven’t noticed any differences. And, I do tend to think that some types of guns would obviously be more susceptible based on how they were constructed than others.
The thing is, too, that most wouldn’t be willing to subject their equipment to long term testing of something that many believe could cause damage. And there’s also a possibility that someone who damaged their firearm wouldn’t be bragging on the Internets about doing such a “stupid thing”, so it would be under reported.
If I run across any tests that confirm one way or another, I’ll post them. I’d certainly be interested in knowing more about it.
Until then, caveat emptor. I’ll keep looking and see what I find.