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The theory is the nickel plating process does something to make the brass brittle, I separate them out since they are much more likely to fail, and therefore need to be inspected more closely when reloading. They are nickel plated to resist corrosion, originally the big problem was brass cases in belt loops, they would corrode and get this waxy green stuff called verdigris all over them, so ammo carried in belt loops needs to have nickel plated cases, but they resist corrosion from other things as well, so they are good for self defense ammo that might be carried a lot, but not shot that often.

I don't know how much difference it might make, the Beretta has a 5" bbl, and I see that the Glock 22 has a 4.49" bbl. I have forgotten the OAL on my loads, but I have never seen any trace of primer flattening or anything else that might suggest they might be a little hot in my gun, your results may vary.

Use caution when shortening the OAL, pressures can skyrocket with only a slight reduction in OAL. I would try a little more crimp first, crimping can often cause problems with excessive variation in velocities. Since you didn't mention caliber, which is kind of important, I'm guessing you are talking about 40 S&W. According to Alliant, you are within 10% of the max charge for jacketed bullets, plated bullets should be loaded down a bit more, at the same time you are loading a bit longer than the minimum OAL, so that's probably helping you. Alliant Powder 40 S&W info

My standard 38 special load for many years was 2.5 gr of Bullseye with a swaged 148 gr HBWC, then I switched over to 3.1 gr of WW231, I shot a lot of PPC matches with that load of 231, it was common to see a few flakes of unburned powder on either load, but both were excellent performers. These days I load 158 gr RN with Trail Boss for Cowboy shooting, I can't think what the exact load is, but I really like the Trail Boss since a double charge of Trail Boss completely fills the 38 case to the rim, hard to miss, and it meters beautifully! It does require a crimp for good ignition, but with a crimp it is extremely consistent.

My standard 9mm load for many years has been 4.6 gr of WW231 using a 115 gr JHP, not sure about the length. The bullets in the chrony info below are Zero 115 gr JHP, and I'm shooting them in a Beretta Model 92. Due to huge increases in bullet prices I will probably buy plated bullets the next time I make a bulk bullet purchase. 9/28/2006 115 gr hollow point Fed primer 70 degrees 4.6 gr WW231 Beretta 92 1 1107.00 1079.00 2 1073.00 1111.00 3 1074.00 1063.00 4 1088.00 1107.00 5 1113.00 1079.00 6 1059.00 1089.00 7 1110.00 1100.00 8 1092.00 1086.00 9 1065.00 1104.00 10 1106.00 1086.00 Avg vel 1089.00 1091.00 High 1113.00 1111.00 Low 1059.00 1061.00 ES 54.00 45.60 SD 20.10 14.50 AD 17.00 11.90

Mica has been used to lube the inside of case necks for probably over 100 years, not much of a secret. If you are using Dillon dies for bottle neck rifle calibers they already use a carbide expansion button and don't require any lube on the inside of the case neck. I have a jar of mica I got from Midway that I use when I'm loading most of my bottle neck rifle calibers, the only rifle caliber I reload on the Dillon is 223/5.56, the other calibers aren't loaded in bulk so I don't have Dillon dies for them.

In pistol calibers you normally don't have to lube if using carbide dies, the only exception to that I have found is 44 magnum, its quite a workout if you don't lube them. Rifle calibers are an entirely different animal, Dillon says on their website that carbide rifle dies still need to be lubed, and they recommend carbide dies in rifle calibers for commercial loaders for longer die life, don't waste your money on carbide dies in bottle neck rifle calibers for the average reloader.

I'm not sure why Lyman would say that, a 9mm case in a carbide die doesn't need to be lubricated, I've loaded over 25,000 over the years and have never lubed a case. The only pistol caliber I have found it necessary to lube is 44 magnum, for some reason they take a lot of muscle to size unless they are lubed. My personal standard load in 9mm, 38 special and 45 acp all use WW231 powder, I've been using it a very long time with great results. Recently I've loaded a lot of 38 special using Trail Boss powder, I really like it also, but it does need to be crimped to perform properly.

The occasional split case is nothing to get excited about. If its happening all the time...then you have a problem.

If you are getting media stuck in the flash hole, the easy way to fix that is to use a finer grade of media, I use a fine grade of walnut to clean the lube off the brass, that totally eliminated the problem of media stuck in the flash holes or primer pocket. One Shot works pretty well, but its coating is less uniform, when using One Shot I pay careful attention to the force its taking to resize the case, if a case starts getting tight I back off and add some more lube to the case, Dillon lube is much more uniform and I never feel like a case is going to stick in the die.

I have never had any problems with Federal pistol brass, a lot of people seem to dislike Federal rifle brass, and one person took the time to produce this photo and measure the web thickness of 223 cases, as you can see, the web on Federal rifle cases is on the thin side.

I trim each and every single piece of 223 brass, each time it is reloaded, I have the Giraud Trimmer and it makes it fast and easy. Not cheap but worth every penny! Giraud Trimmer Keep in mind some powders are temperature sensitive, 748 is about middle of the pack, but loads worked up in cooler weather may be too hot when the weather gets hot, and the shooting gets fast, like in a match! Load 748 to moderate pressures.

FREE is good!

Nickel plated brass splits too easily, plain brass 45 acp cases last almost forever, but I've never been able to get more that a few loadings on nickel plate before it splits or the plating starts peeling off. From what I've heard the plating process is what causes the problems.

It's got me stumped then, I've been reloading on a Dillon RL550 since 1985, 38 special, 357 mag, 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 acp, and for the last 3 or 4 years 223, I've never seen anything like you describe.

What caliber are you having the problem with, and kind of dies are you using?

I used to shoot PPC and loaded tens of thousands of Federal primers on my 550, they were the only primer that would work reliably in my PPC revolver, it had been set up for Federal primers only. The only time I had a problem with primers in the loading tube was with some Winchester small pistol which I have been loading for everything else since Federals are so hard to find. I found ONE Winchester small pistol primer with a burr on it, so even that is pretty rare since I've run through a lot of those without any problems.

I had forgotten about that, it will tie a revolver up big time, never used the wax bullets but I played with those Speer plastic ones a long time ago, one or two shots was about all you could get with a revolver.

Wax bullets are nothing new, I would imagine they would make a heck of a mess in your barrel though.

My PPC revolver can only use Federal small pistol primers, so that's the only small pistol primer I buy, and they work perfectly in 9mm. I have never used small rifle primers in 9mm and don't see any need for them in normal use.

I rarely have to buy cases, but when I do it's Starline.

I've never had any problems with the Federal brass, I haven't picked up any NT brass yet.

The story about detonation has been going around for a long time, there are a lot of theories about it, and I understand that nobody has been able to duplicate it under controlled conditions. Blown up guns, lots of theories, no proof available for any of it, so what's the truth? At this point I wonder if we will ever know!

If the question is about the Super Swage, here's what Dillon's website says: The Dillon Super Swage 600 comes complete with large and small swage.

Dillon Super Swage, you can order it from Brian. Order it from Brian here Scroll down the page to see the Super Swage