My kids pick up the aluminum at the range and find things to do with them. They came up with that idea. Its certainly different. They like spent 22 shells as well for crafts. When I was a kid it was bottlecaps.
Aluminum cases junk?
- Thread starter Appalachiannative
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My kids pick up the aluminum at the range and find things to do with them. They came up with that idea. Its certainly different. They like spent 22 shells as well for crafts. When I was a kid it was bottlecaps.
TTv2
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I haven't tried .38 aluminum in a revolver, but I have done .45 ACP and had no issues. DA revolvers are always going to have a greater potential for extraction issues because you are attempting to extract 5 or 6 cases at once with a case made of metal that has more friction. This is where steel case makes for an exceptionally poor choice.
I used a lot of CCI Blazer aluminum 357 Mag and 38 Spl in my old model (6-shot) Taurus 66 in the 90s. Never had a problem with ejecting spent cases, but hitting the ejector is a long ingrained habit for me. Never had a stuck case. If I ever do have a stuck case of any type I would first look at the cylinders for buildup.
I keep revolver cylinders sparkling clean... some would say I over clean after a range visit. Maybe so.
I keep revolver cylinders sparkling clean... some would say I over clean after a range visit. Maybe so.
Driftwood Johnson
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Cartridge brass is 70% copper and 30% zinc. This formula was arrived at many years ago for two reasons.
It can be cold worked, which is how cartridge brass is formed.
And it springs back ever so slightly in diameter after firing. Not all the way back to original dimensions, which is why it needs to be resized after shooting.
But it springs back enough that it usually will eject easily.
That will of course depend on the specific gun and its chamber dimensions.
Years ago, when I used to shoot Cowboy Action a lot, I always got a kick out of shooters who would show up at the unloading table and bang the butt of their revolvers on the table to shake the empties out. These were always the guys shooting mouse fart loads that would barely expand at all. I would always ask them if they knew what that doohickey under the barrel was for. (The ejector rod)
By the way, one reason the very early 45-70 loads were so troublesome when fired in a Trapdoor rifle is because the earliest shells were copper, not brass. The copper did not spring back to shape as later cartridge brass does. Plus, the extractor would sometimes rip right through the soft, copper rim, completely jamming the rifle.
The 45-70 round on the left in this photo is an old Benet primed, copper cased 45-70.
The first 45 Colt and 45 Schofield rounds were copper cased too. In the center, a copper cased and Benet primed 45 Colt and 45 Schofield. The Single Action Army has always punched empties out from the inside with a an ejector rod, so sticking in the chamber was probably never a problem. The Schofield revolver used an extractor star not much different than modern revolvers. I do not know if they had problems with extracting copper cased rounds.
Personally, I have always avoided aluminum cased ammo, I would never bother trying to reload it. I have zillions of brass cases for all the cartridges I reload.
Cartridge brass is 70% copper and 30% zinc. This formula was arrived at many years ago for two reasons.
It can be cold worked, which is how cartridge brass is formed.
And it springs back ever so slightly in diameter after firing. Not all the way back to original dimensions, which is why it needs to be resized after shooting.
But it springs back enough that it usually will eject easily.
That will of course depend on the specific gun and its chamber dimensions.
Years ago, when I used to shoot Cowboy Action a lot, I always got a kick out of shooters who would show up at the unloading table and bang the butt of their revolvers on the table to shake the empties out. These were always the guys shooting mouse fart loads that would barely expand at all. I would always ask them if they knew what that doohickey under the barrel was for. (The ejector rod)
By the way, one reason the very early 45-70 loads were so troublesome when fired in a Trapdoor rifle is because the earliest shells were copper, not brass. The copper did not spring back to shape as later cartridge brass does. Plus, the extractor would sometimes rip right through the soft, copper rim, completely jamming the rifle.
The 45-70 round on the left in this photo is an old Benet primed, copper cased 45-70.
The first 45 Colt and 45 Schofield rounds were copper cased too. In the center, a copper cased and Benet primed 45 Colt and 45 Schofield. The Single Action Army has always punched empties out from the inside with a an ejector rod, so sticking in the chamber was probably never a problem. The Schofield revolver used an extractor star not much different than modern revolvers. I do not know if they had problems with extracting copper cased rounds.
Personally, I have always avoided aluminum cased ammo, I would never bother trying to reload it. I have zillions of brass cases for all the cartridges I reload.
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