CCI Blazer ammo

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dogtown tom

New member
silvermane_1 OP any aluminum case ammo is non-reloadable, however steel case ammo is reloadable.
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What the case is made of doesn't make it "nonreloadable". Steel, brass, aluminum, Nytrillium…..it don't matter.

As noted above, it's whether the case is designed for Boxer or Berdan primers.
If Berdan style, reloading would require a different depriming tool and access to Berdan primers.

Some CCI Blazer aluminum cased pistol ammo is BOXER primed.

Interesting post from a former CCI employee:https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/219557-cci-blaser-aluminum-cases/
Guy Neill
Posted August 7, 2015
When I worked for CCi-Speer I had to explain this fairly frequently. It's never been a matter that the aluminum case could not be reloaded, it is that they should not be reloaded.

When CCI first developed the aluminum cases they reloaded them 15 - 20 times to prove their durability, so, technically, they can be reloaded.

I'm fairly certain I have covered the issues in my column in the past - maybe it's time to revisit the issue since both CCI and Herter's now offer aluminum cased ammunition.

The move to Boxer primers for the Blazer cases is, I feel certain, an economic move by ATK (it was before spinning off the sporting equipment groups to Vista), very likely due to wanting to eliminate the need to make the Berdan primers. I do wonder if they have seen an increase in complaints as a result.

I don't know the exact date changes were made, but the first I know of them was at least ten years ago when a friend asked my about it - not long after I left CCI-Speer. I don't know that it was a clean break at a specific time. I suspect it was phased in for each cartridge as tooling was replaced and stocks of Berdan primers were used up.

Even though I now have no affiliation with CCI-Speer, I would still advise against reloading the aluminum cases.


Posted August 7, 2015
The primary reason not to reuse the aluminum cases has to do with corrosion. From the factory they have several coatings applied to the aluminum. Some are for lubricity, while others are to guard against corrosion.

When you resize the cases, the sizing action scrapes away the coatings, exposing the base aluminum. Aluminum does not corrode the way brass doe. While verdigris is a surface condition for brass, aluminum corrosion forms pits into the case wall. Depending on how bad, depends on how deep. You the human eye the corrosion pit merely seems to be a black dot. A small black dot.

Should the case rupture because of the corrosion, you have a jet of high pressure, hot gases that will erode the chamber, or breech of the gun. Since we don't know how bad (deep) the corrosion is by looking at it, we don't know when the case will rupture.

Part of my job at CCI-Speer included dealing with any customer problems. I had quite a collection of damaged guns ion my office - for a variety of causes. One of the first things I looked at if we could get (Blazer) ammunition back that had been involved in a problem was if the cases were corroded or not. Split aluminum cases that have a jagged, lightning bolt sort of pattern indicates the crack was due to corrosion - the crack is connecting the dots - the corrosion pits. A straight crack was normally due to a scratch or other mechanical damage to the casing.

Also, since reloading dies are designed for brass cases, the resizing action may not be "correct" for the aluminum (or steel, for that matter). There is a degree of springback after sizing that the reloading dies are designed for - for brass. The springback for aluminum of steel may be different (I haven't researched that). Some have mentioned problems with neck tension, and that's a definite possibility. Too tight may be be a real problem, but too loose can allow bullet setback. And we know that is bad since it increased pressure upon firing..

There's also the matter of internal volume. The factory develops the loadbased on the cartridge and the powder/bullet. The reloading date we have is all developed using brass cases. The internal volume of aluminum cases may be significantly different, so our loading results may vary greatly from what we expect.

Those are the main reasons. I personally feel ATK's economy move was a mistake, but they didn't ask me. I'm also not going to reload aluminum or steel cases.
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Rollcrimp1

New member
An excellent post Tom. You CCI quote pretty much states the case! Besides, I can’t think of any reason to put that ugly grey thing on my reloading press anyway!
 
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DaleA

New member
Years ago I bought some CCI aluminum cased ammo because it was cheap and I was going to be shooting at an indoor range where they did not let you pick up your fired cases.

