An austenitic stainless steel ammunition cartridge includes an outer region and a base, wherein the outer region is about 50%-80% of the thickness of the base, which serves to minimize the sidewall ironing required to form the cartridge. The cartridge blank can be formed by spin forming, compression forming, grinding, or a combination thereof. Tooling to form the insert can include at least a pair of blocks and inserts, at least one insert defining a centrally positioned aperture.