Aluminum cased VS Brass cased

[ledman]

I tried the search feature and did not find what I was looking for.

Is Aluminum cased 9mm(or any) just as good/better/worse than Brass cased? I have used steel cased ammo before,and it clearly does not function as well as brass, for me anyways.
Any opinions or facts on Aluminum cased ammo?

ALSO...this may be a dumb question...Can birdshot, say 7.5 oz, kill a person? I mean, Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face and he lived.
I am sure, under the right circumstances, it would and will kill. I know, buckshot is the way to go for defense, but, if you didn't have any, would birshot suffice?

It's just I have heard stories about people getting shot with birdshot and not really getting hurt badly. I am sure, it depends on the situation, thickness of clothing and distance, as I know birdshot spreads out fast.

I know it's called "birdshot" for a reason, but make fun of me if you must.
Just curious of what you guys think and what your opinions are.

[CSACANNONEER]

"Birdshot" can and has killed countless people throughout the ages. There are many different sizes of "birdshot" and many different powder loads used to propel them but, they are all capable of killing a human. Distance is a key here. At 40 yards with a modified or improved choke, it probably won't kill most of the time. But at 5 feet, it will. Any closer than that and even a blank will likely be fatal.

As far as Aluminum cases go, they tend to be berdan primed and not easily reloadable. I have no problems with them other than I prefer to shoot my own loads.

[ledman]

CSACANNONEER
Thanks for the info...it's just I have LOTS of birdshot...and not much buckshot, being naive to shotguns when I bought my first one, I stocked up on lots of shells...to me, they were just shells, not realizing they were not really what some call "defense rounds", so I was just curious as to what some people know about it.

I don't reload, and I had seen some Aluminum cased 9mm allot cheaper than some brass cased, and was just wondering on its performance, but it being non-reloadable or not easy to reload may be the reason its cheaper im guessing.

[mif_slim]

Birdshot can kill like they stated.

For the alum vs brass, scrap alum is .80 per lbs vs scrap brass going for 2 bucks per lbs. And aluminum is not reloadable.

[kurac]

The only advantage aluminum has is that its cheaper. CCI is the only one I know of that uses it for ammo, there could be others. As cheap as aluminum is, steel is even less.

If you are using birdshot in your house and its not a McMansion, it should be more than enough. I would stay away from trap loads though, they can be pretty week.

If you can shoot you shotgun at an appliance or something like that out in the desert or forest at close range, you may get a better feel for what a shotgun can do at 10-15 feet.

[Bedlam]

You can have loads of birdshot for fun shooting. You really dont need to worry about loads and loads of defensive ammo. If you want a good serious defensive load go out and buy a box they sell defensive shotgun loads. You dont train with them every day thats what the bird shot is for. Just like most pistol shooters dont go shoot ranger sxt or hornady tap or federal hydra-shok every range trip they shoot cheap ball ammo or reloads but when it comes to the stuff they leave in the gun for home defense its likely a higher end ammo like I mentioned. Spend a little extra for good defensive ammo.

As for aluminum cases there isnt anything wrong with them you just cant reload them.

[jimbo1747]

Back in the 90's, I shot 9mm CCI Blazer exclusively because they were going for about $5/box. It was good, reliable, fairly accurate practice rounds for the money. However, the extractor on my Hi-Power broke after about 5K of the stuff. Don't know if the aluminum cases had anything to do with it? In any event, the money I save buying Blazer vs. brass cased ammo, more than made up for the $15 extractor.

As for birdshot, I "patterned" some #8 shot with my 20" 870 at 7 yards and it made quite a impressive hole. I would think that it would definitely be deadly at that range. However, I believe birdshot loses it's energy quite quickly, so anything past that distance, I would doubt it would be able to penetrate the skin far enough to damage any vital organs?

[ledman]

Good info guys, thanks!!