To my surprise/chagrin they didn't allow aluminum cased ammo either.

Live and learn.

P.S. When I did get to shoot the ammo it worked fine but because I like to reload I don't buy the aluminum stuff at all any more. And thanks to Dogtown for a very interesting post.
 
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Drm50

New member
I have found a good use for Alumilum Blazer cases. It makes fine fishing lures. I have 44, 357 and 25 cal spinners.
 
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cjwils

New member
Some ranges pick up brass to make some money by recycling. Ranges that do that may prohibit aluminum or steel cases, because they don't want to have to sort them out of the brass.
 
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JDBerg

New member
I could never figure out why the industry doesn’t offer aluminum cased defensive ammo, since a carry gun would be considerably lighter in a holster with aluminum cased vs. brass cased ammo.
 
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dogtown tom

New member
JDBerg I could never figure out why the industry doesn’t offer aluminum cased defensive ammo, since a carry gun would be considerably lighter in a holster with aluminum cased vs. brass cased ammo.
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Have you ever weighed AL vs Brass cases?:rolleyes:
The difference would be so minute that you wouldn't know the difference.
Heck, I'll bet 99.9% of those who carry everyday would never notice the difference between 115gr 9mm and 147gr 9mm......even in a 15 round Glock.
(Liam Neeson excluded of course;))
 
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Webleymkv

New member
I've used the Blazer aluminum cased ammo in .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 10mm Auto, .44 Special, and .44 Magnum and the only issues I ever had was sticky extraction in a Taurus 445 .44 Special (which I suspect had slightly rough chambers). I've also used the Federal aluminum case ammo in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP without issue. Quality has always seemed to be middle of the pack for range ammo and I'd rate it as equivalent to Remington/UMC, S&B, or Prvi Partizan, slightly less than Federal Champion/American Eagle or Fiocchi, and better than Tula/Wolf or Winchester White Box. That being said, I can usually brass case ammo for the same or lower prices, so I don't buy aluminum case ammo all that often.

Blazer Brass is decent enough quality in my experience and the brass seems to be of about average quality when reloaded. The only issue I've ever noticed is that the .45 ACP 230 gr FMJ seems to be a bit susceptible to bullet setback, but it's marketed as range ammo and for that purpose, it really shouldn't be an issue because it's unlikely for a single round to be chambered multiple times.

I do notice that the Blazer Aluminum case ammo in more powerful calibers like .357 Magnum, 10mm Auto, and .44 Magnum seems to be loaded on the light side for those calibers. Whether or not this has anything to do with the aluminum cases or rather just their assumption that most people would prefer lower-recoiling practice ammo, I do not know.

I actually do know of someone who reloaded Blazer aluminum cases (9mm if memory serves) for matches in which he wasn't allowed to pick up his spent brass. However, the amount of trouble he went through to de-prime the Berdan cases and then find Berdan primers to reload with seemed more trouble than it was worth to me.
 
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mellow_c

New member
I just read Webleymkv’s post, but it sounds like a lot of you are saying that Blazer brass cases are no good for reloading.

I’d like to hear more on this.
 
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Webleymkv

New member
Blazer brass cases are fine for reloading, I've had no issues with them in .357 Magnum or .45 ACP. Blazer aluminum cases are what I think would be more trouble than they're worth to attempt reloading.
 
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IdaD

New member
I've run a lot of the Federal aluminum stuff in 9mm with no issues. Seems like decent practice ammo. I don't reload so that aspect doesn't matter to me. I don't shoot steel but it seems like the negatives with it don't really apply to aluminum, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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rodfac

New member
I'll add that Blazer brass cased 9mm 115 gr FMJ's are right up there at the top of the accuracy ranking in my 9mm's, especially so in my newest, a Sig P365. And BTW, I don't use aluminum nor steel cased ammunition in any of my guns, as I use the brass for reloading. YMMV, Rod
 
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