Loading nickel brass

[PeterK]

Hey guys, I have a bunch of nickel 357 brass and was wondering if I will run into any problems reloading it, as I am really lacking regular 357 brass. Appreciate the help!

Peter

 

[Skunkhome]

Nickled brass will load fine, however it tends to crack far quicker than brass cases. Even after the first couple of reloads you will start detecting splits where many of the all brass cases seem to last forever. When I first started reloading most of he American brass in .357 was nickel plated. Attrition due to splitting was quite high. All brass cases were hard to find and were greatly coveted. I particularly liked the Norma brass for their longevity.

 

[dmar]

I've loaded quite a bit of nickel brass, with very good results. Some of the guys will tell you that they are more apt to split, or develop cracks at the case mouth. But, mine have lasted pretty well.

I don't count # of times reloaded, i just look for cases that may need to be culled, but I get many, many reloads out of my brass, and nickel brass. I don't over-expand my case mouths, and I suppose that helps. Magnum cases will develop issues before non magnum cases.

Long story short, load away.

 

[mikld]

Use the same method to reload nickel plated and plain brass cases. I have about 2,000+ .38 Special cases, about 10% are nickel plated. Some have been reloaded so much the nickel is worn thin in spots and the brass shows through. In 30+ years of reloading I may have had one case that flaked nickel, and no more neck splits than any other non-plated brass. I have on occasion loaded some hefty loads under 158 gr. LSWC in nickel cases, but again have noticed no difference...

 

[ACP230]

I treat mine the same as plain brass.
Have had some splits in .357 and .45 ACP cases, but not enough to
make me stop using nickeled cases.

 

[Cdog]

Just watch them closely.

Run your fingers around the case mouth to check for cracks older eyes like mine sometimes don't see. The nickel is harder and much less malleable than standard brass. For me they just don't tend to have a long service life.

Free, I guess they're worth the trouble? They're pretty and look nice in my S/A .45 leather, but I won't buy nickel.

 

[gregintenn]

I've found no difference in nickel plated brass and plain brass as far as reloading goes. I always read about it splitting, but I do not remember throwing away any more split nickel cases than brass cases due to splitting. Very few in either case.

 

[olskool]

i have saw them split, but i see brass split also. i also have some that the nickel is worn off, there is brass under there, not solid nickel.

 

[retired_diver]

Use the same method to reload nickel plated and plain brass cases. I have about 2,000+ .38 Special cases, about 10% are nickel plated. Some have been reloaded so much the nickel is worn thin in spots and the brass shows through. In 30+ years of reloading I may have had one case that flaked nickel, and no more neck splits than any other non-plated brass. I have on occasion loaded some hefty loads under 158 gr. LSWC in nickel cases, but again have noticed no difference...

Me too. except in 40 years I have not even had one flaked nickel case. In my 44 mag. cases I have actually worn off the nickel so they look brass colored. Also, nickel seems to clean IMO better and faster in my tumbler.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I think a heavy crimp is what does them in with the 357 mag shells..............
I have 38 hulls that have a lot of the nickel wore off and brass
showing and they are UGLY, but keep on ticking.........

I try to use new for SD loads, since they slide out a little better than the Brass cases and can be seen better in low light conditions.

 

[Cdog]

As with any brass, don't unnecessarily expand the case mouth more than required and keep pressures within reason. The case mouth takes a beating in most autoloaders.

I've had trouble with more than one brand of .38 Auto/Super nickel cases splitting very prematurely.

The last nickel stuff I bought was Starline .45 Colt. It was the last too. I found split cases after the first use. Cowboy action velocities, no heavy crimp.

I too have some nickel mixed in my target.38 Special and .45 ACP stuff that's been loaded several times. It ain't something I count on though.

As posted earlier, just take a closer look/feel.

 

[loc n load]

Nickeled brass

I have nickeled 38 spl brass that I have loaded more than 20 times, using normal pressure loads .....same with 357 mag brass, although I have to trim it after 3-6 loads as I am loading it to considerably higher pressures.....I also have a quantity of 357 sig nickeled brass that I load and have had no issues....load em and shoot em.

 

[PeterK]

Great news! I have some moderate loads for some Berry's 158 gr. Plated bullets that I think I will use them for, thanks for the advice guys!

Peter

 

[Wee Hooker]

I've been loading nickel cases for 38 special for the last ten years almost exclusively. One of the things you can do to extend longevity is to pay special attention the the steps that bell mouth the case to accept the bullet and final crimp. A minimum of each will help save the case mouth from becoming brittle and cracking.

 

[johngalt]

They work fine, until they crack. Mine cracked far quicker than plain brass. The plating makes them slightly thicker. I noticed they went through the resizing die a little harder.

 

[alwslate]

They work fine, until they crack. Mine cracked far quicker than plain brass. The plating makes them slightly thicker. I noticed they went through the resizing die a little harder.

I agree. I use a carbide insert sizing die and it takes more
effort to run the nickel 357 brass thru the die than what the
plain brass cases require. I attribute this to the nickel brass
being a little harder than the plain brass but I don't really
know. For whatever reason most of the 357 brass I have accumulated over the years is plated and some have been
reloaded many times. The nickel plating makes cracks at the
case mouth easier to spot it seems so a quick check before
loading is all that's required.

 

[rwsmith]

Carbide dies

Carbide dies are better than plain steel for nickel plated cases.

 

[Nemo288]

I prefer the nickel cases. I have been using the carbide dies for
a long time and have noticed the additional friction. This is enough
to slowly rub some of the nickel off onto the carbide (galling). I
was wondering why I was getting more scratches until I polished
the dies with some JB compound. Then I started using a VERY small
amount of (RCBS) spray lube on the plated cases. BIG difference.
This does cause some extra work cleaning off the cases but it is
well worth it IMHO. The cases stay scratch free and the dies stay clean.
I recently got a couple of the Redding dual ring carbide dies for
44 Mag and 44 SPL. Reading the fine print, they recommend a small
amount of lube be used with these dies.


---
Nemo

 

[mstuhr]

Spray lube

Howdy,
When I load them I lay them flat and shoot them with a little spray case lube. I do that with most everything and it makes em go through the carbide like stuff through a goose. I expect it makes them last a little longer too.
Good luck
Mike
Hi Nemo,
You posted while I was typing.
Good idea!

 

[Elliott41]

I use carbide dies and haven't observed any noticeable difference in friction reloading plated or plain brass. Some of my plated cases have lasted until the nickel has worn thin, but most of my plated cases have been discarded because of cracks in the mouth of the case. In my experience this seems to occur much more frequently with plated cases than with plain cases.