Nickel plated brass OK to use?

[Sig_Dude]

Somehow I ended up with a hundred nickel-plated .38 SPC cartridges. Man will they look all professional and mean when there's that shiny speer copper atop them, but somewhere I read that nickel causes die problems? I'm running Redding carbide dies by the way. Should I use lube despite the fact that the dies are carb.?

[engineermike]

No Sig,

Just mail them to me and i'll dispose of them properly.

Mike

[Sig_Dude]

stop, I'm laughing my socks off

[Doodlebugger45]

They'll be just fine. I have some .357 cases that are nickle plated and they work great. A few folks have reported that after many reloadings the nickle can flake off and perhaps even get caught in the sizing die which would indeed scratch all the other cases. In my personal experience I have not seen the flaking off. I do have some nickle cases that have been reloaded and tumbled 15-20 times and what I see is just a gradual fading away of the nickle, leaving the brass underneath.

When buying new cases, I typically avoid buying the nickle finish unless I am desperate and that's all the store has. Except of course when loading for my daughter's .357. She INSISTS on that pretty nickle brass. But she probably only goes through 100 rounds per year, so her private stock of nickle plated brass will last for a long long time without any flaking or fading.

[demigod]

I've read that they tend to split at the case mouth sooner. I've experienced this a little, but I don't reload enough revolver ammo to have a large experience pool.

[rtpzwms]

they reload fine but the shine off the plating makes them difficult to aim so send them to me and i'll dull them up and send them back at some time in the future.

[Sig_Dude]

rtpzwms, you are a smacked-___

just teasing of course

[briandg]

It is correct that they seem to split early on, but that may only be an incorrect observation on the part of those who believe it. (myself included)

There is no difference in reloading nickle plated brass. I personally save only the best of the nickel I have, and don't load it, but I toss the low quality ones in with my regular brass.

I have a few hundred new and once fired nickel plated brass that are still boxed, and I use them when loading +P, defensive, hunting, or other "important" rounds.

[Mike-Mat]

I have lots of nickle 38spl and 357 cases that have been reloaded 6-7 times. No problems yet with it flaking off.

[demigod]

I've never seen the nickel "flake off" But I've got some .357 brass where the nickel has worn off partially... to the point that the brass is starting to shine through.

[mehavey]

Other than in heavily-corrosive climates (tropics/maritime or wearing for years-at-a-time in an open belt-loop*), is there any functional reason for nickel-plated cases?






* Yeah, I know. Why would anyone other than a LEO wear open-loop ammo; and why wouldn't he/she/(it these days) just cycle it first thing at scheduled quals?

[demigod]

is there any functional reason for nickel-plated cases?

It's used to Identify "PROOF" loads. I thought this was BS, but someone on M4carbine.net provided a legit link to a designation.

These loads are made for high pressure testing and loaded in Nickel plated casings for identification.

[Slamfire]

I have one carbide die that would peel the nickle in a straight line off on the sides of new nickel plated 357 cases. I lubricated the cases, sized them all, never had a problem after that. Maybe there was a burr that burnished off.

Nickle cases are just great.

I have some 38 Spl cases that have been sized so many times the nickle plating has worn down to the brass.

Still goes bang.

[oneounceload]

They MAY be more brittle over time leading to splitting..not a big deal - your carbide dies should be just fine, but a little lube every 10th case or so can't hurt and makes reloading a little easier

[briandg]

is there any functional reason for nickel-plated cases?

Nickel plated cases are far smoother, stay cleaner, and won't corrode as easily. This isn't an issue of beauty, it's all about whether or not those rounds will cycle in a pistol, or load and eject properly from a revolver. Get a rough or dirty chamber, put in some ammo that has sat in a belt loop or magazine for 2 years, and you may wind up with problems. Nickel could prevent that.

That is why combat and LE loads were originally put in nickel, but the fact that they were pretty and shiny didn't hurt. Cops liked it. It stuck. The original purpose has just sort of been forgotten. Now you usually get nickel on only the $1 a round stuff, it seems.

[dahermit]

is there any functional reason for nickel-plated cases?

I have heard it said that they originated in the era of police and military personnel wearing ammunition in leather belt loops. The tanning salts in the leather would quickly turn the brass cases green and unsightly. Nickle supposedly stopped the brass from tarnishing and looked sharp.

[noylj]

Purely the results of over 30 years reloading:
I do not reload nickel brass. Why?
1) The nickel does flake off and will embed in steel resizing dies. Solution: use them new carbide resizing dies.
2) The nickel still flakes off and sticks to the carbide ring. Solution: watch your cases for signs of scratches/striations. Then clean your die, again. Go back to reloading until your brass starts to show scratches/striations again. Then clean you die, again. Repeat as needed. Also, notice that you are cleaning you Lee FCD frequently too (unless you like the looks of the those racing stripes on your cases).
3) Go to the range and shoot about 100 rounds of brass and nickel plated cases. You will notice after a few trips that you are discarding maybe 2-5 nickel plated cases after each outing for cracks in the case body or splits at the case mouth. You don't seem to be losing any of your brass cases.
4) Package up all your nickel plated cases and sell to someone who loves the shiny silver look. Be sure to tell them all about the corrosion resistance of the nickel cases and how pretty they polish up.
5) Take the proceeds from the sale and buy more brass cases.

[COSteve]

While I only have 9 years of reloading experience, I have reloaded well over 130,000 rounds:

I have nickel plated cases in 40s&w, 38spl, 357mag, 10mm, and 45acp (besides the 30carb, .223, and 5.56 rifle calibers). My experience is that nickel plated cases seem to last almost as long as my brass cases (5-7 for nickel reloads vs 6-8 for brass) on average. Yes, they can split, however, so do the brass cases too. I use both for light, medium, and heavy charges in my various calibers and I've really seen little difference between them.

Do they slide easier through my Lee carbide resizing die? Yes.
Is it a problem if a nickel case splits during firing? No.
Is it a problem if a brass case splits during firing? No.
When I trade, will I turn down nickel cases? No.
When I trade, will I turn down brass cases? No.
Do they look prettier than brass cases? No.
Are nickel cases easier to clean? Yes.
Do I prefer nickel cases? No.
Do I prefer brass cases? No.

[William T. Watts]

noylj is dead on, I sent a resizing die back to RCBS for scratching cases, RCBS informed me the die had a piece of nickle embedded in the wall. The resizing die was replaced but it was a one time replacement and told not to send another. William

[TXGunNut]

When I was using mixed brass I noticed the same things noylj encountered. I liked the look of worn-through nickel but it generally split soon after that. My carry ammo is nickel, shootin' ammo is nice shiny brass.