Nickel brass -VS- Yellow brass?

[Wildbillz]

Hi All
From reading some post it seems that most prefer yellow brass over the nickel plated. Is there any sound reason or is it just preference?

Thanks
WB

 

[Sam1911]

Just preference. The nickle cases seem to crack at the case mouths a liiiiiitle bit sooner than the bare brass ones.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The plating process for adding nickel to brass makes the brass more brittle, so it splits sooner. We go through about 8,000 to 10,000 .38 special rounds per year, so I'm loading a lot of it. All the nickel brass splits way before the yellow brass. That's not to say the brass isn't any good. It's just that it doesn't last as long.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[cfullgraf]

That is my experience as well. Nickel plated cases shoot just as well as unplated but their life is a little less.

When I buy new cases, I get unplated but if I buy once fired or get some at the range I accept both without concern.

 

[pretzelxx]

If you can get it free, by all means load it up. If your buy bulk range brass you'll have a few in every batch I'm sure

 

[Potatohead]

I like the nickel. For some reason all the ones Ive encountered have had nice tight primer pockets and good neck tension. YMMV of course.

 

[sexybeast]

I like the feel and "slickness" of nickel plated. 40 is the only caliber I have where the ratio is somewhat even, 3 of every 10 I would say. Failure of the case, cracking, splitting at the mouth, etc seems to be just about the same. I think this is blown out of proportion and the manufacturer seems to be just as important as the color. Some brass is just better than others.
Don't let the color stop you from loading either.

 

[Stormin.40]

I like to use both, I have more bare brass.

I am a little OCD when it comes to reloading and like to load Lead with Brass and Jacketed/Plated with Nickle. I just like the looks not other reason. Lucky for me I mainly shoot lead and have a lot more bare bare brass to go with it.

I don't shoot a lot of full power loads so both brass and Nicole seem to last a long time for me. I tend to loss them before I wear them out. Now that I am shooting revolvers more hat may change and I could start seeing the difference.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Nickel from my pov(rifle) is thicker, harder on trimmers, and will bugger up an outside neck turner.

 

[RDA 226sig]

The plated brass definitely tends to be more brittle which results in a shorter lifespan but I have a soft spot for shiny things. GIVE ME CHROME!!!!

 

[Potatohead]

I like the shine too, I meant to mention.

 

[Blue68f100]

Nickle is preferred if you carry the ammo in a Leather belt, corrosion resistant. Now I have some Ni 357mag brass that is close to 40 yrs old. The plating is wearing through but not flaking like the newer brass. None have split, lost count of how may times they have been reloaded.

if you don't want to run the brass though a tumbler Ni wins. Just wipe clean and go.

 

[Mad Chemist]

I like using Ni for test loads at the indoor range. It's a lot easier to ID, recover and inspect the casings when I use nickel for the tests. Otherwise I just load and shoot it.

 

[gamestalker]

I actually like nickel brass. It seems to last just as long as yellow, and it resists tarnish and corrosion. But eventually it will start to flake around the mouth, which doesn't matter as long as the case has still retained it's integrity in other aspects.

GS

 

[leefan]

Only issue I have with nickel is that it tarnishes when sonic washed using a cleaner. So I just tumble it and live with dirty insides.

 

[627PCFan]

Ive steered away from hardcast lead in rando-nickel cases. Between OAL and neck tension/roll crimp pressure, Ive found that it get larger groups than similar testing with just plain mixed brass. I have not had the same issues with mixed nickel and brass jacketed ammo to that degree.

 

[rbernie]

if you don't want to run the brass though a tumbler Ni wins. Just wipe clean and go.

This. I have found that I can wash/dry and reload my nickel 38 Special cases without needing for them to ever hit the tumbler. I like that.

I also use it to separate loads, e.g. light practice loads get yella brass while more, um, task specific loads get the nickel brass.

 

[ch84]

Been saving it for my .357 mag carbine loads

 

[WestKentucky]

I prefer nickel. As others have said it is about 1 or 2 shots earlier to fail than yellow brass but it runs through my full length sizer more smoothly than yellow brass. It's almost like it's naturally slicker. Cleans easily too. Yellow brass seems to be a better fit in rifles but probably because nickel rifle brass is more rare than yellow.

 

[ZBill]

I prefer the nickle but it is much harder to find the empties at the range as they seem to pick up/reflect the surrounding grass and dirt and become invisible to my eyes. Bill

 

[aka108]

I never give it any thought. I pick up range brass, tumble it, size it, load it and shoot it. In my Garand clips I will have a heinz 57 variety of cases all mixed in together. At one time I'd separate cases by headstamp and yellow brass and nickel. Found out that in a service rifle it made only a small almost unnoticeable difference for the work involved.

 

[CZ9shooter]

I like to use them to help distinguish my pistol loads. All my range plinker stuff gets loaded in plain brass. On the occasions that I brew up some hotter stuff, often with a premium bullet, like to use nickel. Not a substitute for clearly labeling boxes of reloads, just an additional heads-up when the time comes to end them down range.

 

[witchhunter]

I use nickel for .357 and brass for 38 Special. Easy to tell them apart that way. I too think that the nickel necks split sooner, maybe in my case it's because I load a handful of 296 in em compared to 3 grains of BE!

 

[Swampman]

In .44 Magnum and Special I prefer yellow brass by a small amount since it seems less prone to splits.

In .45 ACP I've found that it doesn't matter as much.
In fact, if you don't like nickel .45 cases, just keep reloading them long enough and they'll magically turn into yellow brass after enough cycles...

 

[plmitch]

I have seen no difference in performance.