Nickle plated brass

[Corkster]

I wanted to get some opinions / information on nickle plated brass. Are there advantages or disadvantages to using nickle plated versus regular brass? In your opinion is it better than non-plated brass? If so why?

 

[lgbloader]

I prefer brass. Just brass.

LGB

 

[Walkalong]

No better, no worse. It used to be handy for ammo in a leather belt because it would not turn green from the chemicals used to tan leather.

It seems to split a bit sooner than unplated brass in .38 Spl, to me at least, but I don't keep track of how many times .38 cases are loaded. Just load them till they split.

I prefer brass. Just brass.

Me too.

 

[remingtondude58]

It seems like the primer pockets clean easier on the nickel. I don't know if it actually is, or if it's just me. And I would have to agree that they seem to split sooner.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I'll take both with no quaums...If the nickel plated ones split sooner or not really does not matter. All of mine have been scrounged from a range in a proccess that I developed that tells me if it was once fired or not and therefore were FREE. I collect it all...And sort it later.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I do what The Bushmaster and Walkalong do, load them until they split. Counting the number of reloads for .38 brass is a waste of time and energy.

Now The Bushmaster is going to get all big headed, since someone agreed with him..........

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[X-Rap]

I agree, it seems that nickle splits more. Before I used carbide and had a good cleaner the nickle scratched real bad. Carbides and a Thumblers seem to have cured that.
I have some rifle brass and haven't noticed a difference.

 

[Steve H]

I think the nickel is more brittle. Last year I bought a couple of boxes of 45 gold dot. about 1/3 of the cases cracked after the first shot. Speer sent ing me a couple of more boxes and had me throw away all of the nickel brass after I fired the factory loads.

 

[jcwit]

I've had issues with the nickle and steel sizing dies. A little nickle gauls onto the steel die causing scratches in the rest of the brass untill the die is polished out. Problem was solved when I switched to carbide dies.

I personally think this is where people who claim their dies are
scratched are wrong. The die isn't scratched, it has gauling on the inside walls of the sizing die, causing scratches in the brass when you resize it. If the die itself was scratched with a groove how would it made a groove in the brass?

Anyway I just stick to brass, one less problem.

 

[BLJimmy]

I'll take what I can find.

 

[evan price]

I sort out the nickle because it feels slicker and feeds better in semiautos. I use the nickle to load up ammo to simulate self defense ammo for practice (such as Speer Gold Dot bullets in nickle brass) because this is cheaper than using storebought Gold Dots for practice. I save the storebought stuff for carry ammo. The nickle stuff feeds better IMHO.

Otherwise, I load it all.

Watch out for flaking and spotting of the nickle coating. Also if you tumble, be aware that you can tumble the thin nickle plate right off the casings if you tumble too long. They clean up faster and do not tend to corrode like brass- I've found nickle cases buried in the gravel, the brass primer is green but the nickle cleans right up.

 

[Bart B.]

I liked nickel plated .308 Win. Federal cases for rapid fire matches as they loaded easier from a stripper clip into a bolt gun's box magazine. And they fed smoother out of the magazine into the chamber. Other than that, there was no difference whatsoever; same accuracy, case life, etc.

 

[jacob.elliott]

if you annealed the cases would that not help with the neck splitting somewhat?

 

[MkgReloader]

My experience has been that nickle plated pistol brass is more likely to want to stick in carbide resizing dies that plain brass. Most of the split cases I end up with seem to be the nickle plated ones - no idea why. I still use whatever I find at the range including the nickle plated.

 

[Bula]

Nickle makes my .357 mag 158 gr XTP loads look purdy!

 

[The Bushmaster]

That too, Bula...

 

[Hoxviii]

My experience has been that nickle plated pistol brass is more likely to want to stick in carbide resizing dies that plain brass

X2

When I size I sort the nickel cases out. Run all the brass, and then run the nickel but lube the nickel cases, even if I'm using carbide dies.

Fortunately I only have about 40 pieces of nickel, so it doesn't add much time.

 

[moooose102]

I bought up a bunch of nickel brass for my 45-70 when i first started loading. It works fine, but it is harder to work with than standard brass cases. I probably will not go out of my way to buy nickel again, unless i have a real reason to.

 

[Corkster]

It is purdy!

Thanks Guys!

 

[ar10]

I could care less, I use both and I don't lube either one. I like the nickel for my SD rounds and brass for target. And I've never had any splits on the nickel cases.

 

[Tom Schafer]

Nickel Plated Brass

Easy way to tell which ones were reloaded the last time, or a different size Bullet.
They fit in the gun, use them. I have some from the sixties. Still good. I don't shoot every load at super max. I leave that for the real need, if you know what I mean.
Tom

 

[blindhari]

I shoot both 357 and 38 special loads through a 357 winchester trapper. Nickel brass is used for full 357 mag loads, brass is used for nice quiet 38spl loads. easy way to keep track of hunting and plinking/lighter loads.

blindhari

 

[Canuc Shooter]

Gotta love that Nickel, nice and shiny.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Goes good with my silver bullets too...[Hey Tonto!!! Get out of the firewater!!]

 

[sonier]

with my magnum loads for my 357 python i only tend to get 3-4 reloads out of nickel. if i use brass well................im stil about 12 reloads into real brass no splitting with my same loads as nickel plated.