I’m not a reloader. I have shot aluminum cased CCI 38 Specials at an outdoor range for years. They’re not allowed at the indoor ranges, I guess they don’t want the cases mixed with the brass. My question is, why can’t aluminum cases be reloaded? Is it something to do with case strength, hardening due to heat of firing, something with the primer pocket or something else? Just curious. Thanks ahead of time for your replys.

From what I know, the reason not to reuse the aluminum cases has to do with corrosion. From the factory they have a coating on the aluminum to guard against corrosion. When you resize the cases the dies scrapes away the coatings to the aluminum.

Additionally, even though it's strong the melting point is lower than other cases and you can't be sure it will hold up to repeated loading.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

The aluminum gets brittle and cracks readily. It's also susceptible to crevice corrosion anywhere the anodized coating is compromised, so even if it were safe to reload when fresh, a spent case that was in the damp for any time might not be.
I've heard some folks have managed to reload it once or even twice with no problems, but I'd be leery.
I wish new aluminum cases were available for purchase since it's a lot lighter than brass and that can add up for EDC or a 3-day loadout.

There is an interesting thread here: Aluminum case reloading info I found from a CCI employee - AR15.COM

But I wouldn't try. Corrosion, split cases, all could be a problem.

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Heavily armed old man.

Way too many brass cases out there to worry about aluminum.

Most aluminum cased ammo I have bought over the years have had Berdan primers so I never even consider going through the hassle of reloading them.

From the material science perspective, aluminum is not as ductile as brass. You can take a piece of brass and bend it back and forth where it will it will eventually thin out and break, but aluminum will just snap after fewer cycles, since it gets thinner a lot faster.

Other thing, have you actually asked about aluminum cases at an indoor range?, or looked to see what they sell for ammo?

I have never had a problem with aluminum cases after the RSO either saw the box it came in, or tested the bulk stuff I throw in a case.

Talking to the gun range owners I know, who all have the cheap CCI aluminum cased stuff for sale, the reason steel cased ammo is not allowed is you really cannot reliably test for a steel core bullet. The magnet the RSO uses cannot tell if it's the case or a penetrator in the bullet that's pulling on it, where the non ferrous aluminum case is fine.

Sir, this past spring while working the Summit Point WVA GSSF matches, I encountered reloadable aluminum cartridge cases. My research led to an article similar to the one I am attaching. This could be worth investigating.
The End of Brass Cartridge Cases?
More elaborate information: Shooting Sports USA - February 2017

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Judge control not gun control!

This is very interesting stuff and I'm glad to see they are moving along. For those not reading the whole article and in this context I think it's worth noting that the cases in question are made of two pieces, a stainless case body and a nickle-plated aluminum case head that are swaged together. It seems they can be reloaded but special dies are needed to do it. They now offer such dies, which are a bit spendy. They also offer an expander for Dillon powder measures, so they are clearly paying attention to what reloaders want. I can easily see the strength and slightly increased case volume be an advantage for those trying to make major with 9mm. I'm less than wildly enthusiastic about running stainless case walls inside the chamber of an expensive to replace barrel, but for a service firearm I'd be very interested. Seems 9mm is the only product at the moment. $110/1000 cases isn't awful, but it is hard to justify if you have a 5-gallon bucket of 9mm brass. I'll hope they get around to 38super soon! :-)
Cases | Shell Shock Technologies
I think I'll have to buy a bag of 500 just to play with it and perhaps make up some carry rounds (yes, I know there are good reasons to carry factory ammo and mostly agree with them).
Actually, as I think on it, is there any interest an a group buy? $875 for 10K cases...
10,000 Unprimed 9mm Cases | Shell Shock Technologies

@ teletech,

Just a point to consider, I first came across these cases (maybe a dozen) at a GSSF (Glock) match, which is a "lost brass" match. About the only time that I shoot a 9mm is at either a GSSF match (lost brass) or at the Adaptive Defensive Shooting Summit (lost brass). By Sig Academy policies, ammo at the ADSS has to be factory loaded. In a typical GSSF match, I will shoot between 200-300 9mm rounds, and considering this is a lost brass match, that gets to be a bit expensive if I were using specialty brass. Considering that I travel a circuit to both shoot and work these matches, I could easily burn through 10-11 matches worth of ammo. This could amount to 3300 rounds of EXPENSIVE specialty brass fired only once then lost!

