Source for NEW aluminum cases?

[gittist]

I know people say not to reload aluminum cases. After trying I'll agree that it's not worth the effort due to split cases. I wondering if NEW aluminum cases would be different?

 

I'm looking for new cases due to two scenarios. The first is while I was shooting a match I swear that if they had let her, one of the shooter's partners would have been catching my brass out of mid-air with a butterfly net.  When I said something I got a surly "we reload..". My response was "So do I and I'd like a chance to pick up my own brass."

 

The second scenario is the 'lost brass' matches where the brass belongs to the range as soon as it leaves your weapon (or where they make it so incredibly inconvenient to pick it up).

 

I won't care if it's aluminum or Berdan primed brass.

 

So is there a source for either new aluminum or Berdan cases?  9MM, .40, or .45?

[Joe4d]

If there was a source I highly suspect you would end up paying more than you would just buying ammo.

The issue shoulda been brought to RO's attemtion to correct. Or I woulda just changed squads

[wgj3]

To the OP, I've experienced this before and ita tricky to deal with at some ranges. As Joe mentions though, not many cheaper options available to load yourself...

[ima45dv8]

You could buy some Blazer aluminum cased ammo and save the cases. 

 

I've had a number of aluminum cases slip by into my presses over the years and they usually turn out well enough to feed and shoot. There were a few rejects but most came out OK. Yes, for fun I've fired them to test function. *I've never had a reason to load 9 Major, and I don't think I would try it with aluminum cases, though I've had both .45ACP and .40 Major sneak through.

 

I'd never trust them for a 2nd loading but that showed me they probably good for one pass through the press.

[Dwbsig]

I’ve picked up some a couple times that was fired one time and reloaded them with minor loads in my nine and they worked fine. I feel confident they will work for one extra firing as long as you keep them on the mild side.

[BJB]

https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/274509-new-aluminum-cases/?do=findComment&comment=3058053

[Farmer]

On 3/28/2021 at 3:24 PM, ima45dv8 said:

You could buy some Blazer aluminum cased ammo and save the cases. 

 

I've had a number of aluminum cases slip by into my presses over the years and they usually turn out well enough to feed and shoot. There were a few rejects but most came out OK. Yes, for fun I've fired them to test function. *I've never had a reason to load 9 Major, and I don't think I would try it with aluminum cases, though I've had both .45ACP and .40 Major sneak through.

 

I'd never trust them for a 2nd loading but that showed me they probably good for one pass through the press.

Aren’t all blazer aluminum cases Berdan primed? All the ones I’ve seen or shot are. 

[Guy Neill]

Most, if not all, CCI Blazer  aluminum cases are now Boxer primed.

 

The main reason not to reload aluminum cases is that resizing scrapes through the protective coatings, exposing the bare aluminum to corrosion.  Aluminum corrosion takes the form of pits into the metal,  The coatings are to protect from corrosion and provide lubricity.

 

Firing a corroded aluminum case has a great chance of eroding the chamber.

[Farmer]

I would say those coatings are pretty tough as I have several Blazers laying around my yard that my brother shot and they still look pretty good, that’s been 5+ years ago. I used to have some Teflon spray that would have made a good coating for those. 

[Guy Neill]

Take a look at some of them and see if you see any tiny black dots on the case wall.  Each black dot is a corrosion pit.  They are very small.  Aluminum corrosion is nothing like brass corrosion.

 

Aluminum cases that crack with the crack being a straight line are due to scratches.  Cracks that are jagged are a connect the dots where the crack propagated from corrosion pit to corrosion pit.

 

Both will commonly damage the chamber of the gun.

[Farmer]

Yeh I’ll have to dig one up and check it out just for chuckles. Never had any intentions to reload alum because I figured they would crack or split. Fully aware of chamber damage from crappy cases. I Have reloaded some wolf steel 45 acp cases though just to use as throw-away’s. Even those will crack after a few re-loads. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Farmer

[ExStreetWalker]

If bare aluminum is exposed to air it forms a protective layer of aluminum oxide in seconds.  Basic chemistry 101.

 

If you're seeing black pits on aluminum cases it's not due to corrosion.

[Guy Neill]

Just reporting what the CCI techs told me a while back.  Whatever the black pits are, they will erode a chamber if the case ruptures.

 

[EEH]

I was at a match with a buddy and we couldn’t find our brass, nice clean ground ,then we saw a guy picking up every thing with one of the brass rollers. We my buddy walked up to his buggy where all the brass was in a little bucket and reached in and started counting out loud his brass, he told the picker upper all he wanted was his brass he shot on that stage. Well the guy started picking up and give him his brass after he shot. Try it sometime it will get his or her attention.

[CocoBolo]

Shooting 9 maj, I don't bother picking them up, and aluminum probably won't handle the pressure.   The solution, I buy once fired at a local range for $2.00 a pound.  Steel matches are a different story, I pick mine up because they are minor, well 150pf, but lots of shooters leave theirs so I snag it.  It's easy its all in one place, and it has been tromped into the ground.  There are about 115 cases to the pound, less than 2 cents each.  I take a magnet when buying brass and suck out all the steel cases that look like brass.

[Jim Watson]

On 4/8/2021 at 2:19 AM, Guy Neill said:

 

Firing a corroded aluminum case has a great chance of eroding the chamber.

 

On 4/9/2021 at 1:31 AM, Guy Neill said:

Aluminum cases that crack with the crack being a straight line are due to scratches.  Cracks that are jagged are a connect the dots where the crack propagated from corrosion pit to corrosion pit.

 

Both will commonly damage the chamber of the gun.

 

BTDT

The Incident of 2010 included my house burning, with ammunition exposed to fire hose water and rain through the burnt out roof.

There was an unopened case of aluminum Blazer, some of the stuff Academy had been selling for $3.87 a box.  When recovered, the case and boxes were damp but not pulped and the ammo LOOKED normal and I figured I could shoot it for practice.  But my companion on the range noticed a flash out the ejection port every once in a while, so I stooped to pick up some empties.  Several were split or pinholed, but one looked like it had been hit with a mini-cutting torch.  

Cleaning the gun revealed a scored chamber.  FLG (Friendly Local Gunsmith) ran in his Flex Hone and smoothed it enough that extraction is not affected and it does not show a bump on fired cases, so I avoided the worst outcome.  I pulled the bullets and used them to reload brass cases.  

 

I also pulled the bullets of a case of wetted S&B 9mm.  The red lacquer around the primer and bullet are not effective waterproofing and the misfire rate was high.  I salvaged the bullets and brass of that lot. 

 

[Farmer]

I’ve had them split without being wet or damaged. Most were neck splits on 38 sp and 45 acp, brand new stuff.  Definite difference in the sound of the report also.