SD Ammo: Why is it Nickel Plated?

S

sigcurious

New member
I was testing a few different types of SD ammo today to see what my gun and myself liked the best, and began to wonder. Why are SD cartridges loaded with nickle plated cases?

I realize I've only tried a few kinds so far, but out of the 3 major brands I tried, Federal, Hornady and Speer, they were all nickled plated.
 
Nickel plated cases are said to be smoother than brass therefore they'll feed better through semi-automatic platforms. They are also easy to see in low light conditions when performing chamber checks.
 
Nickeled cases are more resistant to corrosion than brass. Corrosion can be a factor with carry ammo that is handled allot and exposed to the enviroment and sweat.

Jim
 
Nickel plating cases began back in the pre-historic days when police officers carried cartridges in leather belt loops. The leather corroded the cartridges very quikly. For that reason, most police cartridges, i.e. .32 S&W Long, .38 S&W, .38 Special, and .45 Colt were nickel plated.

Additionally, the .38 Super was nickeled to differentiate it from the .38 ACP. The practice later found additional benefits, as noted.

And it was the Lone Ranger who initiated silver bullets.

Bob Wright
 
Nickeled cases are more resistant to corrosion than brass
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The difference is very apparent in a hot, humid environment. Brass cases will start to turn green and get sticky very quickly (a month or so), so I use nickel in my car gun.
 
Corrosion resistance, better extraction and feeding. Nickel plated cases seal the chamber as well as unplated brass, but don't "stick" as readily.
 
Good to know. I guess I'm fortunate now that I live in the desert and humidity is minimal. Back in California even with a silica pack for a safe twice the size of mine, I could barely keep the humidity below 50%
 
The difference is very apparent in a hot, humid environment. Brass cases will start to turn green and get sticky very quickly (a month or so), so I use nickel in my car gun.
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Are you referring to brass kept in something other than a gun or mag? Where I live, its a warm and sticky climate in the summer too, and brass is fine, as long as its not in leather loops or pouches.
 
Are you referring to brass kept in something other than a gun or mag?
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Yes, in a nickel-plated S&W Model 10 revolver. You don't know warm and sticky until you've spent a summer in Central Florida. I only let it happen once and then switched to nickel only.
 
Ive lived in a couple of "warm and sticky" places, and carried a gun daily in them, and never had any issues with brass cased ammo in the gun or mags. Ive also kept loaded guns and mags in vehicles year round with no issues. What exactly was the problem you were having?
 
"[Aside from what was stated, they also use nickle to help you swallow the price of the ammo. More bling for the buck.]"

That's the truth ;)
Y/D
 
Another issue is that it was (and still is in some cases) common for police officers to be required to clear and then reload their duty weapons on a frequent basis. The nickel plating is tougher and held up to the abuse better than brass.
 
Nickel plated cartridges....

As posted here already, nickel type rounds are very good for regular carry due to the improved design against wear/moisture & the ability to quickly view a nickel case in a sidearm check.
Brass is okay but some wear/marks can become visible after some time.

If you are an armed professional or carry firearms for protection(concealed), I would check ammunition often & replace the rounds every 3-6mo.
$20-30.00 of factory made ammunition is not a huge expense to insure proper feeding & performance.

ClydeFrog
 
Inspecting the cartridges periodically is always a good idea, but there is really no reason I am aware of to replace them every 3 to 6 months. If you are going to burn them at the range, and you use your carry ammo for range ammo, then by all means do so, but to simply replace them is not necessary. They last quite a significantly bit longer than 3 to 6 months whether they are being carried or not.
 
For now, I'm not worried about changing out rounds, my carry pistol is only that in name not in practice. I just put in my application this past week, and it takes up to 120 days here to get your permit after turning in the application (Fortunately it seems to be running 60-90 days right now). However, once my permit comes, I intend to shoot at least a few boxes of SD ammo a month, so rounds will be constantly rotated anyway.

On a side note, one benefit to the nickel plating that I have found is the shiny nature. Not for a sidearm check, but for finding them on the desert floor. It didn't even occur to me that it might be useful for other reasons. But it's a world of difference looking for the shiny silver color over the dull brass. :D
 
If you are an armed professional or carry firearms for protection(concealed), I would check ammunition often & replace the rounds every 3-6mo.
$20-30.00 of factory made ammunition is not a huge expense to insure proper feeding & performance.
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I do this even though it is probably not necessary. When cycling rounds through the gun enough times it can eat up the rim of the round. I usually stick these in the bottom of the mag but eventually I just replace them with fresh ammo. Instead of shooting them I just put the old box of 20 with my ammo stockpile so I can have a a few boxes of premium SD hollowpoints to go with all the cheap target stuff I got stashed away.
 
@AK103K While I do have the intent of starting to reload(keeps getting put off by other things in life), even if I didn't, I would be picking up my brass. I shoot on BLM land, so everything that goes with me out there comes back with me, minus the expended bullets.
 
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