Nickel or Yellow brass

A "lot" less?

No I don't think so.

I have old .38 Spl & .357 Mag brass I have reloaded so many times the nickel is worn almost off.

rc

I guess I have reloaders bad luck. I bought a bunch of once fired nickel 38spl brass and had some cases split with a mild load. The few nickel 45acp's have been ok. I loaded some new nickel 308Win and they shaved the bullets during seating.I'm sticking with yellow brass only.YMMV

All mine are 40+ years old.

Maybe they did it better back then too??

rc

If it wasn't for bad luck, Rikman wouldn't have any luck lol ;-)

I bought 1,000 pieces of once fired nickel .40 S&W a while back, because it was cheaper than yellow brass. I loaded them light and about 60% cracked on the first firing. At first I thought it was due to my G35's over sized chamber, but they did the same out of a Ruger SR-40, S&W 4006, and Para 16/40 limited. I switched back to yellow brass and have had no trouble with the same load.

biogenic said:

Is it true that Nickel brass life expectancy is a lot less than yellow brass ?
I see the nickel brass runs more $$ than regular.

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My experience is nickel plated cases last a little bit less than un-plated, but not enough to worry about. But, I also have some 38 Special and 357 Magnum nickel plated cases that have been resized so much the nickel has worn off.

Nickel plating is harder on steel resizing dies without proper lubrication.
than un-plated cases.

The extra step required for the plating makes them more expensive or that is what the manufacturers want you to believe.

It does seem like most of the split case necks I find are with nickel.

The nickle plated cases took more effort to resize than the plain brass. I could hear the die groaning when it hit a plated one. It was a solution to the corrosion problem when you kept the same magazine or cylinder in the gun while you CCW. Your BO and other noxious vapors aren't good for ammo....

I was wondering about this. Me personally, I just don't like the look of nickel plated ammo.

My 38 SPL and 357 plated brass do not last quite as long as yellow brass but not so much that I would not buy them to reload. My 300 WSM on the other hand will last 3 firings with nickle plated before the necks split while some of the brass casings are on their seventh reload without problems yet. YMMV

No, not a lot less. I laod with quite a bit of nickel and can't honestly say I can see a difference in life span and most of my loads are pretty much full tilt. Some say necks split quicker, I don't have that issue though. The only thing I do see happen is the nickel will begin to flake off in certain areas, but not usually until it is getting near the end of it's life span.

GS

ive had one piece of yellow brass 357 crack. i probably have 100 nickel 38 and 357 in the scrap bin...

Every piece of brass or nickel is made differently. I prefer only brass, in my reloading. Some guys swear by nickel. I dont load nickel so i dont know if it would crack or anything. I tend to keep my nickel til there is a good bit of it then trade off for brass.

I load some 9mm nickel plated range pick-ups. I have seen some more cracked case mouths with the nickel on a percentage basis. It's the only "one" I ever had crack while sizing it. I still use them if they look good.
The press "feel" shows them to be a little stiffer/harder than the same headstamp brass cases.

rcmodel said:

All mine are 40+ years old.

Maybe they did it better back then too??

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I think there's some finesse on the part of the reloader too. Ni has a much higher Young's Modulus than brass, close to that of steel. Ni has a higher coefficient of static and kinetic friction compared to brass. These properties mean that Ni is harder to work, and it work hardens at a faster rate. If you're working the case mouth a lot (increased residual stress) then you'll probably have shortened case life compared to brass.

cfullgraf said:

The extra step required for the plating makes them more expensive or that is what the manufacturers want you to believe.

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Ni plating adds a lot of cost, there's no way around it

Is it true that Nickel brass life expectancy is a lot less than yellow brass ?

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The life expectancy of the Nickel that I find is 1 day...that's how long it takes before it goes into the dumpster.

I have old .38 Spl & .357 Mag brass I have reloaded so many times the nickel is worn almost off.

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I have some .38 Special like that too. I've only had a .38 for a few months and I bought some fired brass at a local pawnshop at .06 each. Seemed like a good enough deal. Anyway, some of it was nickle with about 1/4 of the nickle worn off. It loaded and shot just fine, so I'm gonna keep on using it. I don't load em hot anyway.

I don't like nickel for reloading, but if you are shooting a semi auto outdoors I find the nickel is easier to see on the ground. I agree it has a slightly shorter life. however its almost always sold out when I look on midway so someone likes it.

Makes no difference to me, I just load them all till they crack

It depends. I have some Speer .44Mag cases that have been reloaded so many times the plating is almost completely worn off. I think I may have had one crack. I've also had nickel Remington .38 cases that split on the first reload.

Nickel cases do tend to be tougher to resize and if the plating ever starts to flake, it can get embedded in your sizing die. IMHO, use them only if you need them.

I have Nickel Plated .38 Special brass that is ancient and has been reloaded inumerable times,
I don't think that it makes a difference.

I am still reloading some old nickle plated MPD (Memphis Police Dept.) headstamp 38 special brass. I do get an occasional split case, but I also do with regular brass cases.