For me, especially shooting competitions, it wouldn't be worth it. For the casual recreational shooter (especially a revolver shooter), this could be a reasonable alternative. While I will reload range pick up brass for lost brass matches, I really wouldn't waste my money on this type of brass for my shooting style. Another point to consider is that do we all really find all of the brass that we fire, or do we make sacrifices to the brass gods?

Even though I may find enough of this specialty brass at my matches, I seriously doubt that I would run out and drop $100+ for the dies in order to reload this brass. A side note: while I shot close to 7 matches this year, I worked only 5 matches, and I only saw this brass at 1 match (Summit Point, WV).

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Judge control not gun control!

I saw an article on these a while back and found some at the range. I took some home to check out. I put one in the press to resize and knock out the primer. It took some effort to pull it out of the die. When I looked at the case it had pulled enough to show a gap between the segments and was loose and could spin it. There is so much good brass I pick up that these won't be in my future. I can't see having to buy special dies and the problems that it might create to even do it.

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Ron
Southern IL

Just throw them out! As was said, too many brass cases to worry about aluminum ones!

I reloaded an aluminum case just to see if it would work. I got four reloads out of that case before I lost it. So, long story short, it can be done, but inspect your cases for cracks and such, since aluminum work hardens. Of course, aluminum cases with Berdan primers are a whole ‘nother ball of wax.

I have 40 CCI and 10 FC aluminum cases.
They are 45ACP. I reload them the same as
Brass. The one unique thing I do with all my
cases that I reload is wipe the walnut dust
off the cases with a cloth sprayed with
Armor All.

I just wanted to try reloading them.
My current batch of aluminum 45ACP are going
on 4 reloads. The cases are not showing
corrosion or splitting at the mouths.

The reloaded aluminum cases are for when
I don’t care if I loose them.

Attached Images

23584685-48FD-4680-8C1E-1FC8D30BAF7B.jpg (91.6 KB, 32 views)

There's no good reason to do this....but

Here's my recent experience loading aluminum cases. I am in the process of figuring out how many times I can reload them before they fail. I will be posting about that soon. I'm still working on it.

There are a couple of interesting posts about 2 piece cases. Sig has submitted a rifle to the trials for the next generation of infantry weapon. It uses a 2 piece case. The load is going to operate at 80,000 psi.! Here's an interesting article on the new system.

SIG Ammunition Produced & Delivered Over 825,000 Rounds of 6.8x51mm Composite Case Ammo for US Army Next Generation Squad Weapons Program Prototype Test #2 - Soldier Systems Daily

80K PSI, that's interesting. I can only imagine that barrel life won't be great with that level of chamber and throat erosion.

Tu S I shoot at two indoor ranges. In Rochester, MN they sell aluminum cased ammo, but don’t allow it on the range. Their range ammo (38special) is American Eagle 158 grain, fmj. Here at home, SE WI, they don’t sell it at all. The range ammo has varied with availability. I shot some Wisconsin Cartridge remanufactured boxes this summer when their supplies were limited. It was 142 grain mc, was a bit dirty but otherwise okay. I asked once if I dumped my aluminum empties into my range bag instead of their container could I still shoot them…received a nasty look and a very definite “NO!”.

Those of you reloading the Blazer aluminum cases, please reread the link to AR15.com above. You will lose a chamber if the case corrodes because of the jet of gas.

Not something I want to risk.

I don't believe anyone is arguing that they can be reloaded. As I stated before, while they can be, they should not be reloaded.

Your gun - your risk. It only takes one!

At the Adaptive Defensive Shooting Summit in 2020, I shot Federal aluminum 115gr 9mm, and I noticed the the point of impact was about 8 inches higher than my brass cased ammo at about 15 yards. I don't know if it was due to case mouth tension or what. Regardless, I may pick up aluminium 9s if the price is right for when I am ammo desperate, but I don't think it is a product that I would depend on.

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Judge control not gun control!

If the ammo was loaded lighter than what you are use to, that could account for it hitting higher.

I wish I could find enough "extra" primers to put in the many, many nice 9mm brass cases I have processed, resized, expanded & bagged...

But then I would have to buy the cardboard/foam ammo boxes from Midway by the case!

Cheers!

P.S. No reloading of aluminum cases (or steel!) for me. I don't care to find out how many times it can be done and have nothing but the best wishes for those who do. I sincerely hope there are zero unfortunate incidents.

