Reloading Blazer Aluminum Casses

[grisy11]

I dont know if this is the right place for this?
But here it is i whent to the range today and picked up 20 or 25 pounds of brass and when i was thare i picked up some Aluminum CCI Casses some have the Berdan primers and some have the Boxer primers .Why cant you reload the ones with the Boxer primers one or two more times
thanks for any info
Grisy11

[Cowboy T]

You can, but they're not very strong. Aluminum simply doesn't have the same strength and ductility as brass or even steel does.

[Jim]

Try it and post your results. We'd like to know how it works!

[fisheadgib]

Quite a few years ago I reloaded a handful of 44 rem mag cases and they worked just fine. I loaded them hot with some cast 240gr SWC's just to see what they would do. Back then they were all berdan primed but they actually used large pistol primers. They just had two flash holes. The aluminum was soft enough to where the decapping pin on my press can punch right through it and make a third hole in the middle. I only did a handful as an experiment and I only loaded them once but they worked fine.

[grisy11]

the gun that i will be shooting them in ia a 9mm and a lead Boolit 124 gr +or- so it wound not be a hot load.I just dont whant to mess up my gun.Should i put in a min load? or do the same load that i have been loading with that boolit?

[frkelly74]

I have loaded them in 45 when I have found them with small primer pockets. They may last up to 3 times but you loose some every time when sizing and expanding. If they are dented or bent they will split immediately when you expand them the first time. I do not know if it's a good idea to load the 9mm alum cases, they operate at a higher pressure and will not be as docile as 45 loads. But you got them free and if you stay at minimum loads you might be alright. Be careful Please.

[fixit]

i have one in 44 mag and i'm fiddling with it to see how many times i can get away with loading it. light speacial loads, and i'm on the forth loading!

[Brasso]

I reloaded some in 9mm. 124 gr cast. Don't remember the load but it was a mild one. They worked great. Have a friend on another forum who reloads the 45 cases. says he gets about 3 reloads out of them.

Sam

[fredj338]

You can, but they're not very strong. Aluminum simply doesn't have the same strength and ductility as brass or even steel does.

I tried some the other day. They are **** for loading. Alum has no ductility. The cases would not hold the bullets w/ the same neck tension. My fav 45acp load that goes 850fps w/ SD in the teens even w/ 10x fired brass, avg only 725fps & SD was in the 100s! Fine for SHTF, they will go bang safely, but poor performers at best. BTW, same for the steel cases from Tula or Wolf, they are not designed to reload, the cases will not hold a uniform neck tension, accuracy will suffer as well as reliability if you are shooting softer loads.

[mpbarry1]

Aluminum has a memory so unless you anneale them you may have issues w seating and sizing.

Let me ammend that...I'm not positive annealing will work but it is worth a try. In general. The more you work it the weaker it gets. Maybe one of u mechanical engineers can chime in.

[lead-1]

I tried 12 aluminum 44 mag cases once with a cast boolit and an average charge of Unique. My end results were seven of the twelve cases split down the side so I gave up on trying that again. I've had brass cases split also but the aluminum just didn't seem to be worth the effort, JMO.

[joejr]

I found 50 aluminum 45 acp cases last fall,4 loadings and one split case.Herters steel cases,no splits.
joejr

[Swede44mag]

I have loaded them for 45acp that I did not want to look for while hunting for rabbits and such.

[fredj338]

I found 50 aluminum 45 acp cases last fall,4 loadings and one split case.Herters steel cases,no splits.
joejr

Again, it's not about the cases splitting but the quality of the reload. The neck tension variation is huge.

[joejr]

i don't notice any differance in performance, or accuracy, when compared to brass cases.

[troy_mclure]

i tried 12 .44mag blazers, had 1 that would not hold the primer, 1 that split during sizing, 1 that crumpled while sizing, 2 that i could shake the boolits out of, even after using factory crimp die.

at 15yds i was i able to get a 4" group from the last 8, with 3 splitting on firing, and 2 primers falling out after being fired.

so i could have attempted to try the 3 remaining brass, but didnt bother.

this was all with mid level loads.

[Bwana]

This has been covered here before.

[mold maker]

It's aluminum. Save it with all other metals and trade them at the scrap yard for lead. I've been doing it for years. Sure beats buying lead with money.

[hansumtoad]

Chlorine in the gene pool.