Nickel Vs Brass Cases

[Krogen]

I believe nickel became popular because cartridges in leather belt loops were getting enough verdigris they would not chamber or had to be worked out of dumo pouches with tools. Hopefully no one is keeping cartridges in leather for long periods.

My nickel cases are mainly 30 wadcutter brass, though I did end up with 50 280 Remington nickel cases.

This is my understanding as well. Nickel cases for defense ammo isn't so prone to "going green" when carried at length. It has nothing to do with ease of extraction as mentioned above.

In days past, I used some Federal nickle plated rifle cases. Ostensibly, these were match grade cases and available only as components. I used them for .308 Win, .222 Rem and 6x47 Rem. Perhaps I should say "match" because I saw no significant benefit with them over others'. From what I can tell, they were ordinary, but plated, cases. Probably done for the bling factor. If you didn't shoot well, then at least you could look good!

 

[glenwolde]

The vast majority of my reloading experience is with the .38 Special and I can't say the nickel cases are any different than brass. I do keep my nickel cases separate from my brass ones but that's just esthetics. After reading the above comments I'll add that 90% of my brass is Winchester,and old. I too have reloaded nickel cases enough to wear the nickel off the case, or at least the portion above the shell holder. Now that's some weird looking ammo. I also have some regular brass cases that have been reloaded so many times the headstamp is peened to the point of being difficult to read. I rarely lose a case regardless. Most of my brass is from the 80's. But I do have thousands of .38 cases so who knows how many times each has been reloaded. I do try to rotate through it.

Carbide is very, very, hard. I don't see how nickel could wear it out. That's a dubious assertion.

To my knowledge, nickel cases first came about to keep the cases from discoloring and/or corroding in police belt loops. Of course nobody does that anymore. Now I just think it's marketing. Or maybe if you're paying $1+ a round of SD ammo people want it to look good for a long time. Perhaps they improve function in autoloaders, but that would not explain why so many revolver cartridges are still nickel plated.

The only time I favor nickel is when I'm making 9mm Makarov cases out of 9mm Luger. I like to use the nickel cases for visual identification as I also reload for 9mm Luger and .380. They all look alike. So I never load .380 or 9mm Luger in nickel cases to prevent mix ups.

 

[WR Moore]

Nickel casings eject a bit easier than brass and the surface finish doesn't degrade like brass does.

What you'll typically see is that training ammo (if using actual duty ammo isn't required) is usually produced in brass cases with ball type bullets while duty ammo is in nickel cases with HP/JHP bullets. Makes it easier to tell which is which.

 

[OKFC05]

I've read that nickel cases wear out carbide dies much quicker than brass. How true is this? I have no idea.

Theoretically, yes, but keep it in perspective: you won't live long enough to wear out either with a hand operated press.
Are you considering buying a high-speed factory loader?!??

 

[AJ]

The vast majority of my reloading experience is with the .38 Special and I can't say the nickel cases are any different than brass. I do keep my nickel cases separate from my brass ones but that's just esthetics. After reading the above comments I'll add that 90% of my brass is Winchester,and old. I too have reloaded nickel cases enough to wear the nickel off the case, or at least the portion above the shell holder. Now that's some weird looking ammo. I also have some regular brass cases that have been reloaded so many times the headstamp is peened to the point of being difficult to read. I rarely lose a case regardless. Most of my brass is from the 80's. But I do have thousands of .38 cases so who knows how many times each has been reloaded. I do try to rotate through it.

Carbide is very, very, hard. I don't see how nickel could wear it out. That's a dubious assertion.

To my knowledge, nickel cases first came about to keep the cases from discoloring and/or corroding in police belt loops. Of course nobody does that anymore. Now I just think it's marketing. Or maybe if you're paying $1+ a round of SD ammo people want it to look good for a long time. Perhaps they improve function in autoloaders, but that would not explain why so many revolver cartridges are still nickel plated.

The only time I favor nickel is when I'm making 9mm Makarov cases out of 9mm Luger. I like to use the nickel cases for visual identification as I also reload for 9mm Luger and .380. They all look alike. So I never load .380 or 9mm Luger in nickel cases to prevent mix ups.

I load handguns for the most part. The only rifle that I reload is .30 M1 Carbine.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I had some really old Nickel 38 brass that I kept reloading, over and over......
until I could see brass spots on the cases !!

I like them both.

 

[Alk8944]

I've read that nickel cases wear out carbide dies much quicker than brass. How true is this? I have no idea.

This is absolutely B.S. Nickel has a hardness of 4.0 on the Mohs scale. Tungsten Carbide has a Mohs hardness of 9.0 to 9.5. This is in comparison to Diamond that has the highest hardness of 10.0 MOHS. The only thing that can cause wear to Tungsten Carbide is Diamond!!! Tungsten Carbide can only be worked or polished using Diamond tooling or abrasives.

