[spm]

I just saw in Cabela's latest flyer Herters nylon jacketed ammunition in aluminum case. I have never heard of this before. Has anyone shot this and what was your impression? The aluminum case scares me. In the ad they say the nylon jacket leaves your gun cleaner. But wouldn't that nylon melt at the point of ignition leaving a mess in your gun? And what happens after several mags worth and the mag and gun get hot?

[Grassman]

I've shot it, can't tell a difference.

[holdencm9]

I have not shot the nylon jacket, but have shot plenty of the aluminum case stuff and it seemed to work okay. The range hates it though because they can't filter it out with a magnet. I'd say all else being equal I still prefer steel-case FMJ to TNJ, but if prices started to rise on the steel case and TNJ come down a bit I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. I imagine they would have tested such things. The nylon won't melt.

[USAF_Vet]

I've fired aluminum cased rounds and have had no problem with the cases.

As far as the nylon jacket, I'm unfamiliar. But based on what I know about the material, it should not melt. It's exposure to the high heat is not long enough to melt and smear goo on the rifling of the barrel.

I've never had the magazine get hot even after extended rapid fire. The 75 round drum on my SKS got dumped in less than a minute of bump firing (nice way to waste $20 worth of ammo in a very short time) and the feed lips were only slightly warm.

I'm sure whoever engineered this ammo has taken the heat exposure and melting point of the nylon into consideration. But I can't imagine it's any cheaper than any other comparable copper jacketed factory round, so I'll pass. But if it is significantly cheaper than even the cheap steel cases stuff I used for target shooting, I might pick up a box or three.

[hueytaxi]

Back when I had a Jennings 9mm, the stuff would jam (cheap non teflon) so I have avoided it.

[W L Johnson]

Been shooting CCI alum cased ammo for years with zero problems.

[hq]

Aluminum cased ammo has been around for a while, I've shot CCI Blazer since mid 80's and never had a problem with it. The only downside is that alu casings aren't reloadable, but if you don't roll your own, that doesn't matter. Generally speaking, heavy duty nylon doesn't melt easily, it used to be a common material in race car suspension bushings before polyurethane and high tech plastics like delrin replaced it. I wouldn't be worried about it messing up your bore.

[Certaindeaf]

I think Wolf or something uses a polymer coating on its sintered iron bullets.. these are the steel cased cartridges.

[chevyman097]

Ive shot it. Its nice for the non reloading type. You dont have to worry about wasting it or not picking it up and its a bit cheaper. Never noticed it leaving residue in the chamber.

[W L Johnson]

I think Wolf or something uses a polymer coating on its sintered iron bullets.. these are the steel cased cartridges.

That's to keep the steel cases from rusting.

[Certaindeaf]

Yep. Probably essentially a paint.

[k_dawg]

I have shoot plenty of CCI Blazer aluminum casing without any issue. They claim it is heat treated, anodized, 'aircraft' quality aluminum.

The nylon coating maybe a replacement of the anodization. It may also simply make the stamping of the case easier.

[K1500]

The bullet is nylon coated, not the case. Standard blazer with a LRN bullet coated in nylon, just like the old Federal NyClad loading.

[coloradokevin]

Aluminum cases are no big deal and have been used for many years... Useless for reloading though. No experience with the nylon projectiles, but I've easily shot 10-15,000 rounds or more of aluminum cased ammo at work (our training ammo).

[orionengnr]

I've only shot aluminum cased Blazer 200 gr JHP .44 Spl., and it has been about five years ago now.

Worked fine in my blued steel Taurus 431 and my stainless S&W 696... but my Scandium S&W 396 did not like those cases at all, and stuck them regularly.

I am thinking it had to be an issue between the cylinder's metal and the aluminum case.

[coolluke01]

I shot some aluminum in my GP100. It didn't load well with my speed loaders. The aluminum was soft and would scratch on the sides of the cylinder. It just didn't fall in like the brass cases.

