nickle case

[ironhead7544]

The nickel cases do split sooner than the unplated cases. I use the nickel cases for hunting as they dont corrode as easily as unplated. They also dont not corrode in belt loops.

OT a little bit, if you size the cases and then run then through the wash machine, they come out looking like new.

[7of7]

I used to segregate the nickel and brass cases when wet tumbling.. I don't anymore.. both come out clean and really shiney..

[blikseme300]

I have a few hundred nickle 30-30 cases that have been reloaded more than 10 times with minimal cracking as I anneal these as I do with the yellow brass. I slow down my annealer a tad and the necks are just fine. I have not noticed any loss of nickle plating when wet tumbling with SS pins. The timer on my tumbler is set at 2 hours and all cases are clean and shiny.

[daniel lawecki]

I have some nickle that I've reloaded countless times it's just know starting to split near the top. I bought this brass in 2001 it's 38 spl works just fine for me.

[flintlock62]

Nickle cases tend to work harden, so they won't last as long as plain brass.

[km101]

I have nickel .38spl and .357mag cases that I have had since the 70's. I don't keep track of the number of reloads, but some have been reloaded and tumbled so many times that the nickel plating is starting to wear off. I have never noticed and difference in case life between the nickel and brass cases. I have checked wall thickness, case capacity and inside/outside dimensions and I cant find any difference. Except on the cases with the double cannelure, that were made for wadcutters, I have found not difference in dimensions or case life between nickel plated and brass cases.

In my experience, if you are not loading hot loads, or not crimping too heavily, they will last for many reloadings.

Just my experience. YMMV

[tigerbight]

I use both resized some 444 marlin nickle to 308 Bellm. I just keep a eye on them and toss when they need it. My 10mm and 380 hold up better.

[lxk308]

I wet tumbled some nickel plated 308 cases using SS pins. Most of the nickel plating was removed from the 308 cases. I now went back to using the vibratory tumbler for nickel plated cases.

[Recluse]

I have LOTS of nickel plated .38 Special brass and I use it exclusively for light loads with the 105SWC and 2.7 grains of Bullseye. My wife and grown daughters really enjoy shooting this light load through their wheelguns, and as an added bonus, it gives them the opportunity to run a couple of cylinders through their airweight .38s without beating them up or loosening up the gun.

In .357 Magnum, brass is reserved for cast boolit loads and nickel is reserved for jacketed loads.

I have a lot of nickel 9mm back from my fed days and all the +P+ we used to shoot, but I only use that brass for loading hot self-defense loads.

In rifle caliber, I use the nickel stuff to make "showy" looking rounds, although twenty or so years ago, I came across some nickel-plated Federal 30-06 brass that lasted far longer than I ever thought it would.

All in all, comparing apples to apples it has been my experience that nickel simply will not last as long as brass and that I'll get a lot more splits in the cases a lot faster than I do with brass.

But when I load it light, as with the 105SWC .38 Specials, it seems to have an almost infinite amount of times it can be reloaded.

[winelover]

Just yesterday, I reloaded a batch of plated W/W 357 Mag cases that have been reloaded 17 times. Half the plating is gone, I tumble with a Model B and walnut media. Some of the cases were starting to split at the mouth. My load is RCBS 158 SWCGC and 14.5 grains of 2400, which is not a light load by any means. I'm satisfied with case life. YMMV

Winelover

[HeavyMetal]

I'm gonna put my two cents in here, no critizing just my experience.

45 auto Nickel case's just don't last as long as brass, I figured it was the thickness of the case wall.

38 special 2.5 BE loads and either case will last forever, bump up to real world loads and the same problem crops up, nickel case's crack at the mouth sooner than brass ones.

In any case when the case mouth cracks you loose neck tension and rounds ignite differently causing flyers sort by "color" and keep them seperate and inspect prior to reloading for cracks.

Now lets talk about Nickel case's and die wear.

Not much of a problem with carbide dies but un chamfered nickel case's can and do scratch steel dies badly, I have polished out many steel dies suffering from that issue. Simply look at your case's for scratches in the body of the case and you'll see the results of sizing nickel case's in a steel die, lubed or not!

Another case in point was a lot of new remington Nickel 22-250 case's bought new, I hadn't found once fired ones at the time, run through a Lee Collet sizing die before I was smart enough to chamfer the case mouths prior to sizeing.

The Nickeled case's shredded the pin that the collet squeezes the case neck against! Had to buy a new one as it reduced the diameter of the pin!

Nickeled case's look nice but I do not think they are worth the price or hassle to purchase! I will never buy Nickeled rifle case's again!

Pistol rounds not an issue but I do segragate per caliber. Currently have over 1000 Nickled 9mm but don't use them at the moment, when I do they will be used to seperate my common reloads from Hi performance loads so I can see at a glance what I am picking up,LOL!

[detox]

Over crimping of case mouth will cause nickel to crack and flake off in this area. Light roll crimp or taper crimp is best.

Anybody ever tried to anneal a nickel plated case?