Nickel vs brass cases

Brass will last longer due to being less brittle and less prone to cracking from work hardening. I’m saying this in regards to straight wall revolver type brass. I have some .38sp brass that’s 30 years old and literally reloaded so many times I have no idea how many cycles they have on them.
 
I have had no problems with 38/357 nickel plated brass but I have some Win and Midway nickel .45 ACP that fouls my sizing and taper crimp dies, a particle of nickel sticks to the die and then scores the cases. I prefer Brass cases. Prolly could lube it but life is too short.
 
Nickel is slicker. You find it on some big game hunting ammo and a LOT of personal defense pistol ammo. I personally detest the stuff.
 
I've loaded brass and nickel-plated cases interchangeably in a wide variety of pistol calibers, and a few rifle calibers, for over 45 years. Some of my .357 nickel cases are so old and have been reloaded so many times that most of the nickel has worn off. I can't say I've ever noticed that the nickel case mouths split sooner, but I've heard that so many times from so many posters that I have to believe it must happen, at least sometimes with some brands. I did have one batch of Remington nickel brass where the plating started flaking off around the case mouth, so I pitched those, but otherwise no problems. They do seem to resize a bit more easily, but the difference is minimal in my experience.
 
If you carry cartridges in a leather belt, nickel cases will not be stained by the leather loops like brass will.

Bob
WB8NQW
 
I personally detest the stuff.
Click to expand...
Can you expand on this?

I definitely agree and have seen that a mouth or longitudinal split is more prevalent with nickel plated brass. But I have always found that the slick nature of nickel has always been helpful and never harmful when it comes to use especially in revolvers. It promotes fast, easy and slick ejection.

I like everything about nickel plated brass, but if I were buying it in some rare or obscure chambering where brass life is absolutely key, I would choose brass rather than nickel plated.
 
always understood it was more weather resistant and generally used in higher end hunting loads and defensive ammo for increased reliability.
 
I asked the question because the majority - probably 90% of my handgun cases are brass and it's perhaps a personality quirk, but I simply don't like to see mixed cases in the same 50-round loaded box. I separate them and load 50 nickel cases. But when I collect them at the range after having fired 100 rounds, they're all mixed up again. So I thought of just trashing them. Unless there was really an advantage I overlooked.

I can add this. it's rare for me to find either case with a cracked mouth. This includes .44 Mags that have reloaded for 20 years. Most often I find loose primer pockets in 9mm, .38 special and .357 mag that cause me to discard them.
 
Nickel better resists tarnishing from handling, loading, unloading, carrying as work gear.
Generally all LE and game warden Bought New In Box ammo is nickel plated brass for this reason.
From a reloader's perspective, you probably don't need it. But, I did once purchase ALL nickel brass in 40 SW and love it. But, in a mix, No.
 
Nickel handgun brass came from the era when police (and about everyone else) carried rounds in leather belt loops. The chemicals used in tanning the leather would, over time, corrode brass cases left in the loops. Takes longer in dry places than in wet ones, but does happen.

I, personally have never found nickel cases to be any more prone to cracking than my brass ones. Both seem to fail at about the same rate, in the same calibers and load levels.

If you have "good" nickel cases, the nickel doesn't crack or flake off. Of course, the only way to know that is by using them over a period of time. I've got .38 and .357 stuff from the 60s, still going strong.

I had some .45acp stuff from Federal bought in 1980 where the loaded rounds were chambered so many times over 20+ years there were brass stripes worn through the nickel. Never any problem with them (and never any bullet set back, either)

One of the advantages of having nickel cases is if you have both a rifle and a pistol in the same caliber (such as .357), and you load one level of loads in brass and another in nickel, you can easily tell which is which at a glance.

I would never toss nickel cases just because they are nickel. If you don't want them, SELL THEM, someone will be happy to buy them, and if they are range pick up, its all profit, right??
 
I bought 1000 .223 Rem cases specifically to use for .300 AAC Blackout. They are harder to cut and trim than brass, but they also don't stretch when sizing or firing...at least they haven't yet. By harder I mean it takes more effort, probably wearing out the blades and bits faster as well.

As edfardos commented, they fire clean, and any soot that does stick to the case after firing wipes right off. I clean my cases anyway, but I've been tempted to forego cleaning my nickel cases...though I have yet to yield to that temptation.
 
Is there any advantage/disadvantage to nickel vs brass cases?

Nickel plated brass is just brass with a nickel plating. Not like the cases are made of nickel. Typically I want to recall the nickel plating is only about 0.001" thickness. The plating doesn't add to case weight enough to matter or change case volume enough to matter. The main advantage is a cartridge case a little more corrosion resistant. Another plus is as mentioned it is slicker making for easier feeding than brass.

I have never noticed it being any more difficult to resize likely because the plating is so thin. Since the plating is just plating and thin the nickel will flake off after several loadings (resizings). I think somewhere stashed around here I have a pile of new Remington 30-06 nikel plated cases. Can't recall where they even came from. :)

Ron
 
My observation has been that nickel plated brass will show splits in the case mouth before most brass cases.

Don
 
The only positive thing I can say about nickel cases is that in .38 Super, my pet load throws them all over hell's half acre. The nickel ones are easier to find.

In handgun calibers, I find nickel cases split far sooner than brass, and in rifle, I suspect they're harder on the cutters I use to even up my case mouths.

All in all, they're not worth the added expense. YMMv Rod
 
I tried to size 9mm nickle cases, when I was reloading that caliber. almost impossible.

Gave up and went to brass.
 
I have no problem with nickel plated brass.

The only disadvantage for me is that nickel-plated cases don't like being formed into other cartridges. The loss rate, due to neck splits (necking up) or neck collapse (necking down) is far higher with nickel.
But that is an easily avoidable situation, and I rarely use once-fired brass for case forming any more, anyway.
 
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