Silver brass?

Standard nickle coated. No problem

thunderbyrd said:

I deprimed about 150 rds of 38 SP this afternoon and noticed a bunch of the cases are dist,inctly silver colored, not gold. I checked them with a magnet, they aren't steel.

So, are these reloadable?

Thanks for any advice.

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Nickel plated. Makes brass more resistant to corrosion but also makes it more brittle. Give-n-take - longer life in corrosive conditions but cracks after fewer reloads. Use it until it cracks.

I have some 38spl brass in my personal brass bins that use to be nickel plated that has been reloaded so many times they are almost back to brass color now.

All of the above. I’ll add, sometimes the nickel will chip off at the the case mouth. It’s safe to go ahead and fire that one, but I discard it come next cycle.

Is nickel soft?

Always wondered how it'd figure against a steel die.

They load just fine.

I separate brass and nickel. Load the nickel for HD loads. Just to make them easily identifiable.

The Glockodile said:

Is nickel soft?

Always wondered how it'd figure against a steel die.

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Ni is pretty hard but the plating is very thin. If done right it will not flake or chip off. I've got some from the 70's where it's worn through, no flaking. Ni is also has a slicker surface than std brass. You will not have any problem with dies, since the base brass is soft.

Even with the carbide resizer dies I will spray them every once in a while before resizing. They don't really need lube in carbide dies but ido it just because I can.
I got rid of all of my regular steel pistol resized dies.

I don't seperate the nickel cases from the brass cases. They shoot the same for what we do.

I used to just toss the nickel ones back on the range, wouldn't do that now, especially .357

I have some nickel plated 357 that have been fired and loaded so many times, that the nickel is mostly worn away.

I like nickel cases sometimes. Mostly for carry. I have 25 nickel 44 special cases. So I have some for my carrier. I have 20 nickel 30-30 cases. They sure are pretty.

Wish I could find a stash of both.

They could be aluminum.

Nickel plated cases were developed back in the day to prevent corrosion on ammunition carried in leather belt loop belts. The leather would retain enough of the tanning chemicals that it would react with bare brass cases.

Over time, ammunition manufacturers would supply nickel plated cases on various different ammunition.

Nickel plated cases reload just fine. The nickel is harder than plain brass and without proper cleanining and lubication one will get scratches in the case when using steel sizing dies. Not a big issue with carbide sizing dies but still best to clean plated cases before sizing.

I find nickel plated cases reload just like un-plated cases. I feel plated cases have a bit shorter life than un-plated cases but the difference is not significant.

The most nickel plated cases I use are 38 Special. As I have said, their life is a bit shorter than un-plated. The plating sometimes flakes off during the resizing process or the plating wears off. The cases always function fine even though they look bad.

Nickel plated cases are nice for “special” ammunition to distinguish it from standard ammunition.

Finally, nickel plated cases tend to be shiny as if they were polished. Aluminum cases will have a dull finish in general.

gudaki said:

They could be aluminum.

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This is definitely an area of reloading where I lack experience. The only aluminum cases I’ve seen - other than 38mm - were all Berdan primed. Did (or does) anyone make Boxer primed aluminum cases?

GeoDudeFlorida said:

This is definitely an area of reloading where I lack experience. The only aluminum cases I’ve seen - other than 38mm - were all Berdan primed. Did (or does) anyone make Boxer primed aluminum cases?

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Speer introduced a line of ammunition under the “Blazer” moniker 30 or 40 years ago that were Berdan primed aluminum cases. They were lower price than regular brass cased ammunition and not meant to be reloaded.

There are some aluminum cased ammunition still produced these days but I have not kept up with what the market has these days. RCBS still has a “Blazer” line of ammunition and some of it is brass cased.

In my opinion, any non-brass case should be discarded. There is enough brass cases around that it is not worth fiddling with the non-brass versions for reloading.

I have lots of 38 spl that was nickel plated at one time but the plating has worn off most of the casing as well as the headstamp is no longer legible from loading too many times. Some of those cases have 50+ reloads but they are light loads of 2.7 grains of bullseye under a 148 wc. I have some nickel in 9mm with 15+ loads on it and some have the plating thinning on them. I also have some nickel 357 with over a dozen loads and only 2 cases out of 150 show any wear. I don’t load them any different than regular brass and I lube all my cases prior to loading to help my shoulders.

I have nickel plated brass in 38 Special, 357 mag., 44 Mag. 9mm and 45 ACP. I have reloaded some so many times the nickel has worn off in places so the brass shows through. I have some 44 Mag. nickel plated brass I reserve for my 44 Mag. "T-Rex Killer Loads" (256 gr LRNFP loaded with near max. loads of WC 820). In my experience, no less case life and no flaking. I reload just the same but only tumble for a very short time. I've read about some getting brittle nickel plated brass but I have not experienced that. I don't count handgun reloadings but a guess would be 15-20 for 38 Special and 10+ for m 44 T-Rex loads...

Highland Lofts said:

I have some 38spl brass in my personal brass bins that use to be nickel plated that has been reloaded so many times they are almost back to brass color now.

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I have some I left in the tumbler too long you can see the brass through the nickel.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

This is definitely an area of reloading where I lack experience. The only aluminum cases I’ve seen - other than 38mm - were all Berdan primed. Did (or does) anyone make Boxer primed aluminum cases?

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There are some aluminum boxer primed cases out there but I can't say who the makers are. Some people reload them with success but I toss them when I find them.

As others have pointed out, the silver color could be nickle plated brass, or aluminum. CCI does make an Al .38. Ni plated brass has a distinctive shine, almost a mirror finish while Al is dull. It’s also heavier with a different ring to it. I’m a fan of Ni plated. Good luck.

In my 45ACP case “library” I have seven different headstamps and a possible eighth in nickel: Barnes & Hornady both in 45 Auto +P; Federal in 45 Auto & 45 Auto +P; Speer, FC, R P; and maybe Winchester 45 Auto.

I know this has nothing to do with OP’s post but there you go anyway.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

This is definitely an area of reloading where I lack experience. The only aluminum cases I’ve seen - other than 38mm - were all Berdan primed. Did (or does) anyone make Boxer primed aluminum cases?

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Really? I saw/see them frequently in many pistol calibers.

Before I started reloading and bought my ammo at Walmart they regularly had Federal (I think) aluminum cased 9mm and 45ACP. Much cheaper than brass of course. And not berdan primed if that’s even a thing in Pistol.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

This is definitely an area of reloading where I lack experience. The only aluminum cases I’ve seen - other than 38mm - were all Berdan primed. Did (or does) anyone make Boxer primed aluminum cases?

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They're fairly common...

Blazer's probably the most common brand.

Mostly Berdan - primed, but there have been batches (.45 ACP, I think - memory's foggy, could have been Tula Steel) which were Boxer - primed.

I use them at ranges which don't accommodate steel casings, and likewise don't allow me to pick up my brass.