Any Negatives with Shooting Aluminum Cased Ammo?

[Mystic]

I prefer shooting brass case ammo but I have not had any major problems that I can remember shooting aluminum case Blazer. I don't think I have ever shot any Federal aluminum case ammo.

I don't reload. I knew two guys who did a lot of reloading and they would not touch aluminum or steel cases. They only reloaded brass cases. So I was really surprised when CT8 said he had reloaded about 1000 aluminum and steel cases. Plus I had heard that the Berdan primer made it very difficult to reload Blazer case ammo anyway. And the reloaders don't like aluminum and steel because of wear on dies. The brass cases are only a little more expensive.

One experience with the steel case Russian ammo was enough for me. My experience has been that the Russian ammo really shoots dirty and then a person has a major job cleaning the gun. No thank you. I would not buy the Russian stuff if it was half the price of Federal and Blazer and other ammo.

I kind of prefer Federal brass case field grade ammo for practice when I can get it and when I can get it at a reasonable price. But back when there was such an extreme shortage of ammo I had to buy aluminum case Brazer by ordering it through a dealer. So I still have boxes of aluminum case Blazer.

 

[zerosoma]

Aluminum cased ammo sucks because you cannot reload it.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Aluminum cased ammo sucks because you cannot reload it.

People try, claim success and pretend to be experts at it. LOL

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Aluminum cased ammo sucks because you cannot reload it.

People try, claim success and pretend to be experts at it. LOL


It's not worth a case failure and worse yet, a KB. Brass is way too easy and cheap to find for someone to just "attempt" steel case reloading. Just silly.

But, if there's a fool, there's a way...

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Aluminum cased ammo sucks because you cannot reload it.

People try, claim success and pretend to be experts at it. LOL


It's not worth a case failure and worse yet, a KB. Brass is way too easy and cheap to find for someone to just "attempt" steel case reloading. Just silly.

But, if there's a fool, there's a way...


Oh yea!

 

[Mystic]

Yeah, like I said I don't reload. But I know two guys who reload very well and I have also known and shot with other guys who are reloaders. I was thinking about reloading myself and I asked a lot of questions. The reloaders I knew would not mess with aluminum cartridge cases or for that matter steel cases. They only used brass.

I remember shooting with one reloader I knew at an indoor range. I was shooting aluminum case Blazer. He was saving his brass cases. I asked him if he wanted the empty aluminum cases and he said just throw them away. And later he told me why he did not use aluminum cases, etc. Another time, at an outdoor range, I was shooting with a guy who reloaded. He walked right past any aluminum or steel cases. He only picked up brass cases.

And then we have somebody show up at the website here and claim he reloaded about 1000 aluminum and steel cases. And the real reloaders would not even mess with that stuff. I don't know about Federal aluminum case ammo but the Blazer aluminum case is not supposed to be reloaded. Even the primer used on the Blazer makes it very difficult to reload. If somebody really did attempt to reload 1000 rounds of Blazer aluminum cases for one thing it would be a major hassle trying to reload those cases. But eventually a guy would probably have a failure to fire or even have a round explode on them.

Nobody wants to have a round explode on them. I was present when a .45 long Colt round exploded in a guy's .45 single action revolver. We were lucky and nobody got hurt. We could not find the top of that revolver. We were shooting at an indoor range and the top of the gun had flown up into the machinery. People who owned the range found the pieces later.

Somebody could get injured or even killed following bad advise at this website. Like I said I am not a reloader. But based on what I have been able to find out guys should not attempt to reload aluminum case ammo. And it is pointless to reload steel case ammo. The brass cases are only a little more expensive and the steel is hard on dies. So is the aluminum based on what I have been told.

 

[zerosoma]

Seeing kaboom injuries are a lot like looking at crime scene photos. It will scare you straight into being a responsible reloader. Aluminum cases come nowhere near my bench, and only one powder jar is within reach, and my hopper is always marked with what powder is in there. I did have a piece from my bodyguard fly off and hit me, that was no fun. I was shooting my own reloads. I started pulling and paying more attention then.

 

[Mystic]

Thank you for advice from a real reloader. I also saw a photo of a 1911 .45 that had a round blow up inside it and a large section of metal had been blown off. But I was not present when that gun exploded.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Seeing kaboom injuries are a lot like looking at crime scene photos. It will scare you straight into being a responsible reloader. Aluminum cases come nowhere near my bench, and only one powder jar is within reach, and my hopper is always marked with what powder is in there. I did have a piece from my bodyguard fly off and hit me, that was no fun. I was shooting my own reloads. I started pulling and paying more attention then.


I do occasionally collect aluminum cases when I go to the range. I fill 5 gallon buckets with them and sell them at the scrap yard. I take the cash and buy powder, primers, bullets, etc.

I'm glad we chimed into this thread and let people know danger involved in reloading the wrong cases.

 

[Mystic]

I am not a reloader but I was thinking about becoming a reloader and I sought advice from two experience reloaders. If I see some information supplied here that may result in somebody getting hurt, I am going to speak up.

I have been present when a round exploded in a gun. I had shot the gun just shortly before a round exploded in it and then the guy who owned the gun was shooting. We were very lucky he did not get hurt, or for that matter I did not get hurt. That gun had been a solid steel .45 revolver. It was blown apart on top and in the cylinder. Please be careful reloading.

To the best of my knowledge guys who are thinking of reloading should avoid aluminum case ammunition. Certainly they should avoid Blazer aluminum case ammunition for reloading. And it is pointless to reload steel cases. Brass is better as far as I have been able to determine.

Guys need to rely on their own information and the advice of experienced reloaders. It is dangerous just to believe something you read at a website where some guy says he reloaded lots of aluminum and steel case ammo. The reloaders I knew did not even bother with aluminum or steel case ammo.