CCI Blasers for defense?

[Rusty S]

Is Blaser ammo suitable in quality for defensive use in a revolver? Obviously, brass cased empties would be more likely to eject fully due to their heavier weight over aluminum, but is quality otherwise equivalent dimensionally, with consistency of loading and of bullets?

I have several 4" .41 mag S&W revolvers, most f/s. Full power JHP/JSP causes bleeding hands. Years ago I practiced with it and shot well anyway. Now from taking too few and far between practice sessions even the 3/4 power Silvertips cause gross flinching.

My other options seem to be lead flatnose or swc's, or the CCI Blaser half jacketed SWCHP.

Unfortunately the Blaser ballistics I've seen have not been reached in 4" vented bbl as with most revolver defense ammo. I've heard actual velocity of 850 to 900 fps chronographed from 6" bbl. No stats at all from 4".

Does anyone have further information, on velocity, and on whether the construction of the bullet used allows deformation or expansion at 4" velocities?

Has lead ammo indeed been hardened sufficiently now to prevent the infamous leading of earlier batches?

[This message has been edited by Rusty S (edited October 25, 1999).]

 

[Rocky Road]

Rusty---

My personal experience is that CCI Blaser aluminum cased ammo is NOT suitable for defensive use. In my experience, it generally does not have a heavy enough or uniform enough crimp to properly hold the bullets in place.

Admittedly, my experience si based on some brand-new .38 Special lead Round Nose ammo and one S & W model 37 snubby. It would not fire all five in a cylinder without round 3 or 4 jumping the crimp and tieing up the cylinder.

Also, something to think of for the auto pistol crowd-- When aluminum begins ozidizing, the cooefficient of friction goes WAY up, and the cartridges do not strip cleanly out of a fully loaded magazine the way they do if made of (even rather tarnished) brass.

The Al cased ammo may be fine for practice or qualification, but I sure wouldn't use it for serious work.

My only expreience with less than full powered .41 Mag ammo is with the old Remington LSWC "Police Load." This did used to have a reputation for leading, especially if the shooter fired a lot without cleaning.

One good alternative is to get into handloading yourself or to get a friend to turn out some full weight but 700--775 fps loads for you.

Most .41 mags are built on S&W N-frame, either Model 57 or 58. These should be heavy enough to be fairly gentle, especially if you use the Uncle Mike's stocks, or the Hogue Monogrip, or any Pachmayr rubber stock. I know some of the old wood stocks with the sharp diamond checking could be pretty abrasive.

I do believe that the user-friendly stocks might be a bigger boon to you than poofter loads. It IS a magnum cartridge, after all.

Good luck in your quest--
RR

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---The Second Amendment ensures the rest of the Bill of Rights---

 

[Rusty S]

Unfortunately my hands are small and I need open backstrap grips to make DA reach feasible. It's the web of my hand that gets battered and bleeding. In fact, a set of non-magna grips with a Tyler T insert reduces damage as it lets me clamp more firmly than larger grips.

For defense, I don't see hand or reloads, even custom made, as the way to go. I love the N frame and fixed sights, may have to have rebored to 45 colt, or better yet, new barrel and cylinder in 45 acp/ar/super.

 

[Trevor]

I have been shooting CCI Blaser ammo in my autoloaders for years and have never had any problem. Everything feeds and ejects well. My calibers of choice have been 9mm, .40 S&W, 10mm, and .45 ACP: Never a problem. As for .38 Specials, in an old Dick Special they work well too.

Of course, I never let any ammo sit too long in a pistol. After being carried for a while (six months at the most), I shoot it for practice at the range. Thus, I never let it get a chance to be harmed by solvents or oils that may linger on the gun.

 

[cornered rat]

I asked the same question here and decided to replace 158gr .357 CCI Blazers in my 686+ with brass-cased ammo of the same maker/performance. Among other things, aluminum doesn't shrink back after firing as well as brass, and it absorbs less heat...so I erred on the side of caution. I have Blazers in Makarov and Glock 17, but will discontinue that practice. Besides, I do not expect to be down to my 4th and 5th magazines anyway. 1-3 are loaded with brass-cased ammo. I think Blazers are more vulnerable to damage than brass-cased ammo.

Also, I am not sure that you'd want to fire light&fast rounds from a .41mag w/o hearing protection...
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[This message has been edited by cornered rat (edited October 25, 1999).]

 

[Adamantium]

I bought 2 boxes of 158 grn SJHP's for my .357 mag a while back, I didn't like them much. Way too much recoil IMO, both Remington and Federal and UMC ammo kicks alot less. And the Aluminum brass(is that an oxy-moron? ) was fairly hard to get out of the wheel after about 12 shots.

And thier was also one round which just blew my socks off. Practically sent the gun right back into my face. Now idea what caused it other than too much powder, but thankfully both me and my gun were fine.

Sincerely,
Adam

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Self improvement is a hobby of mine