I use Blazer Brass 40 cal........made by CCI/SPEER.....look on the back of the box..............works fine for me...

Thanks for the reply.....A friend offered me 1000 rounds for $150 which I think is a good price..in fact he has 4000 rounds I can get if it`s any good...but that`s a lot of rounds if it isn`t...

I shoot nothing but Beretta's, so I can't say how it works with other firearms, but in mine, no problems.......

I have shot probably 12,000 rounds+ of the stuff since 2005. All in 9mm. This past weekend was the FIRST issue I ever had - 1 primer did not go off.

So, yes, I like the stuff. Its also one of the cleanest shooting 9mm target rounds, IMHO.

I'm also a fan of CCI Blazer 9mm ammo. Very accurate and reliable in all my Glocks. I used to use it in competitions, especially outdoor matches, quite regularly.

Best endorsement I can give is to tell you the Glock factory has used it for pistol test-firing for quite some time (at least 8 years, probably more). If you buy a new-ish Glock that has all the accessories in the box, you'll find a small yellow/manila envelope with two empty casings in it. They are for ballistic fingerprinting-type uses required by some states, but Glock found it easier to include them with ALL Glocks sold in EVERY state. If you open that envelope and look at the casings, they are almost certainly CCI Blazer brand.

Just picked up another 1000. Never had a problem with either 9mm or .45

I've used CCI Blazer Aluminum cased ammo in 9mm, 357Mag, 38 Special, 44Mag, 40S&W, and 45ACP. Never had a problem with any of it. I've used it for many years, and still have some Aluminum cased 9mm w/ 115 grain hollow point bullets, and some Aluminum cased 45 w/ hollow points.

Shoot fine, feed fine, accurate, and (in my opinion) cleaner than Winchester White Box.

Good post, I'm new to shooting handguns and looking to buy some bulk 9mm. I also was wondering if there was any difference between aluminunm or brass cases.

I am no expert, but I believe that brass is more accurate, easier to reload........Aluminum(steel) is less expensive, it's harder than brass, which can cause more wear to your firearm, more so than brass...it leaves greater amounts of residue, and can crack more easily when reloading.

I use Blazer brass in several calibers mostly 9mm and it has been flawless....JJ

Thanks for all the info.. I'll stick with brass.

Originally Posted by berettabone

I am no expert, but I believe that brass is more accurate, easier to reload........Aluminum(steel) is less expensive, it's harder than brass, which can cause more wear to your firearm, more so than brass...it leaves greater amounts of residue, and can crack more easily when reloading.

I'm glad you used those first 4 words at the beginning of your post; it may have been the most accurate part of it.

I'm not sure where you got the notion that "brass is more accurate". Complete cartridges, fired in a given weapon, by a certain shooter, are more or less accurate than other cartridges fired under the same conditions. In handguns, unless the case is actually defective, the remaining components (powder, bullet and even primer) will usually have a far more measurable effect on accuracy than the case. You must have missed the part of my post (#6, above) where I said I used to shoot Blazer ammunition in competitions. Competitive shooters do not make a habit of deliberately choosing less-accurate ammunition to compete with, unless they are just looking for a greater challenge that day. Personally, on most days, I need all the help I can get.

I'm not sure why you used the term "Aluminum(steel)" above; they are two different metals, and do not share many attributes. Both aluminum and steel can be made very soft, or case/surface-hardened to make the outside hard while leaving the inside soft, for better durability. While I do not know the exact values for the particular alloys of each that are used in cartridge cases, some quick Google research came up with these Brinell Hardness values:

Aluminum 15 HB
Mild steel 120 HB
Cartridge brass (70%copper, 30% Zinc) 121-131 HB

As far as the "leaves greater amounts of residue" claim, I assume because we are talking about the case, that we are also talking about metal residue from the case. I have seen (and even owned) some guns that tended to "shave" case material off during the feeding cycle, and then leave these tiny chips of metal in the breech area. In every case, it was far worse (more chips) when firing brass-cased ammo vs. aluminum-cased Blazer.

Finally, at least in the case of Blazer aluminum-case ammo, I think your reloading claim is pure BS. On the base of each Blazer case, you will find an "N" on one side, and an "R" on the other. It is an abbreviation that stands for "Not Reloadable". Aluminum-case Blazer ammo uses a different priming system (Berdan) than most other American ammo, which is Boxer-primed. It is not completely impossible to reload, but finding the odd-sized primers that do not have an internal anvil, and a special depriming tool to decap the fired casings makes reloading Blazer aluminum cases highly inefficient, and I don't know anyone who has done it except on a lark or a bet/challenge. As far as reloading steel cases, I have no direct experience with that, so I won't comment on it.

This was info that I got, that's available to everyone on the web...........you can get back on your high horse now...I think it's done shitting on me.

Originally Posted by berettabone

...........you can get back on your high horse now...I think it's done shitting on me.

Thank you for making my day.

I'm storing this in my cranium RAM for future use.
But, I promise to cite you if I use it. Not site. Not sight. "Cite".

Glad I could make someone happy. Feel free to use the previous for any application, without fear of reprimand or legal mumbo jumbo..............

Most will not have a problem with Blazer Aluminum Cased Ammo.

Back in 2006-2007 I fired a couple of cases of .40S&W Blazer Aluminum with good results. I then purchased a case of 9MM to use in my new S&W M&P9. I shot several boxes through the gun and they cycled correctly and were sufficiently accurate for my purposes. My grandson who usually picked up my cases for me noticed several split or pitted cases before pitching them in the trash. On close observation it was apparent that pinholes had burned through the cases, generally in a line parallel with the major axis of the case. Some of these had also split along the line of pinholes. Inspection of the barrel showed a random pattern of tiny chips in the chamber wall.
Thinking the chamber might be oversize, I contacted S&W. They sent a prepaid mailer for return and replaced the barrel at no charge.

I also contacted CCI and received a less than enthusiastic welcome with insinuations that I had ammonia in the room with the ammo. No explanation why that should matter and I didn’t pursue it because I did not have ammonia in my gun room. The individual I spoke to indicated if I would foot the bill for return of the remaining ammo to the factory they would look at it but indicated their current backlog was 6 months. I did not bother sending it.

I still have several boxes of this ammo on the shelf for SHTF times. Would you like to buy it?

On return of my pistol from S&W with its new barrel (thank you S&W) and after inspecting the chamber, I took it to the range where like an idiot I fired three rounds of the Aluminum cased ammo.
Inspection of the cases and barrel indicated the problem was still present.
My shooting buddy thought it just had to be the barrel and asked to try some in his glock 19. One shot later he owned a Glock with a chipped chamber. Glock did not replace his barrel.

I called S&W a second time and explained what I had done to ruin the brand new barrel and asked what a new barrel would cost. I was sent a return shipping label and they installed a third barrel at no charge. Thank you S&W.
I will not use aluminum case ammo in any of my guns ever again except as a last resort in SHTF situation. YMMV

"I also contacted CCI and received a less than enthusiastic welcome with insinuations that I had ammonia in the room with the ammo. No explanation why that should matter and I didn’t pursue it because I did not have ammonia in my gun room."

Ammonia is base (as opposed to an acid). A base is corrosive to aluminum.