[fuldo]

Although I haven't bought any nickeled brass cases, I've collected and used some spent brass that was nickeled. I've noticed that it seems much easier and quicker to clean with crushed walnut than plain brass. An additional bonus is it's easier to find your spent casings when you use nickeled brass because it's not popular and it sticks-out from the other brass on the ground.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is there anyone out there how trys to stay with nickeled brass for these reasons? Any down-side to using it?

[bluedlightning]

The only down side I've noticed is that after loading some 38 specials for about 5 years the nickle plating is getting kinda thin and the brass is showing through.

[deputy]

i always thought nickel was a solution to pass inspection....:P

nickel did, however, make a sharp look with a belt slide back when duty revolvers were king.

nickel looks nice and cleans easily. on the down side, i seem to notice that nickel plated 38 spl and 357 brass seems to not last as many reloadings conpared to standard brass and will suffer neck splits quicker.......no big deal, chunk them and keep reloading. they all will wear out sooner or later.

[oldtimer]

If you want to modify a case, for example to make .44-40 out of .45 Colt, the nickel-plated brass will not reform as well. I have heard it is harder on dies, but that must only be a problem for someone who reloads in large volumes. I suspect that dirty brass will wear out a die quicker than clean nickel.

[bluedlightning]

I've not noticed any difference in the amount of presure I use to resize brass compared to nickle plated brass, seems the same to me. But it is easier to see any damage to the cases then plain brass cases. But with .357 mag cases it seems they work harden quicker then plain brass cause thoses are the cases that I have the most problem with neck splits but by 38 specials seen to be lasting forever.

[StrawHat]

I reloaded the 38 Special for quite a few years when I shot PPC. I somehow got myself 10 buckets (5 gallon size) of nickle plated brass casings. I reloaded them many times and would throw them out when they cracked or buckled. I also have loaded a lot of brass cses and can not recall any differences in the amount of pressure needed to resize them or the number of times I could reload them. I keep pressures down, no really hot loads, so brass tends to wear out not get shot out.

[Yogurt]

Nickel is VERY hard compared to brass. Therefore, nickel will not undergo as many re-sizings and flarings as brass. (metallurgical info, not reloading experience)

[rugerman]

Nickle seams to wear out a bit faster for me, it does seem easier to re-size a bit easier than brass and if you carry them in a leather belt loop the nickle doesn't discolor like brass does (no green brass).

[fritzee]

I shoot alot of Civil War black powder in N-SSA competition. I shoot a Ballard chambered in 45LC and Frank Wesson chambered in 44-40 which have been converted to center fire. Used brass in each but went to and stayed with nickle.

Nickle pros--
Cleans up nicer and easier.

Easier to find in the grass.

Does not expand as easy as brass. Note. The brass would expand and get stuck in both firearms. Nickle doesn't. Now some may say that brass is form fitting and gas sealing better. You decide.

Nickle cons
Costs more and harder to find.

Some say its harder on the dies.

Again, this is my situation shooting black powder with these two firearms.

Hope this helps.

[Machinist]

The cons to nickel cases are the splitting mentioned, the plating is harder and splits and this split spreads into the soft brass. The bigger issue for me is that I had some problem with plated cases binding and galling in the carbide resizing die when they were cleaned first. This is not normally an issue for me as I like to resize and decap before tumbling so the primer pockets are cleaned and the soot on the cases acts as enough lube to let the cases resize without sticking. If you clean them before resizing and run them in the die dry then watch for signs of galling. I generally prefer brass cases because of this issue but I like plated cases for ammo that will be stored a long time as it does not tarnish. For most use I stay with plain brass.

I have a second decapping pin in my neck expanding die to make sure the flash holes are clear of walnut shell.

[Desert Dawg]

Don't know if this is true, but my dad said that most ammo manufacturers use a cheaper grade of brass when it's going to be nickel-plated. It supposedly isn't refined as thoroughly as brass casings that aren't to be nickel-plated. Also, the plating/bonding process isn't always uniform on the cheaper brass, which sometimes causes the plating to wrinkle and/or chip. By the way, my dad was an aircraft engineer, and worked with a lot of metallurgists on alloys and plating procedures.

[huffmanite]

I had a range shooting buddy give me some Remington 257Roberts nickle brass and finally got around to trying it since I own three 257R rifles.

Guess some of it has had 4 or so reloads since I've began using it. Presently, kinda prefer it over the regular brass. As noted already, easy to clean, but when full lenght resizing, think it requires more pressure on my press lever than regular brass.

[KMDO]

I think one exception to the less quality brass in nickel cases would be the +p nickel brass, starline claims to use a stronger case for plus P and finer grain metal in addition for Super brass.

[Volzfan]

With what I've read here and other places, I just set mine aside and load them with SD rounds. It seems thats where most of it comes from anyway.

[bilmac]

I have loaded gobs of 38/357 nickeled cases. They do start splitting a bit sooner than brass, but on the other hand they don't corrode as easily.

I like the new nickeled rifle cases that are showing up. I use them to distinguish special loads.