Brass case more accurate the aluminum case??

[petespoiled630]

I shot 50 rounds today, 25 brass case ,25 aluminum case 115gr federal champion. It seems as if I have better accuracy with the brass then.. is that possible? I'm shooting a xd mod 2 9mm service..

[James K]

I suppose the case material could make some difference, but it shouldn't make any difference to the way you shoot. Still, 50 rounds is a pretty small test sample; I would like to see the results of a more extensive test using a good mechanical rest.

Jim

[b.thomas]

I shot 9mm blazer- brass and aluminum, in both my Ruger p95 and S&W 910......................did not see any difference??

[briandg]

I'm finding it very difficult to believe that the aluminum could cause significant variations in accuracy over brass. Given identical bullets and charges, equivalent priming compounds, I believe that the brass rounds might show a very, very small margin of better accuracy when a few thousand rounds have been tested under controlled circumstances.

I don't believe that aluminum offers the same level of bullet pull, and I think that the force needed to set the bullet into flight will be consistent compared to brass.

Any big deviations are attributable other variables.

[FrankenMauser]

I don't think the casing material would make much of a difference.

What, exactly, were you shooting? (Ammunition specifics needed.)

[Lohman446]

I imagine if one were shooting long distance precision any little difference would matter. I assume with the round count we are discussing and because most aluminum cases I know of are pistol rounds that we are discussing pistols. My gut feeling is that the case makes no significant difference BUT aluminum cased rounds tend to be "cheapest bidder" and other variables that go into being the cheapest bidder may make a difference.

[T. O'Heir]

The material the case is made from has nothing whatever to do with accuracy. Al cased ammo is just lower quality ammo.
There isn't such a thing as 9mm Match ammo anyway, so it really makes no difference.

[James K]

One thing that could make a difference is case capacity. If the cases of one material have less capacity than those of the other, there could be a measurable difference in accuracy. But I think a lot more investigation, with instrumentation, would be necessary to demonstrate that.

Jim

[TailGator]

I can't think of a reason why an aluminum case would make a measurable difference in accuracy in 9 mm. My bet is that the human element is the difference. If it is the ammo at all, it is more likely to coincide with the point of T. O'Heir of less consistency with cheaper ammo. I would need to see all other variables controlled to be convinced, though, even of that.

[agtman]

I shot 50 rounds today, 25 brass case ,25 aluminum case 115gr federal champion. It seems as if I have better accuracy with the brass then.. is that possible? I'm shooting a xd mod 2 9mm service.

A brass case is more rigid than its aluminum counterpart and therefore yields less co-axial vibration when the primer ignites the powder, which commences the bullet's release out of the case. This, of course, happens in milli-seconds, but micro vibrations matter in keeping the projectile as stable as possible. That's one reason you don't see aluminum cased rifle ammo.

That said, there are many other factors which affect the accuracy of pistol ammunition, not including the shooter.

[FireForged]

Oh good lord people! I think you guys are way way way overintellecualizing. I would sooner consider microscopic particulate in the air.

[FireForged]

That's one reason you don't see aluminum cased rifle ammo

????????


I think that it is more likely to be a result of burn through, chamber pressures and heat transference.

[WIN71]

I like this one:

Oh good lord people! I think you guys are way way way overintellecualizing. I would sooner consider microscopic particulate in the air.

Loading for group accuracy in heavy barreled varmint rifles and doing everything I could to individual cases, I separated brass cases by brand. Not because of the group size but because of the impact location of the group. I early on dumped Federal. The rifle I was shooting at the time was a heavy barrel Rem 700 .243.
So what?
How in the world can you know what's going on shooting 50 rounds off hand using a hand gun.

[OhioGuy]

I've shot well over 1000 rounds of Federal Aluminum Champion in training with the 3" XD Mod.2, and probably an equal amount of brass cased ammo from a variety of vendors, and I can't say I've ever noticed a difference in anything--accuracy, recoil, dirtiness of the gun, reliability, etc. I've read all kinds of bad things about aluminum ammo--it's cheap! It's crap! It'll jam your gun! It'll melt inside the chamber (Yeah, but hey, it's the Internet!)! It's too soft and will constantly fail to extract!

Never had a misfire.

I can't see how it could possibly have any measurable impact on accuracy. I'm sure the tiny variations in my muscle movements have far more impact than tiny variations in the manufacturing.

I can also say I've shot 115 grain, 124 grain and 147 grain and haven't personally noticed any differences there in either recoil or accuracy. So for training purposes I usually default to the cheapest practice ammo I can find, which usually is the Federal Aluminum at Wal-Mart for $10/box. (Never had problems with steel-cased ammo either, but steel bullets aren't allowed at the ranges I go to, and the one box of Russian stuff I shot left my gun VERY grimy so I just skip that stuff.

[45_auto]

At what distance were you shooting?

What size were your groups with the brass cased ammo, how many rounds per group, and how many groups did you shoot?

What size were your groups with the aluminum cased ammo, how many rounds per group, and how many groups did you shoot?

In the real world, it's very unlikely that either you or your pistol are accurate enough to discern any differences in case material.

If you were to fire pure gold cased ammo that cost $10,000 per shot, it would probably "seem" more accurate than either brass or aluminum.

[dogtown tom]

agtman brass case is more rigid than its aluminum counterpart and therefore yields less co-axial vibration when the primer ignites the powder, which commences the bullet's release out of the case. This, of course, happens in milli-seconds, but micro vibrations matter in keeping the projectile as stable as possible. That's one reason you don't see aluminum cased rifle ammo.

Nonsense.

[briandg]

Given the history of scientific research, I'm of the belief that it could never be definitively resolved. Dozens of studies at different labs under varying conditions could only provide a statistical analysis. Altering loads, bullets, cases, barrels, human factors, etc.

Even if the researchers all agreed to settle on a single caliber and weight, say, 147 luger, there are still a dozen different rounds with hundreds of variations for weight and bullet composition.

There would have to be an enormous difference between the two before any difference would be "proven" and even that is probably not going to be seen at 100 feet over a bench.

Iirc, Tylenol was invented over a century ago and only recently determined to be dangerous.

[jackstrawIII]

My first thought was that maybe the other components (powder or primers) are different in the aluminum cased ammo? That would be more believable as a cause for decreased accuracy vs different case material.

With that said, I read through all the posts and none of us seem to really have any REAL knowledge of the differences in these components (volume variance of the brass, component makeup, etc).... so we're all just guessing.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a coincidence. But you never know.

[jimbob86]

How in the world can you know what's going on shooting 50 rounds off hand using a hand gun.

+1

...

....and that's not exactly a target style gun with precise sights, either.