Nickle cases

[abunaitoo]

Is there a reason people don't like nickle cases??????
I've reloaded a few and never had any problems.

[fc60]

Greetings,

I load nickel cases.

Shoot them until they crack/fail.

Cheers,

Dave

[Winger Ed.]

It might be my imagination, but I think they crack sooner the common brass colored ones.

[Kraschenbirn]

Okay for handgun calibers but don't care for 'em for bottleneck (rifle) rounds...difficult to judge temp when annealing and nickel plating doesn't hold up well to application of a propane torch. Just my experience.

Bill

[Budzilla 19]

I load pistol and rifle nickel plated rounds! In rifle, I use them if the rounds will be subjected to a chance of extreme weather. 308 Match ammo I will load them because they were Federal Gold Medal Match cases to begin with. Really consistent as far as weight goes also. Other than that, I guess they aren’t any different than regular unplayed brass! Guided hunts? I’ll use them every time no matter the weather !! Slick, and they look great also !

[memtb]

I load pistol and rifle nickel plated rounds! In rifle, I use them if the rounds will be subjected to a chance of extreme weather. 308 Match ammo I will load them because they were Federal Gold Medal Match cases to begin with. Really consistent as far as weight goes also. Other than that, I guess they aren’t any different than regular unplayed brass! Guided hunts? I’ll use them every time no matter the weather !! Slick, and they look great also !

And.....easier to find once ejected! My wife thinks the blue tipped Barnes’ in her nickel plated .338 WM cases look sexy! ;) memtb

[metricmonkeywrench]

Some believe the nickel coating can chip and flake and scratch sizing dies, others think the plating process makes the brass more brittle.

I’m of the load to failure camp for pistol brass nickel or yellow (I keep 50 rd boxes grouped) once the enough fail I toss the lot. I don’t have any nickel rifle brass experiences to offer an opinion.

I like the look of a nice .38 round nose in a nickel case….

[DeanoBeanCounter]

I've never had one chip. But I do have some that the nickle is almost worn off. I keep nickle plated ones aside for special loads like +P for my 38 and kids rounds for my 300 Win Mag. Other than that I use until failure.

[Texas by God]

I never have had problems with them in handgun cartridges. I have used them in rifle cartridges for hunting ammo like above to make pretty, non tarnishing ammo. As they fail from split necks, I don't replace them.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[FLINTNFIRE]

I have seen nickle plated flake , it does seem to chip and flake off over repeated loadings , I prefer brass but nickle plated in a leather shell belt will not turn green as brass will .

To each their own preference , I use it as I use all brass till it is worn out .

[bakerjw]

Nickle with silver bullets for the Nephilim...

[MUSTANG]

I have found that nickel plated rifle brass fails after 3 to 5 loads - mouth splits. For pistol (38/357/9mm/40S&W/45acp/45colt); I think they hold up much better. Possibly neck split earlier than standard brass, but much longer life than in rifle calibers.

Hate having to sort out nickel plated 22LR from brass 22LR before swaging into .223 bullets. Not going to run a nickel plated 22LR case through expensive .223 bullet swage dies.

[Murphy]

The only nickel cases I have are 38/357's. In my early days of reloading a case was a case. I didn't sort by head stamp. I'd load up several 100 rounds of blasting ammo and it all worked for my intended purposes. I separate the nickel from the brass now. As for the nickel flaking and sticking to regular steel dies, I can't say with 100% certainty that is true. I have some nickel case 38's that most of the nickel is mostly worn off now. They do seem to split sooner than others in my opinion.

The biggest plus I found for my needs using nickel brass, was when I served as a police officer for a year back in 1984-1985. Back in those days, revolvers were the standard carry gun. One thing new officers discovered quickly from the older guys, was to carry nickel plated rounds in your slide loop. I have no idea what the cause is, but try putting some standard non plated brass rounds in one and leave it a lengthy amount of time. Verdigris will form and the brass and leather become almost as one. I've seen some examples one would have taken the bullets weren't meant to be removed. For some reason, nickel and leather do not form that same bond. I mostly keep the nickel around if I may go do some shooting and a high brass loss rate can be assured.


Murphy

[too many things]

they work well for straight wall not for bottle neck

[tankgunner59]

I have no problem with nickel plated cases, I have loaded and fired many pistol cases. I have some nickel bottleneck but haven't loaded them. I wouldn't have any problem loading and shooting them. I don't have any Templaq now but if I decided to use nickel bottlenecks I get some and use it.

[Walks]

I've loaded them for years. Never had a problem. As others have said they are far better for use in a leather cartridge use.
I do like them for Black Powder loads.

[rbuck351]

I use them without issue for handgun but don't have enough nickle rifle cases to mess with.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have some .38 spl. I have been reloading since 1974 & 75. Some have almost NO plating left. I have seen the plating flake of and I do have a steel die that has been scratch. I never even considered that it could have been from the nickel plating. Something to think about. That being said, I will continue to load them till they split.

[bedbugbilly]

I have no problems in reloading and using nickel - most that I have are in 38 spl and 357 - but my experience has been that they don't last for as many reloading as brass. Still, they work just fine and when the split I just toss 'em. And yet, you have posts likeSasquatch who has some that have lasted for many years/reloads - so perhaps the perceived case life is more dependent on the particular batch of casings rather than whether it is plated or not?

At any rate - if I need brass - and I normally use "range brass" - i.e. at least 1 X fired and usually mixed headstamps - whether the casings are brass or nickel plated really is not a biggie for me - it's all good.

