Military cartadge case ?

[kurt]

I picked up some 40 mm military cartridge case's (case cartridge # M169) & tried doing a search to find out what they are made of & all I can find is that they are an aluminum alloy but could not find out what they are alloyed with &/or what the percentage make up of the alloy is

anyone know?

Kurt

 

[leelandbullock]

if its ammo, its brass...or brass mix.

becasue gold, to soft would bust with explosive presure, rhodium brittle will crack, sliver waste of money to make out of that, same for palladium, maybe a steel alloy...

you could make more selling it to collectors than for metal.

 

[Geo]

most military casings are bronze. i dont see why those would be any different.

 

[leelandbullock]

most military casings are bronze. i dont see why those would be any different.

yeah i forgot to say bronze too. not any diffrent but probally really cool. if i was still into collecting those things i would buy one or two off you.

 

[Smack]

Military shell casings can be steel, brass or aluminum. In any case they are only worth the scrap value or if they are of reload grade like the 5.56mm, 50cal., 9mm etc. and not the larger calibers then they have a resale value.

 

[Geo]

yea, Smack, i have seen other metals used for casings. its been well over twenty years since i was in the service and im sure the technology has increased alot since then. i was speaking in general. as far as personal experience goes, ive only seen other metal casings besides bronze and steel outside the military though.

 

[rheslin2]

kurt
the m169 uses both shells made of the usual brass and an aluminums steel alloy, i believe it is only 5 to 10 percent steel, i would have to look it up again, i have melted several hundred of the markarov shells i picked up at the range (just becuase i was bored) and they melt just as fast as aluminum. however, those were 9mm and 45apc, have fun melting the m169!

 

[Smack]

yea, Smack, i have seen other metals used for casings. its been well over twenty years since i was in the service and im sure the technology has increased alot since then. i was speaking in general. as far as personal experience goes, ive only seen other metal casings besides bronze and steel outside the military though.

I'm sure it has more to do with the budget moving from the red metal product to aluminum or steel. I wanted to say plastic too but couldn't remember for sure. I thought I had seen some plastic arty shells in a auction somewhere but the electrons in my brain are missfiring

 

[kurt]

kurt
the m169 uses both shells made of the usual brass and an aluminums steel alloy, i believe it is only 5 to 10 percent steel, i would have to look it up again, i have melted several hundred of the markarov shells i picked up at the range (just becuase i was bored) and they melt just as fast as aluminum. however, those were 9mm and 45apc, have fun melting the m169!

rheslin2 - Thanks - thats what I needed to know - the reason I needed the info is a guy I know buys 30 yard dumpsters from the military & he gets a lot of them in some of the dumpsters --- He didn't think they were aluminum because they spark "very" slightly when you put them to a grinding wheel & they are a bit harder then you would expect of aluminum --- He was hoping maybe they were titanium because they were also relatively light weight (they spark "almost" like you would expect from titanium)

I told him I figured they were an aluminum "alloy" so I brought one home & the first thing I did was an acid spot test to confirm aluminum (spot test nitric = no reaction - spot test HCL = reaction --- confirms aluminum) (that along with weight & spark test)

So just as I expected - I knew they were an aluminum "alloy" --- when I did a search to find out what they were alloyed with all I found was "aluminum alloy" - but not what with & nothing about alloy percentage - so agian - thanks for the info

leelandbullock - I wasn't expecting any kind of PM value - I was just trying to find out there "scrap" value - many of us on the forum scrap "all" kinds of metals - as well as recovering & refining the PMs from some of the scrap we get our hands on --- thats what makes this forum such a GREAT source of info --- as much as the "main" focus here is on PM recovery & refining --- its also a great source of info to almost any kind of metal on the periodic table & there alloys when (as a scraper) you run across that unusual piece of scrap.

If you don't know what it is - all you need to do is ask here - & most likely someone here has the answer --- it can make the difference of say selling a piece of nickel for its nickel value instead of selling it as iron - because they are both magnetic - or selling titanium as aluminum because they are both light weight.

Kurt