I’ve searched the forum, but I didn’t find much info on the question.
Is there any reason to stay away from aluminum cased ammo?
I’m not too concerned about it having poor accuracy. I’m more concerned with any potential accelerated wear on the gun.
Most of my handguns are HK’s; I know they’re durable, but I’d still like them to last to their fullest potential.
Most of my shooting is done on BLM land in which case I’ll put anywhere from 500 to 1000+ rounds thru the gun in a day. I make about three to six trips a year.
Out there I shoot brass since I can salvage it for reloading, but when I go to the range locally I can’t collect brass. So I figured if it’s cheaper, and I can’t pick it back up anyway then I might as well give aluminum a try.
I’ll shoot about 250 rounds per trip to the range, and I’ll go about anywhere from one to three times in the month.
With all that said, Blazer Aluminum isn’t all that much cheaper than the Brass line. The savings would go towards a slowly growing stash of defensive ammo.
Sorry if I got off tangent there; I hope my post makes sense. To sum it up: what are the negatives of aluminum cased ammo besides non-reload able casings?
I dont think there will be a problem, ive shot a ton of aluminum case blazer and fed.
And iam seeing a lot of others starting to shoot it. Only problem ive found is the fed. Is inconsistent some shoots great,some not so great,my glock likes it but in my beretta 92 some shoots crazy low,groups well but low for some reason.
Just had that problem 2 days ago again with some , swapped out some brass fed. case and all was right again. Even with 2 shooters it grouped ok but POI was about 3 inches low. Some boxes are dead on some are not.
But what do you want for 9 bucks a box…
PS. I dont shoot at ranges that wont let me pick up my brass,theres some around here. Its mine i payed for it,thats why i choose to drive than shoot local,i get to keep whatever brass i want and iam damn sure keeping mine.
Iam so sick of crappy ranges full of idiots chargeing out the butt,then selling brass to make even more money that they dont put back into the range. I drive 80 miles to shoot round trip and dont mind it at all.
Its a non profit place,if the trash gets full you grab it and take it to the dumpster When the grass needs cutting some members come and do it. Range officials are volunteers on the few days there open to the public.
Its clean,safe and not crowded. The members take pride in it , all places should be this way. If your an idiot they kick you out. One place i went to i didnt even feel safe walking from my car to the office. Ive never seen so many people violating safety rules in one place in my life.
I’ve shot tens of thousands of rounds of aluminum cased ammo over the years. I love the stuff. It’s actually my preferred ammo for practice and competitions. If all ammo was priced the same, I’d go for the aluminum case stuff.
I’ve run it through a chrono multiple times, and have had it chrono’d at matches when they are checking ammo. The velocities are always very consistent. I’ve also noticed that the aluminum case ammo I usually shoot (Blazer 9mm 115gr FMJ) is very clean burning.
I can’t imagine there is any more wear on the gun.
I think the aluminum must have some type of very thin coating on it. This may be why it never seems to discolor (despite age, humidity, etc.). They also seem slicker than brass case ammo. I notice this when when loading them into mags.
My only criticism of aluminum case ammo is that I generally avoid shooting it in revolvers. The fired cases don’t seem to fall out of the cylinders as easily as brass cases. I assume it’s because the cases are so light. But since you are not asking about revolver ammo, it’s a non issue for you.
They seal the chamber better in 9mm than the cheap American eagle brass also.
I would think they me be harder to get out of a revolver for this reason to they really expand. Thats why i started useing them , clean up was easer. With the American eagle you get a lot of blow back from it not being hot enough to expand the brass to seal the chamber.
I used to have good luck with the blazer but started useing Federal aluminium becouse i could get it for 9 bucks a box,but after having a couple of boxes that were wacky,ill use the blazer brass from now on,i really like it. The price of blazer brass and the American eagle are close enough,but at least the blazer brass seals the chamber.
My complaint is against federal aluminum not blazer aluminum.
We had some blaser aluminum cased 115gr 9mm at the range a few weeks back. The casings kept swelling and getting stuck in the chamber of my friends Walther PPS, which had ate everything else we fired through it that day. We had probably 7-10 casings get stuck. It might just be the blaser though. It fired in my G19 and my VP9 just fine without any swelling that caused a malfunction.
Skin, if your ref. me. I base the fed aluminum on real world shooting when 3 shooters all shoot low with it then switch to a different ammo and the bullseys disappears,theres something going on. Doesnt happen with all of it but ive gotten several boxes that had problems.
3 different shooters shooting the same pistol all hitting in the same place,then shove some brass case ammo in it and it shoots normal. This happening more than twice is all i need to say its not just coincidence.
Just happened again 2 days ago,shooting the same spot low , grouping well btw. Switch to some American. Eagle or fed. Brass and all of a sudden its not shooting low anymore.