[arizona98tj]

I've shot the nylon clad AL cased ammo from Cabela's. Works great. I've got nearly a case of it sitting here heading to a 4 day handgun course later this week. Wouldn't be using it if it didn't perform. ;)

[Warp]

I've used >1k aluminium case blazer in my Glocks. Shoots the same as anything else as far as I can tell.

[9mmepiphany]

I haven't shot it yet as it is about $20 more per case than the CCI Blazer 124gr aluminum ammo I just got.

I noticed that the Herter's ammo is manufactured by Blazer, so I'd feel pretty comfortable with the case...I've shot thousands of rounds over the years.

The impression I got was that the nylon coating was very similar to that formerly used on the S&W/Federal Nyclad bullets. This Nyclad composition is formulated to withstand the heat of combustion and was know to leave a clean barrel. The coating allowed driving soft lead bullets at higher velocities without leading the grooves and lands

[1SOW]

During the "last" ammo shortages, I shot Blazer aluminum and had extraction problems with my CZ 9mm. I increased the extractor spring weight and fixed the problem.

I started reloading and only use brass, copper jacket and plating since. ZERO worries. It's your dime.

[T.R.]

PMC has marketed aluminum case 357 MAG ammo for over 30 years; nothing wrong with it at all.

TR

[SilentScream]

I've shot Blazer in everything from S&W Model 64's to MAC10's and everything in between, the only thing I ever noticed was the Blazer was a tad bit dirtier. Even that has changed as it seems to run cleaner than a lot of brass case ammo.

[splithoof]

The nylon jacketed Herter's with aluminum cases has functioned 100% in numerous .45ACP firearms I have seen it run through. It is accurate, clean, and reliable.
I hope that some manufacturer in the near future could produce common ammunition calibers using plastic cases, lead/plated bullets, and clean primers. As the price of brass and copper continue to sky-rocket, we are long overdue for a breakthrough. Any of you scientist types out there wish to comment?

[Onmilo]

S&W was the first to market nylon coated lead bullet ammo as "Ny-Clad" but the stuff was brass cased and reloadable.
I imagine the Herters stuff is just as good and the S&W was really good.
Stuff used to scare the hell out of cops and polyteeshans, they thought the nylon coated bullets were teflon "Cop Killer" bullets! Think that may be why S&W stopped selling them and sold rights to Federal,,,

[jmorris]

The only problems I have had with aluminum cases ammo is that it has less neck tension than brass or steel cases ammo and this has allowed bullets to move in the case.

[spm]

Okay, I guess like every discussion there are pros and cons. I didn't realize aluminum cases and nylon jacketing had been around as long as it has. Thanks to everyone for their comments.

[leadcounsel]

Some guns, mainly the AR15, in my experience, don't care to feed or extract the lacquer coated steel casings like the Wolf ammo.

I never had a problem shooting aluminum Blazer ammo.

[Warp]

Some guns, mainly the AR15, in my experience, don't care to feed or extract the lacquer coated steel casings like the Wolf ammo.

I never had a problem shooting aluminum Blazer ammo.

They don't use lacquer anymore. They've been using polymer for years

Extractions issues aren't from the coating, anyway. They are mostly from the ammo being low quality and steel's inability to expand and fill/seal the chamber, then shrink back, like brass does

[tekarra]

I have shot Blazer aluminum for years and have never had a problem.

[Iramo94]

Some guns, mainly the AR15, in my experience, don't care to feed or extract the lacquer coated steel casings like the Wolf ammo.

I never had a problem shooting aluminum Blazer ammo.
I have a Rock River that eats (polymer coated) steel like nobody's business.

[Hacker15E]

steel's inability to expand and fill/seal the chamber, then shrink back, like brass does

Not 'inability' so much as it is the rate at which it happens compared to brass and the timing of the cycle.

[Warp]

Not 'inability' so much as it is the rate at which it happens compared to brass and the timing of the cycle.

Exactly like I said. Read the whole sentence. It's inability to do it "like brass does"