Which brass do you prefer

[bohoki]

i prefer plain

ive seen nickel crack i got 45 brass that has survived 3 reloaders and now its mine i can barely see the headstamps

[rm1911]

Second on the free. My sons aren't sure whether I take them to the range to shoot or pick brass!! Hey, they gotta earn their keep

[Kurgan]

I have more split nickel cases when loading .357 or 44 Mag. So for those calibers I prefer plain brass.

I don't really see any difference for non magnum calibers.

[Malthusian]

Same here

.357 nickel tends to split sooner then brass

[the86d]

...Any secrets right now I am removing the bulge on about 1000 pcs of 40 brass that's nickel.

I have heard good things...

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/882261/lee-bulge-buster-base-sizing-kit-380-auto-40-s-and-w-45-acp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyGa9AdNu9s

I don't reload anything but 5.56 and 9mm, but I have never had an issue so far in 3+years with nickel or plain brass, but since I do not own a Glock, I have never had "glocked .40 brass"...

[MongooseV8]

I haven't noticed a difference in effort required for resizing

Just to clarify, I was referring more to the nickel being harder on dies.

But a straight walled pistol cartridge in nickel is still going to be easy. Try full length sizing a nickle 30-06, or 300 Win Mag! Hopefully you have a strong heavy bench lol

[Carcassonne]

So nobody notices a difference in sizing nickel brass? I got a killer deal on it that's why I'm using it.

My observations.

It isn't as lubristic (is that a word) as plain brass when sizing, but is more lubristic when shooting. I know that doesn't make sense.

Nickle plating is harder than bare brass. The increased hardness makes it a little harder to resize. When the cartridge is in the magazine, the increased hardness reduces friction between the mag lips and the cartridge below it. I think it also reduces friction between the case and the feed-ramp, and chamber. It might also make extraction easier.


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[MongooseV8]

↑↑Agreed↑↑

[devster55]

Just to clarify, I was referring more to the nickel being harder on dies.

But a straight walled pistol cartridge in nickel is still going to be easy. Try full length sizing a nickle 30-06, or 300 Win Mag! Hopefully you have a strong heavy bench lol

I reload my dads 7mm rem mag brass that's nickel plated and it's a Pain to do.

[MongooseV8]

↑↑Haha exactly↑↑

Nickel can be harder on the dies and harder on you!

[Cowboy T]

For .38 Spl and .357M, there's a slight difference through the resizing die, but not enough for me to really care about it.

However, for .45 Colt, with all that surface area, the difference through the resizing die is quite noticeable and significant. The nickel does take rather a bit more oomph to get through. For that reason, if I'm doing .45 Colt nickel-plated, I'll give the cases a little spritz with Hornady One-Shot. This helps with the yellow cases, too, yes, but with the nickel-plated ones, it's especially helpful.

If you got the nickel-plated brass for a song, then use it and enjoy. Maybe a little One-Shot on the cases might help in your situation.

[ireload]

To me it does not matter. Yes there is a difference in the amount of sizing pressure between plain brass and nickel plated but really not a game changer for me. Nickeled brass has a thinner wall and not as elastic as plain brass hence the splits. But for a good price or even free.....I cannot complain.

[Dutch3]

My .38 SPL dies are old RCBS and the sizing die is not carbide. I do notice a difference with nickel plated brass in regard to requiring more effort. Of course, I am lubing at least every third case as well.

The sizer also has very little lead-in chamfer, so if I don't pay attention when starting to size a case, I'll occasionally crush one. I have noticed this happens more frequently with nickel-plated than non-plated cases.

I guess I could buy a new die set.

[JMP]

For autoloading pistol, it's good as long as it hasn't weakened too much. Life is too short to fuss trying to track and sort that stuff. For necked rifle, there are only three makers, Lapua, Norma, and Nosler. However, exceptions are made for large cartridges such as the .50 BMG, .416 Barrett, .505 Gibbs lineage, etc.