Blazer Brass

[Buck shot]

Anyone else noticed blazer brass in .45acp being extremely dirty? I’ve shot it for years in 9mm and never had an issue or complain after 1000’s of rounds, but I couldn’t believe how dirty it is in my .45. I acquired a new 1911 about 3 months ago, took it apart to clean it then put it away. Finally I had time yesterday to hit the range with it and it ran fine for about 65 rounds, then I would get 1-2 ftf every mag after. My first thought was it was the gun, but after taking it apart tonight to clean it I’m certain it’s the ammo. I couldn’t believe the amount of carbon in it.

[SwissArmyMan]

I've shot 2000 rds of blazer brass in 9mm. Hasn't caused any problems.

[Drache]

9mm - no
.45 ACP - Yes

[barkerlakebob]

I have used up several hundred rounds of 9mm Blazer ammo without any issues what so ever.

[BunkerC]

Over the last several years since I stopped reloading, I have shot Blazer Brass, AE, Win, Rem, PMC in .45 acp. Usually whatever is running cheaper at the time. I have not noticed BB any noticeably dirtier than another brand. I have noticed that from lot to lot by the same manufacturer there is some variance but nothing detrimental.
However, at the moment I am shooting PMC which is dirtier than the others. Black and sooty but it shoots great.

[lone-wolf]

PMC and S&B is the factory stuff I've been shooting in 45 and both have ran fine. I would normally shoot near 500rnds before cleaning became a concern... it would never ftf but I could feel the slide start to slow down and I knew it was time to clean.

I do have 9mm blazer stuff that seems fine as well.

[elliott264]

+1 for PMC and S&B. Good stuff at a decent price. S&B brass seems to be of higher quality than most of the other budget stuff. Only ever shot Blazer Brass in 9mm. No issues to report, went bang and wasn't any dirtier than the competition. Tried some Herters in .45acp. Also went bang, made big holes in paper and didn't foul up my gun. Seems like decent stuff.

[DanN]

I wonder if the .45 being dirtier has anything to do with the fact Blazer 45 uses small pistol primers.

I roll my own 45, so I can't say whether or not the factory Blazer is dirtier, but it sure is annoying when a Blazer case gets mixed in with the rest of my large pistol primer 45 brass..

[M1917 Enfield]

The best cheap brass for reloading is PPU, it is very high quality, always consistent and seems to last longer in both handgun and rifle calibres.

S&B is hit and miss, on some I find the primer pockets loosen up very quickly after a few not even hot loads compared to PPU. Also S&B seems to split necks more often too. Some S&B cases are fine, so it may just be a bad batch or cheap and poor brass quality control issue that happens every now and then.

PMC seems okay, Winchester seems to have gotten worse over time, same with Remington which used to be great but now is subpar.

CCI or Blazer seems okay and I also notice it tends to run dirty and needs more cleaning than other brands.

I think CCI went to small primer brass for safety reasons as the cases are stronger in the head area and handle higher pressure loads better. Maybe it was because they make a lot of alloy cases and that is why they have their machinery setup for small primer loading.