Nickel vs brass cases

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

Carmady

found that some are made with smaller (metric?) small pistol primer pockets. That was the first and only time I ran into that.

I find this very interesting.

Were they nickel or brass?

I will look, I think problems I had were all Winchester nickel.

Don't recall what brand primers I used but they were very tight, enough so I gave up after about 50 rds.

[Unclenick]

The brass makers outsource to one another depending on who is busy with what. Some of the European and Israeli-made brass is on the tight end of the spec range, where U.S.-made brass tends to be in the middle of the tolerance range. So, outsourcing is one possible answer. If Winchester sent some of that outsourced brass out to be plated with nickel, the plating would tighten it further.

[Carmady]

"Were they nickel or brass?"

Brass. In the pic you can see a little step machined at the top of the primer pocket. When I first looked at them I didn't notice that it was a step, and thought it was a circular indentation caused by trying to force the primer into the brass, but today after a closer look they appear to be made that way...old eyes. I saved them in a baggie for making dummy rounds.

[Reloadron]

On the subject of primer pockets Ballistic Tools Small and Large Primer Pocket Swage Gage ® Set is a good investment. They came up maybe a year or two back here in the forums. For those who do not have a set of pin gauges.

Checking some old but never loaded Remington Nickel Plated Brass the go gauge is a real tight fit in about 5 out of ten cases I pulled at random. The pocket diameters come in around .2085 or less telling me that some primers will be a hard fit.

Ron

[44 AMP]

I bought some used Winchester .38 brass off GB,

Not sure what that ledge/step is, but it LOOKS like a circular crimp. Was the brass decapped when you bought it??

Is it possible the brass was loaded with crimped in primers, fired, the primers punched out, but the crimp not removed??

[Carmady]

"Was the brass decapped when you bought it??

Is it possible the brass was loaded with crimped in primers, fired, the primers punched out, but the crimp not removed??"

1 I don't remember whether the brass was already decapped or not.

2 That's the first I've ever heard of "crimped in primers," so I guess it's possible. I've never noticed any primer pockets with a step before.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

Originally I thought my problem nickel was mostly Winchester stamp.

However after checking several I had loaded, the majority seems to be R-P and Federal with a few Winchester mixed in.

Still don't know which brand(s) had the tight pockets.

Will try a few more vintage nickel next time I load 38's to see if I can figure out the problem.

[HiBC]

Carmady: I'd second the idea of crimped primers. Generally a feature on military ammo. 38spl was used by some of our military,particularly Air Force .
The circular "step" is where metal was displaced.
Folks who use military brass have ways of removing the crimp.

I had a Husky and a Win M70 in 7mm Rem that were radically different in headspace. In an effort to get better case life with sure cycling,I went nickel brass for the Husky and plain for the M-70.

I,too have noticed sizing effort a little higher with nickel,and necks more prone to split.
If I had to guess,it might be if the plating splits it creates a stress riser and focusses the working of the brass. (But I cannot say I know that to be true)

[Carmady]

I'd never heard of crimped primers until today. After searching with google I'm pretty sure that's what I ran into.

Thanks to all for clearing that up.

[OldManMontgomery]

With all the complaint about nicked brass, I've never had any noticeable problems. I will add here I used to shoot PPC (the Police Pistol Course) using only revolvers and I loaded all my ammunition.

I've known folks who will not use nickeled brass and I've known folks who wouldn't use anything else. I still haven't had problems.

When I was shooting NRA 2700, I had a large pile of nickel Federal cases. I shot them and reloaded them until the head stamp was beat flat. Lost more than I discarded due to splits or whatever. Some of them were so used one had to look at the head stamp end to see the plating; it was worn off the sides. Losing them was still the main problem.

You're a big kid. Decide for yourself.

[Unclenick]

These are the common crimp types.

[Bucksnort1]

For 38 and .357 magnum, I load all my JHPs in nickel cases and all plinkers in brass cases.




Your toilet is an asset.

[Grey_Lion]

GECO brass from Europe almost always has tight primer pockets for one and an undersized flash hole for another. But even with that said I wish I could get more of it off the ranges I frequent because it's high quality. As for nickel plated, I never have enough of it in any single head stamp to reload with it. So I just use brass for volume and consistency. I don't buy it. But then I haven't bought factory ammo in years now.....

[MarkCO]

I pull my Nickle cases and use them for loading defense loads. Slicker, more corrosion resistant, so technically, they will offer greater long term storage and reliability. But, I also don't leave them in my brass groups since they do tend to crack much sooner than the non Nickle plated brass cases.

[Reloader270]

I agree with all the comments above. However, should you decide to continue to use the Nickle cases, try getting a Foster FL Die. It size the nickle cases with ease.