Any differences in .380 Auto nickel plated

tpcollins · May 2, 2011, 08:45 AM

Last year I was able to pick up a bunch of .380 brass at the range and after finally tumbling the cases yesterday, I noticed there are a couple of nickel plated cases (I assume this is plated over brass). Do these shoot any different/cause hangups versus regular brass? Just wondering if I should get some silver bullets and use them only for werewolfs? Thanks.

Sevens · May 2, 2011, 09:19 AM

They should work just as well (or just as poorly!) as your yellow colored brass. They may not last as long if the nickel plating begins to chip off, as the base brass is thinner on nickel plated cases.

Especially in something like .380 where you goal is to hear a "BANG" and the slug land somewhere on a target that's unlikely to be much further away than 7-12 yards, I wouldn't put too much thought in to my brass choice. If it makes a solid round with decent case mouth tension, it should be considered a perfectly good reloaded round.

Gary Wells · May 2, 2011, 09:42 AM

Previously posted by user name "Sevens":
".............They may not last as long if the nickel plating begins to chip off, as the base brass is thinner on nickel plated cases..........."

I have never heard this before about nickel plated brass being thinner, could you elaborate on this please.

overkill0084 · May 2, 2011, 10:24 AM

The actual brass portion will be just a bit thinner to account for the thickness added by plating.
It's been my observation that Nickel cases tend to have a shorter lifespan. It was free, don't sweat it.

hogcowboy · May 2, 2011, 10:37 AM

Quote:

The actual brass portion will be just a bit thinner to account for the thickness added by plating.
It's been my observation that Nickel cases tend to have a shorter lifespan. It was free, don't sweat it

I use them all the time. See no difference in shooting. You just won't get as many reloads out of them.

FlyFish · May 2, 2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

They may not last as long if the nickel plating begins to chip off, as the base brass is thinner on nickel plated cases.

The nickel plating is so thin compared the brass that it's plated onto that I can't imagine there's any practical difference, and maybe no difference at all. Do they really make brass that's intended to be plated somewhat thinner than the regular stuff, or do they just take some from a regular production run and send it off to be plated?

medalguy · May 2, 2011, 08:04 PM

The plating is only a few millionths of an inch. I assume the brass is exactly the same production.

And no extra precautions are required, except be sure the brass is clean before sizing. I managed to scratch a sizing die in .380 pretty badly with nickel plated brass. I have to assume there was some grit stuck into the plating that didn't tumble off. Never had any problems with yellow brass.

firewrench044 · May 2, 2011, 08:23 PM

the nickel plated will work just as good as non plated
nickel is harder and will crack and peal as stated before

the problem I ran into is some Speer brass ( 380 only )
has two (2) wall thicknesses
the lower part is thicker than the upper (upper is where the bullet
is seated )
I had to get a differant expander from RCBS (it was free )
to load those cases
( the original expander crushed or mangaled most of them )

May 2, 2011, 08:45 AM	#1
tpcollins Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2009 Location: SE Michigan Posts: 558	Any differences in .380 Auto nickel plated Last year I was able to pick up a bunch of .380 brass at the range and after finally tumbling the cases yesterday, I noticed there are a couple of nickel plated cases (I assume this is plated over brass). Do these shoot any different/cause hangups versus regular brass? Just wondering if I should get some silver bullets and use them only for werewolfs? Thanks. __________________ What direction did that last shot at Kennedy come from?

May 2, 2011, 09:19 AM	#2
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	They should work just as well (or just as poorly!) as your yellow colored brass. They may not last as long if the nickel plating begins to chip off, as the base brass is thinner on nickel plated cases. Especially in something like .380 where you goal is to hear a "BANG" and the slug land somewhere on a target that's unlikely to be much further away than 7-12 yards, I wouldn't put too much thought in to my brass choice. If it makes a solid round with decent case mouth tension, it should be considered a perfectly good reloaded round. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

May 2, 2011, 10:24 AM	#4
overkill0084 Senior Member Join Date: August 7, 2010 Location: Northern, UT Posts: 1,162	The actual brass portion will be just a bit thinner to account for the thickness added by plating. It's been my observation that Nickel cases tend to have a shorter lifespan. It was free, don't sweat it. __________________ Cheers, Greg “At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child – miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.” — P.J. O’Rourke

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

May 2, 2011, 09:42 AM	#3
Gary Wells Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2009 Posts: 180	Previously posted by user name "Sevens": ".............They may not last as long if the nickel plating begins to chip off, as the base brass is thinner on nickel plated cases..........." I have never heard this before about nickel plated brass being thinner, could you elaborate on this please.

May 2, 2011, 08:04 PM	#7
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	The plating is only a few millionths of an inch. I assume the brass is exactly the same production. And no extra precautions are required, except be sure the brass is clean before sizing. I managed to scratch a sizing die in .380 pretty badly with nickel plated brass. I have to assume there was some grit stuck into the plating that didn't tumble off. Never had any problems with yellow brass.

May 2, 2011, 08:23 PM	#8
firewrench044 Senior Member Join Date: July 9, 2007 Location: Fort Pierce, Florida Posts: 381	the nickel plated will work just as good as non plated nickel is harder and will crack and peal as stated before the problem I ran into is some Speer brass ( 380 only ) has two (2) wall thicknesses the lower part is thicker than the upper (upper is where the bullet is seated ) I had to get a differant expander from RCBS (it was free ) to load those cases ( the original expander crushed or mangaled most of them )