[geo57]

An aquaintance recently gave me a quantity of what he assured me was once fired from factory loadings, never reloaded, .357 cases, both brass & nickle . From the looks of them, I do think they are once fired ( even have the red sealant around primers ). The Rem. brass looked great overall, & no noticeable bulges ahead of the web . Both the Federal nickle & Rem. nickle cases all had small, but noticeable bulges just forward of the case web / head , the Federals being slightly more noticeable. Using the bent paper clip method inside several of these feeling for any indent, start of a crack, etc, there was none on any. All smooth inside . Though I have reloaded for the .357 for 35 years, I have almost no experience with nickle cases . I do not know what these were fired from. Is this something that is common with factory loaded & fired nickle cases in .357 ? Would you consider them weaker/ more likely to have a head seperation down the road vs. a brass case ? I load two differnt levels ( 6.7 grs. of Unique under 158 gr JHP's, in mag cases, mild load, feels like a .38 +P , for my wife in her Security Six ) . I also load 7.5 grs. of Unique with the same 158 gr. JHP in my GP100 . Standard primers. My load is not a max. load, nor a heavy kicker, but it let's you know you aren't shooting a .38. Never an over pressure sign, easy extract., etc. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll use these nickle cases or scrap them. I tried to take a pic, but to get close enough to show, they get fuzzy. Your experienced thoughts on how I describe these nickle cases here are welcome & appreciated.

[Walkalong]

Sounds normal. I have some that do the same thing while others don't with the same load. A pic would be great of course. :)

They are not going to last as long as brass that is not worked as much.

[FredT]

How do you reload .357 Mag for 35 years and not encounter nickel cases? Every thing you described is normal. Your resizing die will iron every thing out. Go ahead and reload them.

[jcwit]

I had a problem with the nickle galling on the inside of the sizing die one time, so never used nickle cases again.

Not to say thats how I solve problems but there are so many brass cases available I just do not mess with the nickle.

[rcmodel]

Perfectly normal.

It matters not whether or not they are nickle cases.

It is all dependent on how high the pressure was, and how loose the chambers were in the gun they were fired in.

BTW: You are wasting your time looking for stretch rings with a paper-clip on straight wall revolver cases.

They don't stretch like a bottle-neck rifle case because they are free to slip back in the chambers tightly against the recoil shield before they can get a grip on the chambers enough to stretch.

rc

[The Bushmaster]

Hey!!! I can solve your problem...Send those nickel cases to me for disposal...I won't even charge you...

Yeh...How do you load .357 magnum without encountering nickel cases?

[ReloaderFred]

Just load like any other .357 case. When you start getting splits in the case mouth, then you can recycle them. Until then, load, shoot and repeat as necessary.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[jcwit]

Shorten them down to .38 spec. lol

[wyocarp]

I might not worry about the slight buldge. I would worry if they looked like the following which are once fired 45-70 govt Hornady brass.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn286/wyocarp/HPIM0331.jpg

[geo57]

Thanks, all. I didn't say I"ve never encountered any nickel cases. I said I had very little experience with them. From the get go, I always bought new, brass cases. The very few nickel cases that ever got in with my stash, were from a few factory rounds I shot over the years . I didn't remember seeing any bulges on those, but again, there's been very few of them .

[geo57]

wyocarp, I , too, load for 45-70 . 32.0 grs. of IMR 4198 under a Rem. 405 gr. JSP . Does about 1350 FPS from my 22" Handi rifle . It's a mid-upper trapdoor level load. ( Sure stops whitetails quickly though ).

Were those factory loaded rounds ? If not, what were they loaded with ? From what weapon were they shot from ? Any damage ? Had to either be faulty brass , or a MUCH over pressure load to split once fired cases like that.

[ReloaderFred]

I've had .45-70 cases split just like that, but they were surplus pull down cases I bought from Widener's a few years ago. They were evidently loaded with black powder prior to being pulled down and had absorbed moisture, as over 70% of them split the first time they were loaded. All mine were WCC cases, probably made for line throwing guns.

The brass on .45-70 cases is thin anyway, so they do split on occasion.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[ranger335v]

Nickle has nothing to do with it. Any case fired in a sloppy, oversized chamber of any kind will bulge. If the brass is brittle or excessively thin, it will split.

[GP100man]

i have`nt run any nickel thru my dies in 10 yr or better , i trade my with my buddy 2 nickel for 1 brass WW case. that is when i run across em.


GP100man

[The Bushmaster]

One could only wonder why you would trade off perfectly good nickel cases.

[.38 Special]

It seems impossible to completely put away the rumor of nickel cases scratching dies. Somebody scratches a die with a brass case and they say "Darn. Must have been a piece of grit". Same thing happens with nickel and they say "Those @#$! nickel cases!!!"

Humans...

[The Bushmaster]

My sentiments exactly, .38 Special...

[Walkalong]

I am getting ready to load some nickle plated .357 range brass any day now.

[The Bushmaster]

Man...You better not...They will ruin your dies and the bore of your revolver. Not to mention the nickel slivers you might get in your fingers just handling them...As I said before. Send them to me and I'll dispose of them in a safe manor...:D

[Walkalong]

I sure appreciate the offer, but I think I'll just risk it all and go for it. :D

[ReloaderFred]

You mean I was risking life, limb and firearms shooting 100 nickel brass rounds at the match today?? My wife shot another 100, so I guess we're doomed........

Thanks for the warning, Bushmaster.........

Fred

[Walkalong]

Well Fred. I loaded the nickle brass this afternoon without issue. Hopefully they will shoot without issue as well. I'm glad your OK. :D

[.38 Special]

Not to mention the nickel slivers you might get in your fingers just handling them.

Those eventually work their way into your heart, don't they?

[Walkalong]

Whoops

[jcwit]

Well maybe it wasn't the nickle cases. But I've got so many thousands of 357 cases in brass it was just easier to retire the nickle and not worry about it.

I've been collecting brass for 50+ years so don't worry about what to use.

LOL If I was really worried I see if I could do a reverse plating to take the Nickle off. This is starting to sound like work.

Whatever the 45 ACP is working with NO HICUPS. Thanks again for the help.

[ReloaderFred]

If you leave the nickle cases in the tumbler too long, they come out brass. Don't ask me how I know..........

Fred