Federal Ammo

[HerrKaiser]

I was just curious if anyone has tried to shoot Federal 115 gr. Ammo through any of their Lugers and the experiences they’ve had with it. Local place is selling it somewhat cheaply at $16 for a box of 100. Related question, I’ve also seen some new productions of ammo with aluminum casings instead of steel or brass. Anyone have any experience with those either?

[DonVoigt]

I have shot federal 115, and aluminum and a few steel case rounds(not recommending, just saying).
They all work fine, in some lugers your results may vary.

I fire new varieties of ammo in my lugers that are known to be "forgiving" shooters- most anything will work in them, as long as it is hot enough to cycle completely.

[HerrKaiser]

Thank you Don. I know that the Germans issued steel cased ammo in the wars but that it’s not something you should shoot through them today. I was more concerned that Aluminum might have similar issues if used. Then again, you can’t go wrong with brass.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by HerrKaiser

Thank you Don. I know that the Germans issued steel cased ammo in the wars but that it’s not something you should shoot through them today. I was more concerned that Aluminum might have similar issues if used.

I've never shot steel or aluminum 9mm cases; what similar issues might they have???

At first I thought you might be referring to 'aluminum residue' on the chamber walls, but steel would not have that issue...

If anything, I would have thought that aluminum might not be strong enough to resist tearing by the extractor...

[HerrKaiser]

This is exactly why I was asking this question. I figured aluminum might be a weaker metal whereas the steel cased ammo tends to be harder than the steel of gun components. But I’d didn’t want to say that and look dumb should a metallurgist be here and tell me otherwise.

[DonVoigt]

The Germans eliminated the "obduration step" in the chamber(Mauser made pistols) when they went to steel ammo in WWII times.

Aluminum can be as "strong" as brass, depends on which aluminum alloy, and aluminum does not expand and stick as brass does, i.e. it expands a little less when fired and should actually be easier to extract.

Steel is as you say- hard(maybe not harder than steel in the pistol- again it "depends"), but how much are you going to shoot?
I would worry more about the plastic type "gunk" on the outside of some steel cases leaving a sticky residue.

Wolf steel 9mm has worked ok for me in a luger or two that needed really hot ammo to function.

[HerrKaiser]

I figured I might as well ask about it before I bought any for the next time at the range. Thanks!

[Karl]

Quintin,

Back to your initial post: I don't think I can reload 9mm for less than $14.00 - $15.00 per 100. At $16.00 for 100 rounds this stuff is a steal (not steel).

Added to post: If you do not reload and this is brass or aluminum case, I would buy out the entire stock.

KFS

[HerrKaiser]

It’s around $18 after taxes for 100 and it’s brass casing. Now that payday hit I just might have to go Friday morning and do this (it’s a college town so I can imagine it won’t all be gone. As it is it has been there for over 2 weeks since I came back)

[Rick W.]

One would think that if the ammo of the day kinda matches the Winchester whitebox 115gr stuff, it oughta work ok,.................. your Luger will certainly let you know one way or another. Lugers and hot ammo is kinda like Grimm's fairy tales in scientific notation.

Aluminum cases for ammo has been around for a while. Blazer comes to mind on that note. No real comments here on such, other than is not reloadable(if that matters). I see a lot of aluminum casings at the local range, very little steel fwiw.

I could not personally go steel cases in any chamber in my world anyway. Steel cases were made for certain situations one might say, made to shoot, not to conserve anything really. I cringe some when I hear mention of steel cases in chambers. Barrel steel is not very hard relatively speaking, sharp edges of the steel case flying into said chamber is not overly palatable to most, machinist or not. Some guys spend a lot of time lining up and chambering a barrel, so gouging it up in the first ten minutes is not going a long ways on diplomacy. Everyone is different...........and thankfully so that we still currently have that right.

Locally, in my little part of the world, Walmart runs the Winchester white box 115gr stuff for close to 10 bucks per box. I reload some, and buy very large lots of bullets etc, tis hard to get close to that number reloading even. And I think my time is worthless, if it was not fun, I would not be doing it, money does not enter into some things for me. Ah, I know I can beat 20 cents a round reloading with jacketed 115's, but large component lots has to be there in the equation.

aluminum and steel stuff is out there, some domestic; some is not so domestic(hot and funky). Lugers to some are precious, not trying to be overly sentimental, but even parts are getting hard to find in some instances.

[DonVoigt]

One can find $10 to $12 per box (of 50)9mm luger -new-115gr ammo; you may need to buy a 10 box carton to reach the $10.

Check online, there are dozens of sellers.

[Karl]

Don and Rick,

Are we talking about a 50 round box or a 100 round box? The cheapest ammo I see with a quick online search is about $10. a box for 50 rounds - not 100.

KFS

[Rick W.]

Karl,

I was referring to boxes that contain fifty rounds. Most common in pistol round stuff. They sell multiples of said 50 round boxes such as 200x, ie 4 boxes worth. They also sell cases of 1000x or multis of that. Some stores tout above 50x per container as bulk; ie loose rounds in the box.

I see some of the specialty ammo, defense etc, in 25 round boxes for some reason, guess might be the price of that ammo.

If you look around some, 10-12 buck good ammo is out there. Some will offer free shipping or shipping to store...... taxes vary by state, even with online.

Rick

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

Aluminum cases for ammo has been around for a while. Blazer comes to mind on that note. No real comments here on such, other than is not reloadable...

Edit: I was going to say that I had in the past reloaded some aluminum cases, but after running downstairs I found it was steel cases. D'Oh !!!

I also find it uncommon that Federal would have a 100 rd box of 9mm. I've never seen it, although Winchester does sell their 100rd 'white boxe' of 9mm packed loose. If that price is for 100 then it sounds like an amazing deal. I would buy lots of it.

[DonVoigt]

I think in terms of "50 round boxes", so I added that to my post.
I've not seen 100 rnd boxes of Federal either- but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

[HerrKaiser]

Here is what the box looks like. The rounds are loose. Paper/cardboard spacers between each layer of 20 rounds

[Rick W.]

I am a little short on current expertise with factory ammo. I only buy factory ammo for qualifications that require such. Otherwise, purely reloaded ammo tuned for the particular firearm, whatever it is.

My reference on prices were in reference to Winchester white box, I have never bought other brands for the pistol calibers. Nothing wrong with other brands, but I shoot what I want sorta speak, and price/quality is there as best it can be with the winchester whitebox.

Sorry for any confusion to brands and pricing, my thoughts were locked into the whitebox stuff. I see Midway has white box for about 11(10.50) bucks now fwiw, but one has to figure shipping/tax if applicable. Sometimes you just have to wait it out and then buy in mass to get the best pricing with free shipping(or store delivery). Was hard to do when I was young, but as in all things, things change and you adapt.

[Karl]

I am looking at the Midway USA website. They have Winchester white box 100 rounds on sale for $20.99 (marked down from $26.49). I think there is a possibility that the Federal ammo noted by Quintin has been mistakenly mis-priced, perhaps due to the same confusion here between 50 rd./100 rd. box. Such mistakes happen, especially where computers are involved and the stock clerks are ignorant of the products they sell. I say again - buy all you can.

KFS

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by HerrKaiser

Here is what the box looks like. The rounds are loose. Paper/cardboard spacers between each layer of 20 rounds

I'd buy all I could affort at that bargain price!

[HerrKaiser]

The plan is to go there tomorrow afternoon and do just that!