 

[twodog max]

Some time back on the Ruger Forum there was this same discussion about brass versus nickel with the theme being longevity and effort to run through the sizer. Most were claiming nickel sized easier. This was not what i had observed in my decades of reloading both. So I conducted a test. I picked out 5 each new Starline 44 magnum brass and set out to reload until failure occurred and measuring with a fish scale effort to pull the handle on a single stage RCBS press. RCBS carbide dies were used no lube.
The first issue settled quickly. Nickel was several pounds more effort to size. Then we got into the longevity issue. To get to the point nickel failed first at about 22 loadings. Minor neck splits. I kept at it until 25 loading for each. The brass was still going and only 2 nickel cases split. The survivors are still in my brass loading mix somewhere. I never toss working brass.
I consider 22 loadings good service life and if offered at a good price would not hesitate to buy them but brass was better.
Other observation were I used mostly cast bullets and a stout load of 231 because I had an abundance of both but also shot some jacketed and 2400 and magnum levels. The revolver was a S&W Model 69. I like that revolver!
So take it for what it is my recorded observations.

 

[taz666]

Could the additional sizing effort of the nickel cases be just down to the plating thickness?

 

[GypsmJim]

I've read that nickel cases wear out carbide dies much quicker than brass. How true is this? I have no idea.

Way back when I bought a couple boxes of nickled .45 Colt cases. After a few reloads there was some peeling of the nickle and it ruined my sizing die. They were "original" Lee dies (Lee Custom Engineering) and to my surprise they replaced the die for free.

I don't buy nickle and if I find them on the range I throw them away.

 

[twodog max]

Could the additional sizing effort of the nickel cases be just down to the plating thickness?

That is a good question that I have no answer for.

 

[zonker5]

I've read that nickel cases wear out carbide dies much quicker than brass. How true is this? I have no idea.

Being a bit of a nit-picker, even with carbide dies I lube the cases, doesn't hurt a thing and makes me feel better. I also clean the primer holes.

 

[pantannojack]

I like to remark on the random upturn of nickel brass the way I notice repeating serial #'s on dollar bills I get for change at the local watering trough. When the numbers peak my fancy I get a power ball ticket. Hasn't helped yet.

 

[6string]

Don't confuse the symptom with the problem!!

I clean my empties first, then lightly lube them before sizing, and then clean the primer pockets. Even with carbide, a little lube is a good idea, and it eases the sizing job as well.
I've reloaded enough plated brass to find that I'm more likely to wear off the plating than have them split.
But, I am careful to select or modify my sizing dies so that the inside diameter is not more than a few thousandths less than the intended bullet diameter.
Most carbide dies seem to overly size the case. Have you ever noticed that those annoying splits always occur in the spot between the case head and the base of the bullet??
Besides the extra wear and tear on the empty cases, overly reduced cases discharge without the full benefit of support from the chamber wall. So, nickel plated or plain brass, they will be more prone to split when they blow out upon discharge. This is similar, but less serious, to firing a cartridge/gun combination with excess headspace.

You can buy adjustable lapping tools that will open up even a hard carbide die a couple thousandths of an inch.

PS: I've never seen a carbide die worn out from use. The failures I've seen have been cracked carbide rings from being dropped, or a failure of the epoxy used to glue the ring into the die body.

PS #2: If you doubt my observations about straight wall case splitting, consider nickel plated bottleneck cartridges.
If you have used these enough, you may have noticed that, despite their higher operating pressures, you almost never see these long case splits. Hmmm....

 

[biku324]

I have a bunch of once-fired Federal nickeled brass from Federal 357B 125 grain factory loads we fired until about 1990. When they finally start to crack or split (it takes several reloadings), I throw out that batch and dig out another. The relatively few brass cases I have do seem to 'work' more easily; my RCBS 38/357 carbide sizer/deprimer die is just fine since new purchase in July, 1976.

Life is good.

 

[Skeet 028]

I only load full blown mags in nickle cases. 357 44 41s if I have them. 38s I load any and all even have a few from the 40s or earlier . 45 Auto any and all. I have some nickle 45s with hardly any nickle left and some hardly have readable headstamps. I am pitching them these days since I have so many. I honestly think the nickle is removed from the cases more by tumbling them than sizing. All my nickle rifle cases I give to a friend back east. His son likes to load them cause they are "pretty". Oh and when I load handgun cases I use carbide if they make em and I still lightly spray with spray lube of whatever brand I have. Easier to size and seems to work the cases a bit less...for my blow away ammo in 45 auto I use 5.4 gr 231...so mostly all the same pressure range revolver cases get lot of 231 but different weight bullets

 

[David Sinko]

I have some R-P .45 Colt cases that I had bought new and after the first firing some of the nickel plating blew off in chunks. Some of it was peeling and I could grab it and peel off large pieces. R-P brass isn't what it used to be.

 

[gym cat]

Cannot see nickel wearing out a carbide die. Just shoot them, check for cracks as you would brass. Don't overthink it!!

 

[venomballistics]

Are nickel cases any better than brass cases? I do seem to find more cracked nickel cases than I do brass cases. I tend to separate them out of my brass cases when reloading. For some reason a couple of nickel cases in a box of brass cases just does not look right. Anyone else do this?

Better or worse .... Both
They shun dirt and corrosion which is nice for carry ammo, but they tend to split early

 

[Tu_S]

I've read that nickel cases wear out carbide dies much quicker than brass. How true is this? I have no idea.

I'm in my 50's now, and don't know of anyone who has worn out a carbide die. Some of the dies I'm using were inherited from my Dad and are over 40 years old and work fine.

I'm also sure I also have nickel and brass cases that are just as old and still in the rotation.