No reason to buy boxes if the bulk of the ammo is for the range. When I do a run of 9mm ammo I throw them into a surplus 30 Cal ammo can or two. That size can isn't too heavy when loaded up with 9mm ammo.

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SWCA #3437

Or, on a bowl on the bench like Hickok 45...?

Cheers!

I'm not sure how a rupture of a 9mm case will cause you to "lose a chamber". The link you provided isn't working for me so I can't see what they are writing on the other blog. I can tell you that the military experimented with aluminum 223 rounds and in none of the reports that I can find did they talk about gun damage with standard rounds. They did experience burn through with rounds that had mechanical damage. They tried to address it by applying different kinds of coatings, none of which worked to their satisfaction but they never talked about damage to the weapon. They were never able to get it right and the aluminum 223 project was abandoned. They still use aluminum on a lot of very big rounds. From my experience, I have seen brass cases fail many times. The only time I have seen damage to a gun was when a bore blockage or an over charge was involved. The barrel is designed to hold the pressure of the round inside the gun even if it escapes the confines of the cartridge. If the case ruptures it is not going to increase the pressure and the gas should stay inside the gun. Some H&K designs actually allow the pressure to blow back into the chamber between the cartridge and the chamber wall to keep the case from sticking during extraction. (See "fluted chamber). I'm not sure what the ar15 blog says but I'm pretty sure a case failure with a standard pressure round is not going to blow up the gun.

No - it will not blow up the gun.

What happens is that the case ruptures are a corrosion pit allowing a jet of gases, perhaps with engraind alumium oxide (I don't know that for certain) that erodes the portion of the chamber at that point. I have examined may guns so damaged.

I have not seen any of the military 5.56mm aluminum cases, so I have no knowledge there, but I note they did not adopt them. The military aluminum cases I've seen were 30mm and the case walls were quite thick compared to handgun case.

This is not to say Blazer is bad, but such ammunition should be inspected for corrosion (small black dots) and definitely not be reloaded since it could expose the bare aluminum. When I was in that positon I would get several telephone calls annually with the caller pointing out that the Blazer cases could be reloaded. I agreed, but then explained why they should not be.

I tend to wonder what number of problems CCI is seeing with their change to Boxer primers in the aluminum. Those I dealt with were Berdan primed.

Some makers of blowback carbines advise against aluminum cases. I'm thinking the problem might be insufficient obturation. I'd shoot steel case in my guns before I'd shoot aluminum.

There is a certain amount of erosion that takes place in all guns with all ammo. I think it would take a lot of compromised pistol cases to cause excess erosion. The aluminum case melts at too low of a temperature to maintain a hot jet of gas long enough to start cutting chamber material. Maybe in an older gun with lower nickel steel. The heat and pressure is going to cause the aluminum case to consume itself. Plus the pressure inside the case is going to hold it against the walls of the chamber so the gas will have to overcome it's own pressure to work on the steel. Maybe it could direct the hot gas down the barrel and cause the throat to erode. I've seen eroded chambers also but most of the time, other than a machine gun or M16 with a gajillion rounds through it, it was a case of the gun being out of spec combined with lots of use.

It's interesting you mention the case thickness. The 9mm's that I am fooling around with have much thicker walls up to about 3/4 of their length. I sectioned one and a brass case for comparison. There are pictures on my posts that I linked to.

The military abandoned the aluminum 223 project because once they got into all of the coating to address the reliability issues, it became cost prohibitive. It's a lot more problematic getting a 60000psi 223 to work than a 30000psi 9mm. I think it's interesting that General Dynamics has submitted a gun to the future infantry weapon search that uses a plastic cartridge case with a steel head. I wonder if we'll be able to reload that!

I'm not trying to argue over this. I'm reporting what I have witnessed.

Think of it like the erosion seen on a breech face from primer leaks, except it's in the chamber wall and the damage can be caused by a single round.Htorage conditions were a fairly common aspect. High humidity, such as coastal areas were seen numerous times.

Good storage, or newer ammo had few problems.

I didn't mean to be argumentative. I believe what you saw. I'm just trying to explain my observations also. There's a huge amount of variation in this discussion so there's lot's of room different opinions and there are lot's of answers to the same question.

A few years ago I reload a bunch of the Al cases. After loading them 5~6 times, the primer would start to seize in the pocket during seating. That was the only problem I had.
If you're in a tight, roll em up!