[Brassmonkey]

I think rifle cases resize with a bit more difficulty, reload till they fail.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Handgun calibers not much difference, my experience with nickel cases was with a 300 Win Mag. Using the same die settings and case lubricant, the force to resize nickel cases was much harder to me, all other parameters being equal, including loads fired in the cases.

[waksupi]

Any dirt on the cases will scratch your dies.

[dale2242]

When using nickel cases I ALWAYS dry tumble them first to remove any dirt and grit.

[1hole]

Nickle has a much higher friction coefficent than brass so it places more demands on the case lube - and press - than brass.

Seems thin coats of nickle plated over the brass are more likely to wear off with use but thicker coats tend to break up and flake off.

For one material to scratch another it has to be harder than the other. Sizer dies are case hardened very hard, file hard, so sizers aren't as easily scratched as is often presumed. Insufficent case lube will allow dry brass to be forced under high pressure to rub over the steel and galling will occur. Galling means bits of the softer metal (the brass case) will stick to the harder (the steel die) as if it were welded. The galled brass - not the die - will then scratch cases and it grows worse as the die continues to be used. The only cure is to remove the galled brass.

[BigAlofPa.]

I load Nickle too. They are easier to find too. They crack now and then. But i also had brass crack. I reloaded the 38 special my son and i shot the other day. One case was cracked it was a brass one.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm surprised so many people have NOT had an issue with them. I've ended up with a handful of nickel cases in nearly every caliber, just from random chance of range pickups or whatever. Generally you can reload nickel plated cases 2 maybe 3 times before you get a bunch that split. The ones that don't split start to get extremely hard after that, and neck tension is very strong, which is not a good thing. They did not seem to anneal. I know for sure I've loaded them in 38 special, 357 magnum, 41 magnum, 44 magnum, 45 acp, 7mm-08, 308 win, 30-30 win.

I've had better luck reloading steel cases, than I have nickel plated cases. I think they are garbage, and all I find go right into the trash. Not worth the headache. That's only my opinion.

[bangerjim]

Greetings,

I load nickel cases.

Shoot them until they crack/fail.

Cheers,

Dave

"CRACK/FAIL" is the key phrase here! Most of the Ni rounds I have reloaded failed after only a very few cycles, where brass ones will go for many many more!. Ni is great if you are storing your rounds in leather strap holders like police do. They do not corrode like brass does. But the cops do not reload!!!!! And don't care about cycle cracking like we do.

I have many hundreds of them (straight and bottleneck) , with sources for as many as I care pick up. I use them and then scrap them after 2-3 reload cycles.

The 30-06 ones do look cooooool!

[megasupermagnum]

Leather strap holders? You mean like a TV western cowboy belt? Do people really use those? I've never seen a police officer with one.

[Sasquatch-1]

I'm surprised so many people have NOT had an issue with them. I've ended up with a handful of nickel cases in nearly every caliber, just from random chance of range pickups or whatever. Generally you can reload nickel plated cases 2 maybe 3 times before you get a bunch that split. The ones that don't split start to get extremely hard after that, and neck tension is very strong, which is not a good thing. They did not seem to anneal. I know for sure I've loaded them in 38 special, 357 magnum, 41 magnum, 44 magnum, 45 acp, 7mm-08, 308 win, 30-30 win.




As stated before...I have .38 cases I have been loading since 1974-75. They probably have between 8 to 12 reloads per case. Now granted most of my 38 loads would be considered powder puff loads, but I have no problem with bullet retention. Under the nickel is the same yellow brass case you are reloading. I know this because quite a few of the ones I reload are almost straight yellow brass now.

[JoeJames]

I try to use them for my 38 Special wad cutter loads, just to kind of seperate them.

[444ttd]

my dad has about 300 7-08 nickel cases but he doesn't shoot much anymore. the nickel does come off in flakes. i've heard that nickel cases are hard to reload for. my biggest deal is the cracking of the necks. i've had 9 or 10 of them that have cracked, but i've put in garbage.

[bangerjim]

Leather strap holders? You mean like a TV western cowboy belt? Do people really use those? I've never seen a police officer with one.

I have 3 old west styles and 2 police styles of the belt cartridge holders.

[BigAlofPa.]

I found a nickel 357 casing today. The mouth looked like some one took a bite out of it. Never saw a failed casing like that before.

[megasupermagnum]

I have 3 old west styles and 2 police styles of the belt cartridge holders.

Do you leave cartridges in them? Are they practical beyond SASS or other for-fun shooting?

[kevin c]

I reload mainly 9x19 and 40 S&W, and have noticed a slightly higher rate of case splitting with nickel plated cases. I reload them anyway, as I tend to lose the brass after a couple reloadings, and in my application I haven't appreciated malfunctions or accuracy loss that I can pin on the rounds where the case splits.

On another site I read that the cause of splitting is a process called hydrogen embrittlement, but I'm no materials engineer, so can't say I know for a fact. On the same site there was a link to a YouTube video by some tacticool combat "expert" who said he always put a nickel plated round as the last in a magazine, so he could tell he was empty when that case was ejected. When I stopped laughing , I thought about it, and now I put a nickel plated round in every action pistol competition mag, but as the top, not bottom round. All other rounds are brass cased. Now I can tell at a glance when a magazine is not full.

And my impression in loading and handling nickel cases is that they feel slicker than yellow brass.

[John Guedry]

I have some with the nickel wearing thin and yes I find they split much sooner than the brass.