Rayco3
Blackhawk
Which do you prefer and why? Any strength difference? I am thinking of buying Starline .45 Colt brass for heavy (and 5-shot) loadings, and they appear to offer it both ways thru MidwayUsa. Any input appreciated. Thanks.
Brass vs. Nickel cases
- Thread starter Rayco3
- Start date
WIL TERRY
Buckeye
BRASS...BRASS ALWAYS !!!
NICKLE cases are brittle quite often from the process that applies the nickle, the nickle can easily scratch the inside of dies, and by'n'large the ONLY thing nickle is good for is making sure those bright shiny cases will not grow verdigris in pistol belt cartridge loops.
NICKLE cases are brittle quite often from the process that applies the nickle, the nickle can easily scratch the inside of dies, and by'n'large the ONLY thing nickle is good for is making sure those bright shiny cases will not grow verdigris in pistol belt cartridge loops.
Well, heaven forbid that I be the one here to disagree, but...
I have been reloading nickel brass for my handguns since '86. I purchased a bunch of once fired .38 Special brass in '86, 1k, and about 25% was nickel. I also have a few hundred nickel brass in .44 Magnum, and .357 Magnum. I have reloaded some of the 38s enough times to wear through the plating (Federal, Winchester, RP and others). I flare all the mouths to accept lead bullets and 90% is roll crimped. I have never had a case failure due to nickel plating; no flaking, no abnormal die wear, brittle case mouths, etc. I only have about 1,000 nickel plated cases all together, and I don't count how many times they have been reloaded (I've been reloading almost steadily since '86 moatly .44 Mag. and 38 Special). I don't purposely forgo reloading nickel, I just grab a box out of the brass bin, plain or nickel, and so far there is little to no difference noticeable. Mebbe I just got the only thousand good nckel plated cases on the west coast... :mrgreen:
I have been reloading nickel brass for my handguns since '86. I purchased a bunch of once fired .38 Special brass in '86, 1k, and about 25% was nickel. I also have a few hundred nickel brass in .44 Magnum, and .357 Magnum. I have reloaded some of the 38s enough times to wear through the plating (Federal, Winchester, RP and others). I flare all the mouths to accept lead bullets and 90% is roll crimped. I have never had a case failure due to nickel plating; no flaking, no abnormal die wear, brittle case mouths, etc. I only have about 1,000 nickel plated cases all together, and I don't count how many times they have been reloaded (I've been reloading almost steadily since '86 moatly .44 Mag. and 38 Special). I don't purposely forgo reloading nickel, I just grab a box out of the brass bin, plain or nickel, and so far there is little to no difference noticeable. Mebbe I just got the only thousand good nckel plated cases on the west coast... :mrgreen:
Driftwood Johnson
Blackhawk
Howdy
Count me as one who does not care for nickel plated brass. It does not happen all the time, but sometimes a batch of nickel plated brass will be poorly plated, and then it does tend to split more often than just plain brass. I have had both brass and nickel plated cases split with 38 Special, 44 Special, and 45 Colt. By far, the majority of the splits are nickel plated, not plain brass.
That is my experience.
Count me as one who does not care for nickel plated brass. It does not happen all the time, but sometimes a batch of nickel plated brass will be poorly plated, and then it does tend to split more often than just plain brass. I have had both brass and nickel plated cases split with 38 Special, 44 Special, and 45 Colt. By far, the majority of the splits are nickel plated, not plain brass.
That is my experience.
Back before Starline even exisited IIRC, I bought WW nickel plated brass and never had a single problem with 20+ loadings in .357, not all loaded to the max. I do recall a somewhat famous gunwriter, not Wil Terry :wink: , saying he couldn't get good accuracy with nickel plated brass. I like nickel plated brass. With that said, all I buy now is Starline plain brass. It works for me...
Olsherm
Blackhawk
I have some 45 colt nickle brass and have loaded them a few times with no problems so far. I am not afraid to use them.Got some you do not like send them to me.HA olsherm Besides they are purty.
mattsbox99
Hunter
Cheaper nickel cases like Magtech & PMC will flake easily and I won't use them. I do prefer brass but only because nickel seems to stick more in my Dillon and I don't like that.
Rick Courtright
Hawkeye
Hi,
I prefer yellow brass to the nickel plated stuff. While I've seen some nickel cases that looked like they might have come from mikld's stash w/ the plating almost completely worn off, my own experience has been they're stickier in the sizing die and tend to split earlier than the yellow stuff.
But mikld's not alone: I've seen many, many loaders report excellent life w/ nickel plated cases over the years.
Rick C
I prefer yellow brass to the nickel plated stuff. While I've seen some nickel cases that looked like they might have come from mikld's stash w/ the plating almost completely worn off, my own experience has been they're stickier in the sizing die and tend to split earlier than the yellow stuff.
But mikld's not alone: I've seen many, many loaders report excellent life w/ nickel plated cases over the years.
Rick C
I used a lot of nickel .38 Special cases for reduced-load bullseye shooting several hundred years ago. I liked the fact that they cleaned up easier for reloading than plain brass did, and that they seemed to slip thru the resizing die a little easier.
However, they did, as mentioned, split earlier than plain brass, and sometimes the plating flaked off. I eventually gave up on them.
JMHO
:)
However, they did, as mentioned, split earlier than plain brass, and sometimes the plating flaked off. I eventually gave up on them.
JMHO
:)
Olsherm
Blackhawk
ALE 8,They probably had better Nickle hundreds of years ago than they do now. You know how the quality goes these days.They are probably getting their nickle from "ching chong China now.LOL
;)
GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
I started sorting mine tonight so that three years from now I can make a favor deal to someone here for it cheap. Wife asked me what I was doing with them. Told her I was splitting them up by caliber, material, brand, etc. Why? She asked. I stated because it's worth something to someone. Why? She asked. Because some people reload them. What? She said. Yes, they do. She then asked me why I'm not doing the same. Because I don't have the stuff or a clue how. Didn't seem like a big hurdle to her. Guess I missed the chance to say OK, thanks for the permission to buy a bunch of tools and goodies. Ha!
WESHOOT2
Hunter
Like any component, I pick my case based on 'goal'.
I gotta lotta cases......brass and nickel. Oh yes I do.
Process and tooling, AND the specific gun used, have a bit to do with case life. Ay? 8)
I gotta lotta cases......brass and nickel. Oh yes I do.
Process and tooling, AND the specific gun used, have a bit to do with case life. Ay? 8)
brushunter
Single-Sixer
I would have to say I perfer brass to the nickel. My reason being , In the late seventies and early eighties ,I loaded only .357 mag. The only thing I loaded was HOT loads....( just didn't know any better :shock: ) At that time , it was 158 grain semi-jacket over massive amounts of 2400.....without a doubt , the nickel cases would split at the mouth far earlier than the regular brass. Most of my cases back then were either Remis or Winchester. Now that I settled down and load light loads....I actually see no difference. But I remember......hence my preference.
regards , brushunter
regards , brushunter
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