Nickeled .38 SPL cases

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Fu-man Shoe

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So what is "the deal" with nickel cases?

Other than being purty, do they serve a useful
function? Are they stronger? It seems like most
of the .38 SPL +P ammo is loaded into nickel
cases...Is that just so they can charge more for
fancy cases, because they are indeed all purty
lookin?

What gives?
 
Yes, besides lookin' kinda perty, if you go afield for a few days or more and you carry your cartridges, rifle or handgun, in a leather looped belt or other leather item, as I do, you will appreciate nickled cases. They won't turn slimmy and green like plain brass does. Unprotected brass reacts to the tanning chemicals in leather.

As far as reloading I haven't had any problem with them. I get about the same amount of reloadings out of them as I do plain brass. Although others seem to have splitting problems with them I don't. At least no more so then I do with plain brass.
 
I'm sure there is some marketing and/or scientific reasoning behind it. But I'd venture a guess that for 100 years people have kept a .38 around the house loaded for defense. Lots of folks carry them as their personal sidearm. But other than dedicated enthusiasts, very few rotate their ammo or even practice.

So maybe it is partly to prevent old rounds from sticking in the chambers after years of neglect.
 
Back in the day many of the police that used 38sp used nickel loads,word was that they didn't turn green in the belt loop holster.
I search them out (nickel brass)to reload for ammo I use in plate matches where I might have to reload as the nickel emptys slide out of the revolver in a very slick manor. There is a huge difference, try and compare.
Some folks feel the nickel is slightly harder and will crack faster than the straight brass but if one is carefull not to bell the brass any more than necessary in the reloading process case life is still very long.
Another benifit is the used brass only needs a couple of minutes in a tumbler if at all.
 
Their harder on dies if they are not nice and clean. Nickel is harder than brass. Just clean them good and your OK.
I use nickel cases in 38 & 44 to differentiate hot stuff. 38 +P and Full Load .44 mag 270 Gr. Gold Dots. Just helps keep it sorted. Like using different colored ammo boxes. I have my 270 Gr. Gold Dots in a red box and nickel brass. Regular full load Magtech SP in smoke boxes and regular brass.
 
I carried a .380 pocket pistol daily for 6 months during a Tennessee summer. Had to clean the green stuff off of the cases several times during the summer. I've never had a nickel-plated case corrode.

Somebody needs to make premium .380 FMJ with nickel cases!
 
enfield

Try Speer Gold Dots- they can be bought in the nickel case in the 20-25 count boxes. They're not FMJs but as long as they feed in your pistol you're better off with a HP for defense anyway especially with a .380 Auto. The Gold Dots feed better in my .45acps,9mms,& .380s than anything else.
 
There seems to be some consternation by .380 shooters that the hollow points won't penetrate enough. Well, I don't know. I shoot the 90 grain Hornady XTP in mine and I trust it would do the job. I've been giving thought to switching to a SWC I load for practice and loaded hot experimenting once and it shoots GREAT in the .380, feeds great. It's a Lee .358 105 grain I bought for .38 special, but properly sized works GREAT in 9mm as a practice bullet and in .380. It is exceedingly accurate and has very sharp shoulders and flat point and the 105 grains might help penetration of the .380. I've been mulling it over, but I hardly every carry the .380, so it's no big deal I guess.
 
Somehow this thread went from a .38 Spec. thread to a .380 thread. How about that...:rolleyes:

Enfield if you insist on using a .380 for self defence I implore you to change to hollow point ammunition. FMJ will just piss them off...:D
 
In general nickel cases don't last very long when you are reloading, the hotter the load the quicker they split, far quicker than regular brass cases.

Nickel cases are designed for carrying in leather duty rigs, brass doesn't work with leather well, they continue to make nickel for premium loads simply because they don't corrode as easily, and that's an advantage for most people, but not for reloaders in general.

A little story to go along with this, back when I was a Deputy I carried a S&W model 66 and 357 mag ammo, I found that I had to put a cardboard bottom liner in my leather speedloader cases on my duty rig, the nickel brass didn't corrode but the copper jackets were close enough to the leather to react and corrode, the cardboard liner in the bottom got rid of that problem.
 
Hummmm...I still have about 60 nickel R-P cases that I bought with my Colt SAA .357 mag way back in 1966. Now granted I started with 250 cases. In fact I have 50 of them loaded to 16 grains of 2400 under a 140 grain SJHP that I use in that very same Colt. I believe it was said that if you minimize the bell the cases will last a lot longer.;)
 
Enfield if you insist on using a .380 for self defence I implore you to change to hollow point ammunition. FMJ will just p*ss them off...
Click to expand...

Bleeding from entrance AND exit wounds would anger anybody.

I don't insist on carrying a .380 for SD. I carry a .40 all day, every day. Sometimes I also carry a .380 BUG. It's loaded with FMJ. ;)

I just wish I could buy .380 FMJ in nickel cases, to get back near the topic.
 
I agree with Bushmaster. I've used .38 & .357 nickel cases for years and haven't noticed any tendency for them to split or wear out. They last just as long as unplated cases. They also take about half the time to tumble clean.
 
I thought the nickel was make extraction slicker.

Most high quality personal defense 9mm ammo is nickel plated. Don't reckon I ever seen anyone with a pistol belt with 9mm in the loops. 'Course, being rimless, it would fall through the loops.
 
I think the basic issue -- and the reason for the differing opinions -- is that the quality of nickeled brass varies widely, even lot-to-lot from the same manufacturer. I've had nickel cases that went forever and nickel cases that split after the first reloading. Heck, I've had nickel cased factory rounds that split after the first firing!

My understanding -- gleaned from nickel on steel, not brass -- is that the plated items need to be very carefully cleaned and treated after plating so as to avoid embrittlement. I think perhaps this is not always done correctly, or perhaps small variations in the various metals occasionally lead to negative results. At any rate, I still buy and use nickel when I'm looking for "pretty", but with the knowledge that it's a bit of a gamble.
 
Hey Rhubarb...Have you ever noticed that fishermen buy a lure more because it caught their eye rather then will the fish like it? Well...L O L:D Primium bullets require primium cases.:)

Good post .38 Special...
 
Splitting cases

Nickel cases can have greater Lubricity, (they slide easier). The plating is more resistant to the chemicals used to tan Leather so they don't corrode as easily.

As for Splitting cases.... Frequent resizing causes that underlaying brass to harden. This is a physical process, and can be reversed/minimized by annealing the cases, (heating DE-PRIMED empties and quenching in water).

ALL cases can be effected by cleaning solvents in Tumbler Media. The biggest culprit is Ammonia, it causes a chemical change in the brass that makes it brittle.

Corrosive Primers also take their toll in case life, not as frequent now-a-days.
 
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