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Old 01-04-2017, 01:37 AM
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Alk8944 Alk8944 is offline
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I guess I should replace all of my (several thousand) Nickel .38 Spl. cases, many that I have had since the 1960s and have loaded I have no idea how many times. Yes, they split sometimes, throw them away, get over it and keep going! Plain brass cases split too, almost as often as Nickel.

You want to how how to keep .38 Spl. cases from splitting? Size them in two steps by neck sizing only and post-sizing the rest of the body with a Lee CFC die. Or buy the fancy Redding die that does the same thing for $150 or so. The body split problem really began when standard Carbide sizers were introduced and people used them to full-length size their brass. This excessively works the case body! The second thing is stop using Remington Nickel cases, they often split on first firing with factory loads.

Is two-stage sizing a pain, absolutely, but I have Nickel cases that have been loaded and tumbled so many times most of the Nickel has worn off, and it is unusual for even one of them to split!

Or you can just quit whining and accept the fact that cases wear out and fail eventually. They were originally intended to be disposable, remember?
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