[Im283]

I know this is probably a dumb question. I guess if the shoe fits, lol

Anyway, why can't steel, aluminum or other non-brass cased ammo be reloaded?

[DMZ]

I am going to take a guess at this;

Because those metals and materials are not malleable enough to be resized properly.

[cdrt]

Most of the steel cased stuff is Berdan primed which precludes it from being reloaded as easy as Boxer primed cases.
Blazer ammo is also Berdan primed for the most part and aluminum is not the best medium to deal with when reloading.

On the other hand, I know guys who reload steel cased, boxer primed .45 ACP cases from WWII.

Take the Blazers to your local recycling center. They'll pay you the same price as aluminum cans. The steel stuff can be recycled, but the price is very low and not worth the trouble (at least in this area).

[rantingredneck]

In a word Pressure. Brass can be resized and still maintain it's ability to withstand the pressures generated by firing a cartridge. Aluminum can't. Once fired it's done.

I think there might be some steel cases that are reloadable, but I'm not entirely sure of that. Most if not all aren't for the same reason above.

Basically the case expands to fit the chamber of the gun, then you resize it in a sizing die back to original size. This flexing is something brass can do several times over and still withstand the pressures.

[nalioth]

The modern Wolf and other Russian made steel cased ammo has a finish on both the inside and outside to prevent rust. Once you touch it off the first time, the rust preventative is burnt off the inside of the case.

Also, as mentioned above, Berdan primers are not well known here in the US, but can be decapped with the right tools.

Also, as mentioned, brass is one of the more malleable metals as far as how many stretches it can take before failing.

[steve4102]

The brass case is like a fuse in an electrical circuit. It is the first thing to react to high pressures and give you a warning.

The steel case is not going to give you that degree of luxury or rather protection. There will be little difference from when the steel case fails and the rifle is in danger of being damaged along with the shooter.

[NuJudge]

I've reloaded a lot of it, largely because in some calibers it was the only empties I could get. It's not my first choice, but it works fine. I have not noticed any cracking, splits, or other problems, but then I only reloaded them once or twice. Conventional case trimmers even work fine with it.

Rust inside cases was not a problem with some makes of steel cases, even if originally corrosive primed, but with others it was a huge problem. As an example, I don't know if it was the primers or the surface treatment on Czech lacqured 7.62x45 that made it rust so, but Chinese copper washed 7.62x39 did not rust much.

I much prefer brass, if only because its worth something when I'm done with it. Brass also usually gives me no extraction headaches.

[Sunray]

Brass has elastic properties. It expands upon firing to seal the chamber then goes back to almost its original size. It takes much longer for it to work harden too. Steel and Al don't have any elasticity. They expand, but don't come back anywhere near as much as brass does.

[GunTech]

It's not just any brass either. Ordnance brass is a particular alloy. And it does become work harded over time, so eventually it has to be annealed or tossed. It's also softer than steel, so your chamber wear the brass, not the other way around.

[Im283]

thanks for the answers, nice to learn something new.

[Geno]

Redirect focus:

There is a solution to the problem...a tight chamber. It seems that many manufacturers leave the chamber so massively over-cut that it forces resizing the cartridge neck to even retain the projectile. Other firearms that I have owned have such a tight chamber that even after firing, I have been unable to reinsert a bullet manually, and had to use the press to seat the bullet (even without resizing).

The presence or absence of overly generous chambering effects how much flex there is to the cartridge. If the chamber fits the cartridge snug, there will be precious little stretching. In such cases, reloading the steel would not be so problematic. The best example I can give is the Sako FinnBear in .270 Win that I owned years back. The chamber was so tight that following each firing, I never had to resize my brass. :) I merely cleaned it, reloaded and re-fired it. I was able to get well over 10 reloads out of each piece of brass. Finally at about the 9th to 10th firing of each cartridge, I trimmed about 2/100th of brass from length due to elongation from the high velocity rounds.

[GunTech]

Chamber tightness has to be balanced with utility. If you are a commercial maker turning out 100,000 rifles a year, you want to get as much use out of you reamers as possible. These wear, so the first rifles cut with a particular reamer will have tight chambers compared with later rifles cut with the same, now worn, reamer. The first and the last rifle (or other gun) have to be as reliable, so you factor in a safe amount of 'slop'.

The manufacturer also has to take into account that there are many different ammo makers, and all their ammo may not be as identical as they would like. Different manufacturers use different tooliong to make ammo. Also, manufacturers of ammo want to get the maximum life out of their dies too, so the first ammo made on a set of dies will be 'smaller' that the last rounds made as the dies wear. The manufacturer sets a tolerance range that ammo must fall into, but two rounds made in the same machine - one when the dies are new, and one 10,000 rounds later, are not going to have the same dimentions.

Hence 'sloppy' chambers that work brass more.

In the case of a match rifle, often built one at a time, economics are much less of a factor. New dies can be used for each rifle, or ar worst only a couple of barrels before they are scrapped out. Ammo can be made on a press that sees a much lower use so that dies have no where near the wear and tolerance is minimal.

Finally brass can be fired in one gun an reused in that same gun. The brass gets necked sized only because the initial firing has formed the brass exactly to that one chamber, and no other. Subsequent firing only work the necks, which much have soem rezizing just to put tension of the bullet to keep it in place.

Finally, tight chambers are far less reliable when it comes to feeding than loose ones. If you are on the range, this is a non-issue. If you are about to shoot the Boone and Crockett Elk, reliability might be a factor. If you are goiung into harms way, you darn sure want to have you gun go boom every time.

It's a balance, and you pick what you need to get the job done.