I've read a few different threads on here about the good/bad of reloading aluminum pistol cases. Some say never ever do it and others say it's OK for light loads.

Well, I tried some (10) 9mm luger light loads (3.9 titegroup and 115 grn lrn) and split 2 of them. That's a 20% failure rate. I know it's a small sample size. I'm just going to chunk these aluminum cases unless someone wants them. Between the 9mm luger, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP I may have about 100-150 cases. Free via first class mail if you want them.

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Semper Fi

Those are very light color, sure they are not aluminnnnum.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I think you might be right. Fishingpilot put a magnate to them.

I thought that all aluminum cases had Berdan primers and so you could not decap them conventionally.

Yep. I meant aluminum. Post corrected.

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Semper Fi

Now that would be a noble act, indeed!

Nope!
I've got a friend that reloads aluminum 9mm and 45 cases.
Both are boxer primed. So are the 380's.
I stand on the other side of the range when he shoots the stuff.

Penny wise; pound foolish.

But back to your original intent, yes, some folks reload metal cases. A long thread on another forum about reloading metal 223.

Personally I do not think it is worth it. The metal or steel is stronger than aluminum and some have gotten several reloads out of it. Only problem with either one is it does not flex as much as brass and return back to it's former shape, Once you bend it a few times it will split.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Yes it can be done but should not. Alum cases have almost zero ductility, so once fired, they vary a lot in neck tension after sized & as you found out, will split sooner than later from work hardening. So toss em, not worth the effort unless you are in a SHTF scenario. Alum & steel cases were never designed for reloading, why they used to have berdan primers. They are designed for cheap ammmo w/ throw away cases.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

PM me if you nedd some 40 brass--

I'm a little confused, in your post you refer to them as aluminum and steel, those look like Blazer aluminum cases, completely different material from steel. I would not attempt to reload either. Case neck splits are not good but if you have a case head separation you could have a damaged weapon or safety issue.

Aluminum, brass, steel, copper - all metals. That's why they're called metallic cartridges.

Exactly...

The shop where I now work bought out this guy's stock of bullets when he went belly-up years ago. We have about 25000 bullets for those cases if you need any at $8/100. I load 'em in brass backwards and use them for plinking. They make for some funky-looking, but functional, semi wad cutters.

In WWI and WWII there were shortages in copper. In WWI to use a little less copper in ammo the Government loaded 45 ACP with Steel jackets. I have shot 25-50 rounds of this over the years. It didn't harm the 1911A1's I was using in any discernible way. The same problem arose in WWII and the country went to Steel penny coins, and Steel cased 45 ACP. Again I have shot a limited quantity of this ammo. It worked in the 1911A1. Then I swadged the primer crimp and reloaded the cases 1 to 4 times. No cases failed, the carbide dies were not damaged. Rounds fed from the magazine fine. They were use mostly were I couldn't recover my empties. They were a great gift for the ranges that insisted on "owning" my cases. I haven't seen any in about 20 years. Now, there is the Wolf steel cased ammo. It is very different. Aside from being berdan primed, the steel is much softer, and I notice it rusts quickly (sometimes before firing). I avoid it like the plague! Ivan

Yeah. I said steel but meant aluminum. My steel cases have the berdan primers. These don't so I tried a few. Not worth the risks.

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Semper Fi

So you are implying they are all the same??? Again, steel & alum were never designed to be reloaded. There is a reason the brass case was developed & is still in use today. IT work hardens more slowly & can be brought back to working life by careful annealing. Not possible with alum at all & a lot more work than steel. FWIW, anyone paying attention can feel the diff sizing a steel case vs brass. Tell me that is NOT doing some damage to your carbide dies.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

No, he is correctly stating the definition of "metallic". Some of the earlier responses lead one to believe that a few folks may think otherwise. Of course, as you know, steel is magnetic, not very malleable and metallic, aluminum is non-magnetic, not very malleable, and metallic and brass is non-magnetic, more malleable and metallic.

Plastic case.................


"Where's the Crimp" ??

No crimp. The cases have matching grooves to receive the bullets. Squeezes in like Shark Bite fittings. Great idea but poor execution. The cases tended to self destruct after a few loadings.

See the second featured cartridge:
THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

Excellent, thank you! You heard all the web "talk" and decided to prove/disprove for your self. Now you know, not just "read it on the internet", and have empirical proof...

I have quite a few of the USAC rounds. Most all are white. But I do have a couple in Red and Blue. But they were drilled through intended for a key chain. Surprisingly they are primed with a bullet pressed in place. Somewhere I also have a loading tool. This was all given to me by one of my wholesale providers. He quite often got much stuff given to him for samples. I actually shot a few of them and they worked just fine..but the bullets were not readily available. Don't know how long they held out in the market. I also got a lot of the all plastic Activ stuff when they came into the market. And sold thousands of boxes of their ammo..as long as it was cheaper than the Win Fed Rem ammo. When the price point closed..so did their doors. I truly liked the Activ hunting ammo. They made a 1 5/8 ounce waterfowl load in a 2 3/4 inch case that was a great killer on ducks and geese.

By the way.. I might be interested in some of those USAC bullets maybe 1-2 thousand..

Nope. Not doing any damage to carbide.
The carbide is much harder than steel. At least, any steel I've ever worked with.
If it's tungsten carbide, it's much harder than any steel.
That's why carbide pistol dies are offered.
Now, any die that isn't carbide, I'd make sure I lubed the cases well or not reload them.

I have almost 100 steel Tula .45 ACP cases I'm going to reload to use in my Blackhawk. Just in the interest of gathering data.

I had a few boxes of that USAC .38 ammo. I bought it when it came out in the early 1990s. I was a poor tech school student with a .357 mag.
It shot well. Never could find components for reloading it.

I found a few aluminum 9mm cases in my bag after my last range trip.
They are Boxer primed. I can see where stocking both Boxer and Berdan primers would be a logistical headache for Speer.
I'm going to recycle them. i don't think they're worth trying to reload, for the reasons shown above.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

PM sent.