Difference in nickel & brass cases....

[fabguy]

I am still new to reloading, and was wondering what is the benefits of brass cases VS nickel cases. I will be reloading .40 S&W and 9mm and have an abundance of both of them.If it helps here is what I will be using for these rounds
6.2 gr. HS-6 powder
CCI small pistol primers
115gr FMJ (9mm)
155 - 180 gr. (.40 S&W)
Thank you for your info everyone and your knowledge

[sargenv]

Either works.. no advantage or disadvanage.. some people like the nickel cases because they believe the feed slicker than brass.. I've not really found any difference.. I pick them all up..

[stand125]

I reload both just fine. I don't really know the differences, but both shoot well in Pistol calibers from my experience. You can even reload steel cases which very few people do because you can usually keep their own brass and now more nickel.

[XDRoX]

The nickel cases will crack way sooner than the brass. You'll be lucky to get half as many loads from nickel. I can get 20 plus reloads from 9mm brass. I'm lucky to get 10 from nickel.

[sargenv]

I've seen and read that old wive's tale for a lot of years.. but I have nickel cases that have been loaded so many times that the nickel is coming off and the brass is showing through. I get an equal # of nickel and brass cases that split at the mouth (that gets work hardened being flared to seat bullets and crimped to be able to feed into the firearm). The theory is dissimilar metals causes the splitting, but I just have not found this to be true.

[Southpaw45]

I've seen and read that old wive's tale for a lot of years.. but I have nickel cases that have been loaded so many times that the nickel is coming off and the brass is showing through. I get an equal # of nickel and brass cases that split at the mouth (that gets work hardened being flared to seat bullets and crimped to be able to feed into the firearm). The theory is dissimilar metals causes the splitting, but I just have not found this to be true.

AGREE! I get the same results. Only difference is my nickel brass is for .45 Colt. I to have some nickel brass that barely has any more nickel on them and there still going.....

[fabguy]

The nickel cases will crack way sooner than the brass. You'll be lucky to get half as many loads from nickel. I can get 20 plus reloads from 9mm brass. I'm lucky to get 10 from nickel.

Oh wow, I was hoping to get 3 reloads per case, I didn't know you could get that many loads out of a case. I was assuming it would be the same as my .223 reload count. I only go that many because I don't want an accident, then just scrap the old brass.

[Cowboy T]

I usually get at least 10 loadings out of my .38 Spl and .45 Colt cases. Some of them have 15 and show no signs of giving out, and some in that batch are nickel-plated. What tends to make straight-walled brass brittle is high pressure.

Some gun magazine did an experiment some years back, just to see how many loads they could get out of a case. The longest-lived one got 147 loads out of it before it finally split. This was a nickel case. IIRC, in that lot, 30 to 40 uses was typical. They were not using nuclear loads.

[Marlin Hunter]

The nickel cases will crack way sooner than the brass. You'll be lucky to get half as many loads from nickel. I can get 20 plus reloads from 9mm brass. I'm lucky to get 10 from nickel.

+1

I get far more cracked nickle cases than brass cases. Nickle is harder than brass. If you need to trim your cases, you will wear out your cutter a lot sooner. Heavy crimps for magnum loads make nickle plated brass crack faster than regular brass. I don't know of any match (rifle) shooters that use nickle plated brass. Nickle plated cases are good if you will be carrying the ammo all day, and every day: Good for police. I think a lot of home/self defense ammo is nickle plated: Black Talon, Hydro Shock, etc).

[Fyathyrio]

I use nickle for my .357 and brass for my .38 so it's easy to tell them apart. The general consensus is that nickle will split sooner, and I shoot the .38 more often. I haven't run through it enough yet to know if true or not.

[XDRoX]

Some of you guys are showing how new you are to reloading in this thread speaking of old wife's tail and such. Nickel will split before brass. It's simple laws of physics and metal elasticity. Brass is more malleable than nickel.

[JagerDog]

Just for clarity's sake. The nickle is nickle plated brass.

The plus for nickle to me, is it effectively doesn't tarnish. If you need to polish them at all, it's very quick. Brass can get pretty ugly, just handling them, then putting them away. With the advent of carbide pistol dies, there's really no extra die wear either.

I use both, keeping my "warm" loads in nickle. No real reason other than they might see more handling, before eventual discharging and I have more brass than nickle. Mostly it's identification, like different colors for shotshells.

[Fishslayer]

Supposedly nickel plated will split before yellow brass. In .38SP either will be a loooong time unless you're overworking your brass.
Dunno, but most of the split cases I find when reloading are nickel plated.

I'm also told that flakes of nickel can cause binding in dies.

Nickel plated will not turn green from the tanning chemicals when left in leather cartridge loops. I could be wrong, but I believe this is why it was developed in the first place?

[cbaer5]

wow learn something new every day i didnt know they were plated but in that case how or why is there a difference both for reloading and for everything else why dose it do something special I've never used them

[LGB Loader]

i have nickle plated brass where the plating has almost come off completely but still has not split at the mouth. the plating has just worn off, or faded to yellow. Over all, I prefer plain brass. The main reason being that if the plating flakes off as it often does, I don't want it to cause damage or scratch my dies.

LGB