Guns: Steel, Aluminum and Brass Cases
Brass, the traditional material used in making cartridge cases for ammunition, has a number of advantages. It's relatively ductile, meaning that it can be formed by dies and various tools fairly easily (so easily, in fact, that people can handload new ammo from used brass cases). It has a low coefficient of friction with the typical firearm chamber, it helps to draw heat away from the chamber after firing, and it's relatively durable.
The type of brass used for making cartridge cases is mostly made of copper, which is an expensive commodity nowadays. Copper is useful for lots of other things besides making brass - plumbing, electronics, you name it. This high demand is partially why the average French horn is going to set you back quite a bit. In the early parts of the 20th century, various countries looked for ways to replace brass with other materials, including steel and aluminum.
Steel cases need to be coated with something to prevent rust, especially the cheap mild non-stainless steel used for cases. This has ranged from lacquer, to polymers, to copper plating. I've shot all these ammo types, and they all work reasonably well enough if the firearm is up to it. AK clones and Makarovs will eat lacquer-coated Wolf ammo all day, for example. To be fair, not all firearms were designed to feed such materials - you can't expect to make a case out of anything and have it work.
The chief aluminum-cased ammo I've toyed with was Blazer aluminum cased 9mm. These worked all right, but the extraction was noticeably different than the brass stuff in my CZ-75B. Many countries (including the U.S.) eventually gave up on making nonbrass cases general issue to their troops - the huge Russian arsenals, however, remain steadfast in their dedication to the steel case.
If it works in your guns, and you really need to save the money, shooting steel or aluminum case ammo is certainly an option. But personally, with all the question marks about performance in non-Commie Bloc guns, I don't even bother anymore.
The type of brass used for making cartridge cases is mostly made of copper, which is an expensive commodity nowadays. Copper is useful for lots of other things besides making brass - plumbing, electronics, you name it. This high demand is partially why the average French horn is going to set you back quite a bit. In the early parts of the 20th century, various countries looked for ways to replace brass with other materials, including steel and aluminum.
Steel cases need to be coated with something to prevent rust, especially the cheap mild non-stainless steel used for cases. This has ranged from lacquer, to polymers, to copper plating. I've shot all these ammo types, and they all work reasonably well enough if the firearm is up to it. AK clones and Makarovs will eat lacquer-coated Wolf ammo all day, for example. To be fair, not all firearms were designed to feed such materials - you can't expect to make a case out of anything and have it work.
The chief aluminum-cased ammo I've toyed with was Blazer aluminum cased 9mm. These worked all right, but the extraction was noticeably different than the brass stuff in my CZ-75B. Many countries (including the U.S.) eventually gave up on making nonbrass cases general issue to their troops - the huge Russian arsenals, however, remain steadfast in their dedication to the steel case.
If it works in your guns, and you really need to save the money, shooting steel or aluminum case ammo is certainly an option. But personally, with all the question marks about performance in non-Commie Bloc guns, I don't even bother anymore.
posted by Mulliga @ 1:32 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I wish the steel and aluminum case ammo was more readily available, as the price of ammo is out of sight these days.
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