brass vs. nickel case with same headstamp
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NoSecondBest
New member
I do it all the time with .357mag brass. I don't usually mix them in the ammo box, but they still shoot the same POI when I do shoot them. Accuracy is the same. I prefer nickle because it looks nicer and it's easier to clean, but yellow brass shoots just as well.
http://www.massreloading.com/longevity.html
In pistol brass, you might expect a brass shell to last through 30 reloads. Nickel plated - 10 to 15.....
The nickel plated is a bit stiffer overall and can thus be harder on your dies over a long period of time.
I prefer brass.
In pistol brass, you might expect a brass shell to last through 30 reloads. Nickel plated - 10 to 15.....
The nickel plated is a bit stiffer overall and can thus be harder on your dies over a long period of time.
I prefer brass.
603Country
New member
As grey lion says, You’ll get shorter life with the nickel plated cases. That has been my experience, though I wouldn’t call it a crisis.
kilotanker22
New member
I agree with the above statements. I have loaded nickel plated rifle bras and noticed the nickel is much harder. Also as noted above Brass life is significantly shorter.
I'd say you get a shorter life with SOME nickel cases. I will admit to very little experience with nickel plated rifle brass, I have some .222 and oh they do look pretty, but have only been loaded a time or two.
I have detected no difference in case life between nickel plated .38 Spl and .45acp and their brass counterparts. Both seem to fail at about the same rate. I have some nickel cases that have been loaded so many times the nickel has worn off in "stripes". Higher pressure rounds, where the brass is worked more might be different.
I suppose technically nickel is harder on dies than brass, but I have found no way to tell any practical difference. If anything, nickel feels "smoother" going in and out of the die.
I have detected no difference in case life between nickel plated .38 Spl and .45acp and their brass counterparts. Both seem to fail at about the same rate. I have some nickel cases that have been loaded so many times the nickel has worn off in "stripes". Higher pressure rounds, where the brass is worked more might be different.
I suppose technically nickel is harder on dies than brass, but I have found no way to tell any practical difference. If anything, nickel feels "smoother" going in and out of the die.
I feel more resistance with nickel. I can't prove it with data,I've done no tests,but actually your dies may last longer with nickel.here is why.
I think the softer brass is more of a grit magnet. Range grit.
Its the grit that will cut your die steel.I suspect nickle is just cleaner.
I think the softer brass is more of a grit magnet. Range grit.
Its the grit that will cut your die steel.I suspect nickle is just cleaner.
Then there are those of us who always tumble/clean our brass before reloading.
The handgun nickle cases I've used over the years have a shorter case life than brass. Neck cracks and the occasional body crack are the culprits. Too, I feel a difference while seating bullets, with nickle cases usually exhibiting greater resistance to seating. Now whether this is due to spring back differences vis a vis brass, I can't say, but they do take more pressure to seat a bullet.
Close in, say under 15 yds, I find no POI changes but at longer range, I do. I attribute this to different neck tension...
In my use, the only nickle cases I use are .38 Super for the simple reason that my Colt Commander in that caliber throws they too far out in the grass on my home range...and the nickle is easier to find! YMMv, Rod
Close in, say under 15 yds, I find no POI changes but at longer range, I do. I attribute this to different neck tension...
In my use, the only nickle cases I use are .38 Super for the simple reason that my Colt Commander in that caliber throws they too far out in the grass on my home range...and the nickle is easier to find! YMMv, Rod
I bought a bag of 500 mixed Nickle and Brass .38 Spl. cases a few years ago. In good weather I shoot 96 rounds of .38 spl. everyday. Over that few years, I would toss any cases in the brass salvage can and the individual case mouths developed cracks, replacing that particular case in that lot of 96 cases with a once-fired brass case. That resulted in that lot of 96 cases to have different round-counts. I noticed that my brass salvage bucket was getting way more Nickle cases than brass. Eventually, I got to the point where all the Nickel .38 spl. cases had been weeded out of the lot due to cracks in the mouth (or body) of the case. I no longer have any Nickle cases left in my lots of 96 cases. Therefore, I have concluded that in general (there was more than one headstamp on the Nickel cases), that Nickel cases fail at a higher rate than non-nickel .38 spl. cases. As for differences in performance, pressure, velocity, I do not know inasmuch as I hold my .38 spl. loads to "gallery" level.
NoSecondBest
New member
I'm still loading nickle .357 brass I bought in the 80's. I'll admit that I buy in bulk so I don't know the exact number of times it's been loaded, but.....it lasts a long time. I wouldn't even enter times reloaded in the equation as to whether or not to get nickle or yellow brass.
Are you suggesting I don't clean my brass? If you are,then you don't know what you are talking about.
When you clean the grti off your brass in the tumbler,where does the grit go?
Do you change your media after every use?
I have used brass laps to slightly enlarge holes to fit a pin,ansd brass laps with diamond paste to polish mold cavities Why do you suppose we use brass?
Because the grit embeds in the brass.It does not just sit on the surface.Grit embeds and becomes a cutting tooth.
I have ripped the very hard recast surface of EDM finish off plenty of hard tool steel using brass and lapping compound.
IMO,its easier to get all the grit off the harder,slicker nickel.
That said,I don't typically buy nickel brass.It IS easier to find ejected nickle 38 Super brass.
I had more than one 7mm Rem rifle The Husky had a chamber shoulder headspace cut deeper than the M-70.
I size to headspace on the shoulder..I was shooting the Husky less,so I bought a lot of nickel 7mm Rem brass for the Husky.
It was more difficult to load,but far easier to keep track of.
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A confession
I confess that I dry tumble all my brass, but I tumble them until they look really shiny. Then, I resize them. The wet water way or wet tumble might be better but I'm lazy. My resized casings all seem scratch free still so I think I'm okay.
I load my jacketed bullets in nickel cases because I won't shoot these as much and load lead pistol bullets in my brass casings.
I confess that I dry tumble all my brass, but I tumble them until they look really shiny. Then, I resize them. The wet water way or wet tumble might be better but I'm lazy. My resized casings all seem scratch free still so I think I'm okay.
I load my jacketed bullets in nickel cases because I won't shoot these as much and load lead pistol bullets in my brass casings.