Seventy Simmental-cross steers (average initial weight 301 +/- 24 kg) were individually fed in a 175-d completely randomized design experiment to evaluate the effects of source and level of protein in the diet on gain and feed efficiency. Steers were allotted to 1 of 10 treatments (seven steers per treatment) in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments plus a urea-supplemented control diet. Main factors were source of supplemental protein (soybean meal [SBM], a high ruminal escape soybean meal [SP; SoyPLUS], or a combination of corn gluten meal and blood meal [CB; 50:50 on a nitrogen basis]) and level of each protein source (20, 30, or 40% of total dietary CP). Based on 18-h in situ ruminal incubation, escape N content of the protein sources was 66.0, 82.5, and 90.8% of total N and metabolizable amino acid (MAA) content was 29.1, 33.4, and 67.8 g/100 g of DM for SBM, SP, and CB respectively. The steers were fed 12.5% CP diets based on cracked corn (70%) on d 0 through 70 and were switched to a common 11.5% CP urea-supplemented cracked corn diet (80%) on d 71. The steers were housed in individual confinement stalls and had ad libitum access to feed. Replacing urea with SBM or SP increased (P < .05) 28- and 70-d ADG and DMI and increased (P < .05) 28-d efficiency (kg of gain/100 kg of feed). Replacing urea with CB did not improve (P > .05) 28- or 70-d ADG or DMI but did increase (P < .05) 28-d efficiency. The growth rate of steers at 28 and 70 d was correlated to a greater degree with ME intake (r2 = .83 and .85, respectively) rather than MAA supply, suggesting that the MAA supply was not first-limiting for growth. The source of supplemental protein fed during d 0 through 70 had no effect (P > .05) on 175-d DMI or efficiency; however, feeding SBM increased (P < .05) 175-d ADG compared with feeding urea, SP, or CB. Increasing supplemental true protein tended to linearly increase ADG and DMI at 28 and 70 d, but overall, ADG, DMI, and efficiency were not affected (P > .05) by treatment. Replacing urea with SBM or CB in the first 70 d decreased (P < .05) carcass quality grade, dressing percentage, and longissimus muscle area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)