Why Nickel cases?

[rcmodel]

They are sealed by a special lacquer that keeps out moisture and oil.

I was referring to the sealant on top of the primer pellet before the anvil is pressed in. This keeps oil and other stuff from killing the primer pellet,(the part that is an explosive, activated by a sharp blow crushing said pellet).

Maybe, Maybe not!

If you look closely at a new primer before it is seated in a case you will see that the anvil legs are about .005" - .007" above the base of the cup. The lacquer is there not only to seal the compound, but to insure the anvil doesn't fall out before the primer is used to load a cartridge.
It is not only a seal, but is also "glue" to help retain the anvil in the cup until it is used.

When the new primer is seated in a case properly, the anvil is finally pressed into the cup, flush with the base.

That action can often break the lacquer & paper or foil disk seal between the anvil and primer compound when the point on the anvil penetrates the seal.

SO, we can say that a new, unused primer is lacquer & foil sealed against oil & mosture, but not so much so after it has been seated in a case.

If the primer is improperly seated and slightly crushed by the reloader, it is almost a certainty the water/oil-proof seal is broken!


rcmodel

 

[Cosmoline]

addition would polish their brass each evening with steel wool and wipe them with a dry oiled cloths to retard tarnish. Under those conditions, the nickel brass had no problems.

What's the point of that? Other than something to do during down time because there's nothing else happening. In my experience brass does not tarnish very quickly, and even if it does so what? Most all my reloads are somewhat tarnished. I've never noticed a problem with it. The shine is purely cosmetic. Indeed if getting the shine means grinding the things or scraping them with steel wool I suspect it's actually making the brass slightly weaker.

 

[rcmodel]

Oiling & waxing & polishing brass to make them feed slicker is the darndest thing I ever heard of.

Ever bust open a can of military ammo and take a good look at it?

Ever seen a nickle case for an African elephant gun?
They don't even bother to polish the annealed neck color off of most of them.


rcmodel

 

[patentmike]

I use a mixture of nickel and brass to reload .32 H&R mag and .357 mag. The nickel is more slippery when being ejected out the chambers or running through the dies. They all wear out eventually, but I have not seen any difference in terms of splitting.

 

[gandog56]

I've got some nickel 38 special cases I've been reloading for over twenty years. They don't seem to split any worse than the brass cases, but I am only shooting a really mild target load. I have just loaded some rather, shall I say, warm nickel plated 357 sigs. I'll see what happens.

 

[snuffy]

Ever seen a nickel case for an African elephant gun?

Yes. If you consider a 45-70, in a good strong bolt rifle, an African elephant gun. Or how about the venerable. My starline 45-70 cases are nickel plated, they look good with the silver color lead boolits in them.

 

[Cosmoline]

I suspect the nickel .45-70's are for CAS, where a high shine is desired.