I haven’t shot any blazer aluminum case in a long long time,so i cant speak to that. When i shoot blazer i shoot their brass line.
After it happening again 2 days ago i wont be shooting the federal aluminum again. Its a shame to becouse it doesnt do it all the time and for 9 bucks a box its a great deal for blaster ammo.
I see all these accounts of bad ammo…man I must be lucky or something. Fired many many thousands of Blazer & Federal alum with zero problems. I consider it excellent training/practice ammo. Wish it was more available in .45ACP & 124gr 9mm is all.
Well i think its just a fluke, ive never had any of it fail to fire,its always been reliable. I like it better than the American eagle brass line especially for 9 bucks a box and ive had some that shot great but keep getting the low results with SOME boxes, and its 80 miles round trip to shoot for me.So i just shoot the brass case now,only a few bucks more.
But if i couldnt pick up my brass etc. I would be happy shooting it, iam gona buy a couple of boxes of blazer and try theirs again. The only problem is their brass line is only like a buck or so more here and i reload so its hard to buy the aluminum unless its a deal.
I sighted in my .22 with federal ammo,switched to Aguila and it shot a half inch lower now all i shoot is the Aguila and can remove the bullseye from the target. I dont have a problem with the federal. But goes to show how different ammo does different things, when your shooting off bags it is what it is. The federal shot a half inch higher than the aguila,but to be able to cut all the red outa a bullseye like a carnival game with a 50 year old .22 the proofs there,well enough for me anyway.
I used to shoot tons of blazer aluminum back in the day, no issues and it’s been a while but just today I broke in a new Glock 17 with 300 rounds of federal 115 aluminum cased, no issues at all. Not even brass to the face like I’d had with some weak 115gr with my 19 (before Apex extractor) and 26. For the price, I’d love to stockpile a ton of it for training as I don’t reload.
I’ll look into trying out a case; I just can’t seem to find any in stock for a decent price at the moment. The few places that did have it in stock have it at a price that defeats the purpose of cheap training ammo.
Texasgunhand, I wish there was something like that local to me, but there just isn’t. At least as far as I know. I’m in Southern CA, and with a busy schedule it’s tough to find a good place. There’s one range that’s ok with you collecting your own brass, except they’re constantly sweeping the floor so your brass isn’t yours for long.
The other place has a zero tolerance - what hits the floor is theirs policy - and they even have a brass cased ammo only policy to top it off.
Sometimes it’s not even about getting my brass back, but just the principle of it. I’m giving them my business, and they still find a way to squeeze more money out of you.
Check Wal-Mart, I bought mine from a Wal-Mart in Miami, $9.97 for a box of 50 federal aluminum 115gr, mountains of it sitting on the shelf. Hard to find any factory ammo cheaper than that.
Ya, wallyworld is the only place i see fed.aluminum. Academy has blazer.
Yup most places sell your brass for extra profit,but your range fees never go down.
I understand a few years ago people were fighting over it, so they just put a stop to it.
I see a lot of people shooting steel case,it rust really fast down to nothing but the aluminum stays for a long time. Many years ago you would get into trouble for not picking up your emptys. So i try and pick up mine and toss them as much as possible. Alot of people just leave them though.
The majority of people buy a gun,join a range shoot 300 rounds maybe over a year and thats it,never get into reloading etc. If they can hit a 50 yard target at 10 yards their done.
I wish i had all the brass back ive left laying over 40 years. I lost a bucket full of .45 brass in a forest fire a few years ago that id been saving, knowing one day id start reloading. I stopped shooting for 20 years and sure have enjoyed starting back up again,i went today in the rain. (Dont forget to take a towel…lol)
Thanks, yeah I have yet to see the aluminum 9 mm at Walmart that everyone always mentions. They’re always out of everything except the odd calibers and 7.62; at least the ones near me.
I’ll look at Academy, but last time they didn’t want to ship ammo to since it had lead. CA banned shooting lead on public land or something, but nothing against buying/owning etc.
I’ve noticed a few deals came up today in my email; I found Natchez has Blazer Al 115 gr for $9.99. I’ll have to see what they’re shipping charge is. They’ve always been a little strange with shipping things; not just to CA, but in general.
Not at all. I could be wrong on the details of the law, but I know they’re butt hurt about lead ammo and some new law did take effect.
You can still buy lead ammo in CA; I see it anywhere that it is sold.
As for my county, we have no ammo restrictions. I buy all the time from SGA, Targetsports, PSA, and more. I never have any issues. Academy was the first I ever heard about their weird shipping policy.
I don’t want to derail this further, but you’re right that this is an Academy issue, and NOT a California issue. I just received lead ammo via FedEx yesterday.