Nickel brass case

It can be resized and it is not hard on dies. It tends to be a little more brittle than brass and seems to crack a little sooner than regular brass. I don't turn my nose at it at the range. I'll pick it up and reload it without a second thought.

Size as normal watch for flaking. If you see flaking clean your die often.

If given a choice , I'd pick regular brass. I use nickel brass for cartridges that may be exposed to elements . that way it's not loaded a million times and I can identify it as something I intended for camping / hiking ect.
It's fine to reload . if it's flakey, toss the case.

Can they be cleaned with citric acid and soap like brass?

Hockey7711 said:

Can they be cleaned with citric acid and soap like brass?

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Treat exactly the same... I throw mine right in the wet tumbler with everything else

Hockey7711 said:

Can they be cleaned with citric acid and soap like brass?

Click to expand...

I use a wet bath to clean brass, but I only use dish detergent and HOT water. Nickel plate cleans up nicely, but I prefer brass...

I inherited a ton of nickel 357 mag brass. Some of it has so many miles on it that most of the nickel has worn away from sizing.

For whatever reason, I do see a lot of splits in nickel auto loader cartridges (primarily 9x19) sooner than plain brass

The nickle plated is good brass. I have never had any flake but as Ironicalntit says I have had the nickle worn away. I wouldn't buy nickle plated over brass but it's worth taking home and reloading. The difference between nickle plated and brass is very small.

I thought it would give my rifle brass more corrosion resistance in "tropical" climates.

But I found that was very brittle and was getting split necks after 2 or less reloading, and I hunt in desert and alpine environments most of the time.

I keep some in heavy safari calibers " just in case".

Nickel plated cases can be harder on steel sizing dies. Just make sure the dies are kept clean and the cases are cleaned and lubricated.

Of course, most straight wall case dies are carbide and nickel plated cases do not affect carbide sizing dies.

Nickel plated cases were first developed to reduce corrosion on the case from the tanning chemicals used to make leather ammunition belts.

I find hand gun nickel plated cases have a slightly shorter case life than brass cases. No scientific test, it just seems they have more failures than the brass cases.

The nickel plating does wear away over many shooting and reloading cycles and sometimes it flakes off. I don’t worry about the flaking and continue using the cases.

I tend to not buy nickel plated cases but if I buy a box of factory ammunition and the cases are plated, I just add them to my inventory.

I use nickel plated revolver-caliber cases to differentiate between loads, other than that they load and shoot the same as brass.

I’ll also add that I’ve also had more nickel cases split at the mouth than brass cases have over the years, but they’re still good for many trips through the dies.

Stay safe.

I haven't loaded any nickel pistol cases yet, but on the rifle cases I've loaded I noticed that the bullet seat will be different. If you start with brass, you'll have to run the seat down a bit more for the nickel to keep the same Col. If you start with nickel, you better back out the seat and start over when you switch to brass.

My guess is the nickel will flake off some and the brass that's left may be thin, but someone here probably knows for sure.

Unless the brass is annealed prior to plating, I can’t recall ever seeing a nickel case annealed. I bet it’ll turn interesting colors and probably shed some nickel where the heat was highest when run through the dies .

Stay safe.

A buddy uses nickle plated and standard brass to differentiate between his 44 mag and 44 spl brass. I really should do the same for 327 and 32 long. He treats them the same and hasn't had any issues yet.

I separate my 357 (nickel) and 38 spc (brass) that way. I’ve never had any issue with nickel brass over the last 40+ years.

I'm kinda doing similar with rifle loads to keep powders identified in case the rds fall out of package. 22-250 loads with CFE223 got Win brass, Pro Varmint went in Win Nickel cases, 4064 went in R-P brass cases.

The posters above pretty much covered it. The nickel plated brass should not hurt your dies but if a piece of nickel flakes off and sticks in a die it will scratch the following cases. I'm another that feels like nickel cases fail sooner than non plated cases.

I'll load nickel brass but prefer non plated brass and I won't buy nickel brass if given a choice.

I have been reloading hand gun cases that are nickel plated since 1969. Started with 38 Special/357 Magnum police range pickups and added a few calibers. I now have some 9mm and 45 ACP which are much easier to find on the ground in the dirt, rocks and stuff at the "range" where I shoot. I have some 44 Magnum nickel plated cases I have reserved for some extra heavy loads to keep them separate from my "normal" loads. I have a few 223 and 30-06 but I rarely reload them, no reason just don't. I treat all cases the same except I don't tumble the nickel cases more than just a few minutes. I have reloaded some 38/357 cases so many time the nickel has worn enough for the brass to show through. I have had no noticeable flaking (my first step in reloading is inspection. I inspect every case I reload), no extra short case life and no scratched, galled dies. I've heard of problems but my experience, loading nickel many times, mild to wild loads using Lee and RCBS dies I've not experienced any...

i like to use them to designate a loading. i have never noted any difficulties.

I have a batch 500 38Special loaded over the past 40 years so many times I’ve lost count. Loaded in batches of 500 with wad cutters and shot in a S&W 52 may account for their longevity. Their numbers are replenished from back up stock after every outing. Never saw any flaking it’s always split mouths. Some are more brass looking than nickel.

A shooting buddy claims nickel cases scratched his sizing die and stopped using them. Others in past forums here have stated that also. I use carbide so have my doubts if they can be scratched.

I use the nickel cases to easily differentiate between regular and +P loadings. Nickel for +P because I don't have as many of the cases and I don't care that much for +P loading!