nickle case

[jsheyn]

I see in the swap forum alot of people make statements like culled for nickle and trash. Why do people not like nickle? I have been reloading nickle cases for years with no problems...just curious as all my 357 are nickle

[w5pv]

I do not cull then either,seem to work just fine for me.

[hornady]

All opinions on Hunting, shooting and reloading forums in most cases are more opinion than accrual fact. Personally I reload and shoot both Nickel and yellow brass and have for many years. It dose seem the nickel brass is a little more brittle than the yellow. I do seem to get 3 times as many splits in nickel brass as I do the yellow.

[USAFrox]

I like and shoot/reload nickel cases. I just segregate them, so that my lots are either all brass, or all nickel.

Speaking of nickel - I'm thinking of switching from dry tumbling to wet stainless steel pin tumbling. In the wet tumbling, do the stainless steel pins end up taking off the nickel coating? Anyone know the answer to this?

[billyb]

brass that is nickel plated is acid etched to get the nickel to adhere. It makes the brass brittle. This is all according to an article that came out in one of the gun mags. a few years ago. I use the nickel myself.

[alleyoop]

I use the Nickel cases for my wax boolits that's just my safety for keeping enlarged primer pockets from being loaded with full power loads.

[Dan Cash]

I use nickel for .38-44 loads and brass for std .38 Special. Don't shoot the heavy loads as much as the standard but the nickel cases seem to last quite well.

[wcp4570]

I reload and shoot both. Like others have said I too keep brass and nickel separate. As with all brass, I use it until it cracks, then it goes into my scrap brass bucket.

wcp

[BruceB]

After almost five decades in this hobby, I can say this with absolute faith:

NICKELED CASES DON'T LAST AS LONG AS PLAIN BRASS DOES.

There's nothing wrong with loading them, but inspect rigorously for mouth cracks before starting the loading process.

For really critical applications, consider the effect of a neck cracking the next time the case is fired. Will the bullet land somewhere outside the normal group?

I still use nickel handgun cases but I refuse to allow any nickeled rifle cases anywhere near my bench.

[bangerjim]

Nickel IS perrrrrty.....but is does crack faster than standard brass. Especially loaded with silver slugs for monster hunting!

I use both and keep them separate.

bangerjim

[jsheyn]

Thanks guys, never really paid attention to the longevity of nickel plated. I usually do an inspection and if it's cracked it goes into the scrap pile.

[Zymurgy50]

I have a few 45ACP nickle cases that have been loaded and tumbled so many times that half the plating is worn off. I don't remember any of them splitting at the mouth.

[LUBEDUDE]

I used to like nickel cases.

That was until I started shooting and reloading every weekend.

[Char-Gar]

After almost five decades in this hobby, I can say this with absolute faith:

NICKELED CASES DON'T LAST AS LONG AS PLAIN BRASS DOES.

There's nothing wrong with loading them, but inspect rigorously for mouth cracks before starting the loading process.

For really critical applications, consider the effect of a neck cracking the next time the case is fired. Will the bullet land somewhere outside the normal group?

I still use nickel handgun cases but I refuse to allow any nickeled rifle cases anywhere near my bench.

Yep, that is my take on it as well..

[Airman Basic]

Speaking of nickel - I'm thinking of switching from dry tumbling to wet stainless steel pin tumbling. In the wet tumbling, do the stainless steel pins end up taking off the nickel coating? Anyone know the answer to this?
Just tumble them without the pins if you want to keep the nickel.

[chsparkman]

Speaking of nickel - I'm thinking of switching from dry tumbling to wet stainless steel pin tumbling. In the wet tumbling, do the stainless steel pins end up taking off the nickel coating? Anyone know the answer to this?

I've tumbled lots of nickel plated brass with ss pins, and I've never noticed the plating coming off as a result. I load nickel plated brass, but I agree with the rest of the posters on this thread...they don't last as long.

[USAFrox]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[jcwit]

In my experience nickel tends to gall to the inside of the sizing die thereby causing scratches to other brass/nickle cases till polished out.

[s1120]

Most of my cases are nickel. I got them all from my Dad and they are mostly older then me, and have been loaded countless times. Granted these are light BE target loads... but still. Maybe they cant be reloaded as much as brass, but at this rate that will be for my own kids to find out. Every once in a wile I find a small slit in a case mouth... and it sees the scrap bin, but realy not that often. Till they are all gone they will keep holding all my mild BE loads.

[Bayou52]

In the wet tumbling, do the stainless steel pins end up taking off the nickel coating? Anyone know the answer to this?

Usafrox-

I wet tumble casings using SS pins. I've wet tumbled both brass and nickel plated casings.

To answer your question, in my experience, I have noticed the nickel plating wearing off on a minor few casings after several tumbling sessions. The underlying brass gradually shows through the worn off nickel plating usually in the area of the case head. Doesn't matter to me - what was nickel now becomes brass!

Bayou52

[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.

:coffee:

[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?