357 nickel cases

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hunterwinco

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I've got a dumb question for you folks. I had one of my friends at the range hand me a quart baggie full of brass and nickel .357 cases today. They appear to be all once fires and/or really great shape. My questions is regarding the nickel. I have never used them before. Are there any drawbacks? Are they tougher on my carbide dies? Do most of you mix headstamps on your pistol cases? I ask these questions because I basically always use one headstamp for each caliber. --thanks
 
Nickel cases are only plated nickel. They're made out of brass just like the other cases and should reload without unusual hang ups.


-T.
 
I was wondering that...thanks for saving me from cutting one open:rolleyes:
Is there something that I can soak these cases in before I put them in my tumbler....just a little "pre-cleaning"? They are basically good and shiny, but have some small areas of surface corrosion...at least on the brass.
 
You do not have to pre-clean the brass unless they muddy. Sometimes, I have bought brass that has been lubed by the seller and they will not polish unless I wash them in a degreaser.
 
Nickel Plated cases

the nickle plating makes for a much harder exterior which may damage your carbide ring if they are not free of abrasives ie; make sure they are clean. Nickle also has a tendancy to split around the case mouth ,although it's a slow gradual process that takes place over time and only on certain cases in your lot the plating will sometimes chip off near the case mouth too. You don't want a sliver of nickel to get inbetween the bullet and the interior of your bore as this can scratch the softer barrel material. Use visual awarness i
n your reloading procedure and you'll be fine with nickel casings

may I stand to be corrected maybe that was "Chrome" plating that chipped off of my M700 mag. follower and got in my match barrel, since then I avoid plateing around any of my firearms.
 
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the nickel plating makes for a much harder exterior which may damage your carbide ring if they are not free of abrasives ie; make sure they are clean. Nickel also has a tenancy to split around the case mouth although it's a slow gradual process that takes place over time and only on certain cases in your lot the plating will sometimes chip off near the case mouth too. You don't want a sliver of nickel to get in between the bullet and the interior of your bore as this can scratch the softer barrel material.
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UNTRUE! While nickel is slightly harder than plain brass, it is NOT nearly hard enough to scratch a barrel, let alone a carbide sizer ring. Internet loading/shooting MYTH!

Load those nickel cases just like any other brass case. They'll stay shiny even if gotten wet or stored in leather belt loops.
 
Nickle is softer than hardened steel barrels.

The only issue is that the nickle coating can be thin and if you overtumble it it will wear away.
Otherwise, load em and shoot em.

I don't even bother sorting headstamps on range ammo. I don't load near the limits and the minuscule difference won't matter.
 
You will find that they will split and crack at the mouth a lot sooner. They are mainly for corrosion resistance. Other than that,load em up.
 
Not necessarily. I have had some lots of nickel that did exactly that, and other lots that went forever. Manufacturer often didn't matter; some lots from a manufacturer would fail prematurely and others from the same manufacturer would go a couple of dozen loadings.

I have found that Starline is the exception. Their nickel brass seems to last about as long as anything, nickel or not.

As for the rest, I agree with those who say that nickel cases are no more likely to cause damage to dies than any others. And I generally avoid mixing headstamps. I have chrono'd mixed brass loads with 20% velocity spread. This may or may not show up on target, depending upon gun, distance, and the nut behind the butt, but I don't see any reason to add that kind of potential trouble into the mix.
 
hunterwinco- I personally have a bit of a bias against nickel plated cases for reloading, though they are great for keeping rounds shiny over the years, they can be a bit of a pain to reload. the extra effort needed to size them isn't really noticed per case, but when your doing a couple a hundred at a time, it makes a big difference. Especially in rounds like 357mag. But since i have them given to me, i thought i'd make use of them anyhow, and found that lower pressure loadings such as target loads, didn't require too much sizing, so therefore i find them ok for that use. Remember to use a carbide die for sizing and maybe some spayon lubrication would help too. Never knock back an offer for free cases, as you might be able to find a use for them, as did I.
 
Actually, though i like yellow brass cases for the .38 Special I prefer the Nickel cases in .357 Magnum because they clean up much faster and better in the tumbler.
 
Hunterwinco...Load those nickel plated brass cases as you would any other case. THEY WILL NOT HARM YOUR DIES OR YOUR FIREARM IN ANY WAY!!! Otherwise...Send them to me. I love them. Especially when I go hunting in foul weather or carry them in leather belt loops.
 
I HAVE SOME
nickle 50ae with 5 reloads on them and so far i have not had to trash any of them.
DESERT EAGLE LIKES EM HOT TOO.
 
The only problems I had with nickel brass is the cracking and that Remington and Peters nickel brass that I have seems to have thin walls and the bullets don't seat very well.

Neither is a big deal with target loads in .38 special. I shoot them til they crack and toss them out.

-J.
 
My experence with the things show that most crack at the neck sooner than standard brass and they tend to get grit imbeded in them so extra cleaning is a idea. Plus after about 3 loadings they are ulgy as sin. I have had to polish out steel dies after running nickel cases tru the things before. Probalby from not taking extra care getting them clean.
 
Just make sure they are clean before you run them into your die, just like any other brass. They had a reputation for scratching dies MANY years ago using steel dies, but even then the word was that it was not the nickle scratching the die, but grit on the cases. Some brands of nickle cases do tend to split sooner than plain brass in my experience. I mix them all together in auto calibers, but in revolvers I like to segregate brass.
 
And I'm still loading some nickel brass (R-P) that I purchased in 1966 when I bought my Colt SAA .357 magnum (I have only 50 plus a few extras left)...I have no idea how many times they have been reloaded. My load records show 8 times, but I didn't start my load data book until 10 years ago...
 
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