[countertop]

Bought two boxes of ammo the other day. Both were magtech. One was .38 Special in brass cases and the other was .357 magnum in steel cartridges.

I had hoped to save the cases (especially the .357 mag cases) so that I could reload them, but was surprised to see it was actually steel and not brass.

Can I reload steel cases? Anything to worry about with them?

[rich636]

Well supposing they're boxer primed it may be possible but it wouldn't be a good idea. It will be very hard on your dies if you can even push them into the resizing die. Brass is cheap enough that it's not worth messing with the steel cases in my opinion.

[burrhead]

No offense but I gotta ask; are these nickle plated or really steel cases. If steel, don't reload them. You'll only tear up your sizing die and maybe have problems with set back due to the cases not expanding properly. If they're nickeled load 'em.

[Third_Rail]

I doubt they're steel. If they're silvery metal, they're nickel plated brass and OK to load.

[countertop]

Thanks! They are silvery looking

Why would they plate the brass?

[pcf]

There are several good reasons to nickle plate brass:

1. run a dirty nickle plated case through a die it'll deposit the a piece of grit in the die and gouge every case that you resize until you clean the die.
2. refer to number one but this time it happens in your chamber.
3. nickle plated cases split faster than regular brass cases.
4. people know you mean business when they see your nickle plated cases
5. they cost more
6. when a woman sees your nickle plated cases she thinks "Gee this boy got some style"
7. if you ride a horse, live out saddle bags, and carry your spare ammo on a leather belt, nickle plating keeps the cartridges from corroding and turning green.
8. pretty I wanna pet da' the shiny........

[cracked butt]

Why would they plate the brass?

Corrosion resistance.

[JA]

Back in the day when all police carried revolvers extra ammo was carried in leather loops or in a leather pouch on their gun belt. The combonation of sweat,humidity,and residue in the leather from the chemicals used to tan the leather resulted in corrosion on the brass cases. This green furry corrosion could result in chambering/exstraction problems and just plain looked bad. So ammo companies started to nickel plate brass cases to keep them from corroding.

[Archie]

Typically indicate +p pressure loadings. Also, the nickle plated cases are believed by many to extract easier from a chamber, either autopistol or revolver.

From my experience, nickle plated cases don't pick up any more grit than brass cases. I tumble all my brass prior to loading to get rid of all the gunk that builds up on them and load away.

Nickle plated cases look neater in a single action belt rig if one is shooting Cowboy matches. They don't shoot any better and they don't show up any better in the grass, dangit!

[BigSlick]

The Magtech .357's are definitely nickel plated and reload very well.

I shot some this afternoon ;) A buddy of mine shoots a Python and reloads for it. He loves the CBC brass.

I have loaded it in 45 ACP (brass, but not nickel) and the CBC seems to be some of the more quality brass found at my local range.

Since you bought and fired the ammo from factory, you should have a fine handful to reload with.

BigSlick