Aluminum Case 9mm Ammo

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rugmar

rugmar

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A friend gave me two boxes of 115 grain FMJ round nose ammo. It is Federal Champion and has aluminum cases. Is this safe to shoot in a semi-auto handgun or is it for a revolver?

Thanks!
 
A good friend you have there! I shoot the 9mm Fed Champion Aluminum case ammo in many of my semiautos all the time and I've never had a problem with it.
 
JO JO said:
folks that reload will avoid it as brass is preferred to reload ...
Click to expand...

Aluminum has less elasticity than brass, making it less suitable for reloading. Aluminum cases also seem more prone to setback than brass cases in my experience.
 
I reload the aluminum cases for my Winter shooting. When I am out on the snow covered Sage Brush range fired brass is gone when fired. The local gun club range has piles of the aluminum cases on the ground. I have never had a single problem with jamming or set back. I only load it once and save my brass cases from loss. It works.:)
 
Dog Soldier said:
I reload the aluminum cases for my Winter shooting. When I am out on the snow covered Sage Brush range fired brass is gone when fired. The local gun club range has piles of the aluminum cases on the ground. I have never had a single problem with jamming or set back. I only load it once and save my brass cases from loss. It works.:)
Click to expand...
Didn't know that, thought you couldn't reload alum. Thanks for the info.
 
I had 500+ rds of CCI JHP shells & its top-of-the-line stuff. I can understand the idea of shooting aluminum and steel case shells in the winter so you don't lose brass, that's actually a really good idea because I'm also out here in the sagebrush sea in the high desert of Southwest Idaho. I have a few friends that reload but they haven't had much success with aluminum case shells and they usually end up splitting open when fired.
 
That is interesting. I have never had a case split "open"? I never reload one more than once. I suspect if a case was to develop a crack in the taper crimp it would not have a negative effect. In order for any case to split open would require it to be fired from a non-ramped or unsupported chamber.
 
Never had a problem with the Federal aluminum cased handgun ammo. Literally hundreds of rounds fired, both 9mm and .45 ACP, never any ammo-related malfunctions. Never had a problem with the Blazer aluminum case line, either. I shoot occasionally at a couple commercial ranges that don't want patrons to collect their brass, so I'm not going to donate any brass to them ...
 
I've shot plenty of aluminum-cased ammo over the years. It's never given me any problems.
 
I salvaged more than a case of aluminum Blazer 9mm after my house fire.
It LOOKED ok, the case and boxes only a bit damp and not scorched.
It went off but when a friend shot some, I noticed a flash out the ejection port on some but not all shots. I picked up the empties and the ones that had flashed were split. I foolishly kept using them until I picked one up with a big burn hole. I then found an eroded spot in the chamber of that gun. I polished the chamber and pulled the bullets for reuse, trashing the compromised aluminum cases and bulk powder.

An unusual situation but showing that aluminum ammo is not as durable as brass.
 
My wife's M&P 9c has some trouble cycling aluminum ammo. My CZ's eat it like anything else. I wouldn't use it defensively, but it's cheap, so it works for plinking. Try it out and see how it works for you!
 
I stopped using aluminum after I had two cases split in different calibers- one had to be removed with a punch after it tried to weld itself to the chamber.
 
The only gun that wouldn't function with aluminum cases was my Uzi, which had never malfunctioned in 23,000 rounds. It wouldn't go through five rounds without failures to eject & double feeds. My Glock Mod. 22 had no problems with aluminum. My Marlin 44 Mag carbine came with a warning in the manual about not using aluminum.
 
Shot a lot of aluminum cased ammo. Never saw an issue in 9mm and .45ACP. I also have reloaded aluminum cases with not real problems. They need to be inspected carefully just a brass cases. They seem to have a shorter life in terms of the number of times they can be reloaded.
 
Shag, The German Luger pistols have a problem with aluminum cases. My Mitchell/AIM American made SS 1991 Luger has no problem at all?
 
Tcruse said:
Shot a lot of aluminum cased ammo. Never saw an issue in 9mm and .45ACP. I also have reloaded aluminum cases with not real problems. They need to be inspected carefully just a brass cases. They seem to have a shorter life in terms of the number of times they can be reloaded.
Click to expand...
While aluminum CAN be reloaded, the issue lies with the malleability of the metal. Aluminum doesn't take to "rebending" nearly as well as brass in particular.
 
I run the aluminum cases on a Dillon Square D. I have never had a case crack? I don't sort them I just pick them up. I clean them in a Dillon case cleaner nothing special. I wish I had an answer for you.
 
A lot of good reading on reloading aluminum cases in these two links. 6 pages worth in the second one.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/who-reloads-steel-case-223.738475/

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/stop-wasting-you-steel-cases.697240/

Aluminum was never meant to be reloading as the metal doesn't have the qualities needed to be reloaded over and over. Some people have success with a reloading or two, but for me as long as there are cheap 9MM brass cases available, I'll stick to a proven commodity.

As far as shooting factory ammo loaded in aluminum cases some guns don't like it. Most are fine with it.
 
Well way down in Dixie you don't have 6 months of snow in deep sage brush. You can drop lots of brass out here. Loading aluminum is simple and easy. Shooters out here do it routinely.
Your links reference steel cases? And no, you can not reload steel. Use a magnet if you have a problem ID'ing the Aluminum. Steel will crack. :) Reloading and experimenting are the small joys in life. Good luck and a very Merry Christmas WalkaLong.:)
 
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