brass versus nickel cases

[2thepoint]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Bouv]

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.

[Echo]

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]

All nickel go into my scrap bucket. They may or may to give trouble, but it ain't worth it to me.

[williamwaco]

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]

+ 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]

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]

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]

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]

I'm all for the load em til they split method.

[Bonz]

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]

+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]

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]

Use em till ya lose em.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

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

[fa38]

If I am buying cases it has to be brass. If I am picking them up on the range its both.

[Stonecrusher]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

"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]

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.