Slapdragon Posted October 31, 2001 Share Posted October 31, 2001 Steel is almost never used in commercial weapons loads because it degrades the barrel of your weapon. Aluminum is. CCI makes ammo called Blazer which is really cheap, I practice with it prior to qualifications, because I can afford to burn a barrel load of the stuff and it is cheaper by far than good reloads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtaskagain Posted October 31, 2001 Share Posted October 31, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Slapdragon: Steel is almost never used in commercial weapons loads because it degrades the barrel of your weapon. Aluminum is. CCI makes ammo called Blazer which is really cheap, I practice with it prior to qualifications, because I can afford to burn a barrel load of the stuff and it is cheaper by far than good reloads.<hr></blockquote> Kinda funny Winchester uses aluminum casings in their most expensive ammo line and not the cheaper ones then. A box of .30-'06 150 gr bullets costs over $20. Federals are about $5 less and generally use brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Lucke Posted October 31, 2001 Share Posted October 31, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Crash-Neptune: How long IS that gun?<hr></blockquote> It's not the length of yr gun, but how you use it that counts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanns Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Regarding the substance of small arms cartridge cases. There are three types of cases in general use. First is the common brass cased cartridge. Some cases have been nickel plated to inhibit corrosion and ease extraction (Federal Hydra-Shok rounds come to mind, nice shiny cases). The second is cheap, crap aluminum cased rounds by the likes of CCI/Blazer. Most are a dull, off gray color due to the aluminum oxide that forms on them from exposure to air. In the 3 failure to feed/fire I've ever had with my HKs all three were with CCI/Blazer ammo. The stuff is absolute crap. Dirty doesn't even begin to describe it and I've had one case that partially ruptured. The third type is the cheap, steel cased ammo usually from various Russian manufacturers. Wolfe ammo has lacquered steel cases usually for pretty cheap from various sources. Only big problem with steel cases is they are more likely to wear the chamber and internal action of the weapon due to the hardness of the steel case. Brass is a lot softer and easier on the gun. If you shoot expensive weapons or actually care about your weapon I'd advise using brass cased ammo. Pay a little more but the quality is worth it, especially if you reload. FWIW, Hanns [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: Hanns ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtaskagain Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 I bet my casings were nickel plated then because they were nice and shiny, not the crappy aluminum oxide color. But wouldn't nickel cause just as much damage as steel? I think nickel is even harder than steel. I definitely don't need to shoot crappy bullets and damage my new toy, a Remington 7400 .30-'06 I got for my birthday. Especially since I've already put in $150 of my own money into it. Forgot one thing, aren't some bullets coated in some substance now? I noticed the actual bullet had a flat black color, not the dull metallic lead look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanns Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Panzerwerfer, No, the nickel coating on the brass cases is not harder than a steel case. It's a very thin layer used to "lubricate" the casing. Also holds up better to hostile environments such as concealed carry, outdoor use (hunting) and the like. Not sure how well the nickel plating holds up to being cleaned for reloading. I'll have to ask one of my buddies who reloads a lot. The black color on bullets you may have seen is a molybdenum-disulfide coating that is used to increase muzzle velocity and decrease lead "plating" of the barrel due to it's superior lubricity (IOW slippery-ness). I've also seen it used on cast lead bullets in IPSC matchs for this reason. I'm not sure if they're supposed to be used for hunting though. I've seen them for long range varmit rounds (mostly 5.56mm) but not a lot for big game or deer. Not sure if the Moly coating is toxic or not. Need to do a little more research I guess. BTW Pz42 we should go hit Bill's or Armored Fire some time. Hanns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Oberst Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 You guys keep this up, and I 'll have to pull out my old rifle and go shooting. It's a 1917, bolt action, US Army issue from WWI. Full wooden stock for 80% of the barrel length and weighs a ton. My grandfather carried it in the Great War, as he called it. I still have some original Army issue shells in clips, although ammo that old has me a bit leery... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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