View Full Version : brass versus nickel cases
2thepoint
03-17-2013, 03:16 PM
Hi All, I'm getting ready to load up some .45ACP and have a question. I inherited a bunch of nickel cases in excellent shape. Are there any pros/cons reloading brass versus nickel??
Thanks,
Phil
John Guedry
03-17-2013, 03:23 PM
I have found the nickel plated ones don't last as well as the brass (they seem to crack sooner).That having been said I don't have anything in .45 acp. But I have found it to be true in .38 spec. .357 mag. .40 S&W .44 mag. and maybe something else I forgot. YMMV
JohnFM
03-17-2013, 03:40 PM
I see the same thing, more cracks with plated brass.
I never keep track of cases like straight walled handgun stuff and I know a lot of the plated brass I used was pretty old and have no idea how many times I reloaded it.
Also had some peel off bits of nickle plating, but I never saw any die damage from it.
Finally accumulated enough plain brass cases that I don't even use the nickle stuff anymore.
runfiverun
03-17-2013, 03:45 PM
good thing about the plated is it goes early.
I have some that has had the plating all but worn off from reloading it so many times.
Imho the nickel plated ones are more brittle and do not expand (in german we say "lidern", sorry I don't know the english word) in the chamber as good as the pure brass.
And the plated ones get broken earlier.
I have a couple of 3-lb coffee cans full of W-W nickle .45's that have been reloaded so many times the cannelure is ironed out I have had NO trouble with nickle .45's. YMMV...
DeanWinchester
03-17-2013, 05:30 PM
All nickel go into my scrap bucket. They may or may to give trouble, but it ain't worth it to me.
williamwaco
03-21-2013, 09:29 PM
Use them!
All the above is true.
They don't last as long.
The plating is brittle.
The plating wears off after a few sizings.
So what?
They make good ammo.
They shoot to the same point of impact.
I don't even separate them.
Toss them when they split.
.
ffries61
03-22-2013, 03:22 AM
+ 1, I've got some 44 nickel that's been loaded 10x, some split after 5
Use them!
All the above is true.k
They don't last as long.
The plating is brittle.j
The plating wears off after a few sizings.
So what?
They make good ammo.
They shoot to the same point of impact.
I don't even separate them.
Toss them when they split.
.
elginrunner
03-22-2013, 03:55 AM
I can tell you this, when wet tumbling and nickle is mixed in with the brass, you will get a :groner: ..... cause your pretty brass ain't pretty no more [smilie=b:
StrawHat
03-22-2013, 12:49 PM
Any of you who don't like nickel cases, please get in touch with me. I have loaded brass and nickel cases. Both have given me excellent service. Some of each have quit early. I load them and shoot them. When they quit, I toss them.
rintinglen
03-22-2013, 01:26 PM
Use them!
All the above is true.
They don't last as long.
The plating is brittle.
The plating wears off after a few sizings.
So what?
They make good ammo.
They shoot to the same point of impact.
I don't even separate them.
Toss them when they split.
.
Excellent advice^^^
I have used nickle brass to distinguish +p from regular loads, to ID loads during development, and to make different ammo for different guns easier to distinguish. But the key point is, I HAVE used it. I see no reason not to, especially right now with component availability as it is.
robpete
03-22-2013, 02:38 PM
I'm all for the load em til they split method.
I load mostly nickel primarily because I sell brass and very few people want Nickel plated. Yes the nickel plating cracks and comes off. As soon as I see them cracking, I recycle them. The biggest concern is that they make undersized brass cases to allow space for the nickel plating. I would assume that means that the nickel plating is part of the strength of that case. I mostly see the cracking nickel plating on .40 S&W. I reload .38 special and .357 where a lot of the nickel plating has worn off. Personally, I think the nickel plated cases make a much cooler looking round !
65018
khmer6
03-22-2013, 02:53 PM
+1 nickel just looks cool when you shoot from a nickel gun and the boolit is shiny like the nickel plating too :rolleyes:
Nocturnal Stumblebutt
03-22-2013, 02:56 PM
I shoot an obscene amount of 38 spl, and from my experience, as had already been said, they crack much earlier, I rarely get a nickel case past 10 reloads, whereas my brass cases usually get 2 or 3 times that.
mold maker
03-22-2013, 03:19 PM
Use em till ya lose em.
JonB_in_Glencoe
03-22-2013, 03:27 PM
My 2¢
If I'm loading for future use...very far into the future, I prefer nickel plated cases. much less tarnish and corrosion.
I load 'em all and I shoot 'em all.
Jon
If I am buying cases it has to be brass. If I am picking them up on the range its both.
Stonecrusher
03-22-2013, 08:07 PM
For handgun I pick up and use everything, brass or nickel. If they are free, what the heck. For rifle I avoid nickel cases like the plague.
JWFilips
03-22-2013, 08:36 PM
If I get once fired Nickel cases I clean em & reload em for SD rounds & store them away. I use the brass rounds for multi firing ( practice)
Recluse
03-22-2013, 10:23 PM
If I get once fired Nickel cases I clean em & reload em for SD rounds & store them away. I use the brass rounds for multi firing ( practice)
Pretty much the same thing here.
In .38/.357 loads, I use the nickel .38 cases to make up my "powder puff" loads (2.7 gr Bullseye pushing a Lee 105SWC) that I make up for my wife and daughter. The loads are low pressure and I've yet to have a case split on me so far.
In .357, I use my nickel cases for jacketed hollow-point self-defense loads. My brass cases are for my cast boolit loads.
I don't mind nickel cases at all because I generally have a specific use for them.
:coffee:
trapper9260
03-23-2013, 09:35 AM
I use what ever i get it dose not matter what it is made of .If it is free I take it and do what others have stated on here.Use till can not be use again .
TheCelt
03-23-2013, 01:07 PM
If you keep ammo in a leather belt (cartridge loops) for more than a day they better be nickle plated, brass starts to corrode quickly in leather shell loops (at least they do with our humidity).
Cherokee
03-23-2013, 05:43 PM
"Use them!
All the above is true.
They don't last as long.
The plating is brittle.
The plating wears off after a few sizings.
So what?
They make good ammo.
They shoot to the same point of impact.
I don't even separate them.
Toss them when they split."
I'm with willianwaco on that. Still using lots of old nickel 38 and 45 ACP cases.
375RUGER
03-23-2013, 07:40 PM
If I get once fired Nickel cases I clean em & reload em for SD rounds & store them away. I use the brass rounds for multi firing ( practice)
I do the same thing here. nickle= less corrosion/tarnish. Those loads will be in the gun a while and I want them to feed when I need them to feed.
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