Nickel for reloading

[Flyin40]

Someone said not to reload with nickel. Is there any problems with it in the 40sw???

Flyin40

[Loves2Shoot]

Reloaded a ton of them in .40 and a ton in .38 super. In rifles it can be badddd. The nickle will flake off and at the high pressures it can cause damage. I just toss the ones that are flaking.

[MikeFoley]

I prefer it, but I only use once fired brass, and I don't reuse it. I think it loads easier in the press and it cleans faster in the tumbler. I've never had any issues with it, but I only load .40S&W.

[Tman33_99]

I like it because it tumbles clean easier, seems to be slicker, and thus reloads easier. I get many reloads out of each batch. The nickle will split after some time, but I have not had any major problems.

[Flyin40]

Exactly what I was looking for. I have some in the tumbler now.

Thks for the quick reply

Flyin40

[DougCarden]

In handguns it will crack sooner than plain brass. If you are looking for accuracy go with brass. Case mouth tension is different with nickel brass.

[EricW]

Terrible stuff. No one should use nickel brass. Send it all to me for proper disposal.

[Flyin40]

I seen many of your post say that, you must have a big gargage to keep all the garbage you collect, LOL.

Did you modify your platform to fit your conversion??? I'm trying mine out for the first time tomorrow. I don't have any STI mags yet, have to borrow a single stack just to try it out. Came with 1 1911 mag.

Flyin40

[EricW]

Did you modify your platform to fit your conversion???

No, I haven't bought a conversion yet. I *think* given the availability of the Marvel, I may end up with a Buckmark for now. I need to get working on transitions before A1.

[Vlad]

I loose brass long before it splits. I just got a batch of 9mm nickle brass and it made reloading SO much faster and smoother.

[herky]

I agree with DougC, splits much faster than brass, especially, in my experience, with minor load 38 special. I keep it separate and use it in lost brass matches.

[Jasonub]

i had great experience with them till i started to use the egw undersized die. the nickle flakes off and scratches the succeeding brass when ran through the sizing die. i stopped buying nickle after this

[anyracoon]

I've been using nickel brass for several years in my .40s. It helps me track which reloads are of different bullet weights. For example, 165 in brass cases and 180 in nickel cases.

[wide45]

The first year I went to the nationals, I took all nickel brass. It made no detectable difference in the load, but looked so nice! I felt like the Lone Ranger. I couldn't miss.

[ricciardelli]

Been loading them in .357 Magnum and .38 Super (and some .45ACP) forever and have had no problems.

[tightloop]

I like it, but don't intentionally use it or buy it...

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

For revolver, all I use is nickel. I don't track how many times I reload but I rarely have splits in 45 or 40.

[revchuck]

I use it, but then I use anything as long as it's Boxer primed and not A-MERC.

IME, it tends to split much sooner than regular brass in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. I load both lead and jacketed bullets, and prefer the nickle brass for the jacketed bullets 'cause it looks prettier. If I'm loading during my annual load-every-empty-case-I-own binge, they get loaded together.

There's a safety aspect that applies to me and other revolver shooters who have stainless revolvers. I use brass cases when shooting stainless or nickle guns. This is due to what happened to a guy I knew in the late '80s. He was a PA state trooper, and his duty gun was a stainless Security Six loaded with nickle case ammo. He was working at the local HQ and got bored, and decided to do some dry fire at his computer screen. He pulled his Ruger out of the holster, emptied the cylinder, and went click-click-click-BANG! Seems he hadn't checked to ensure the cylinder was empty, nor counted the rounds. Luckily, the computer monitor was the only casualty. He got a butt chewing to remember, plus got to replace the monitor out of his own pocket.

[benos]

The nickel plating process makes brass more brittle and prone to crack. Just how much sooner the neck splits will be due to many factors. I've seen some nickel brass last for quite a few firings, and some, like a few hundred rounds of RP 40 S&W brass, split up to 40% on the first firing. (Yes, I saw that happen.) Basically, although it does look purty, I'd never spend any money on it.

be

[SiG Lady]

A quote from HANDGUNS, April/May 2005, Letters, p. 10:

"...The splitting observed occurring with nickel-plated cases is a combination of stress-corrosion cracking and pitting-corrosion cracking. Both are caused by the attack on the brass of the case by the acid etching solution that is used to "pickle" the cases before the actual plating is done."

--Judson B. Shaw

Clarke County, Alabama

[shred]

some, like a few hundred rounds of RP 40 S&W brass, split up to 40% on the first firing. (Yes, I saw that happen.)

I had almost 50% of a few hundred RP 10mm nickel cases crack on first firing once years ago too.

[Vlad]

My only real experience is with 9mm Federal plated brass of which I had about 200 cases mixed with my normal brass. I never have seen one split, chip, flake, exfoliate, or whatever. It has seen about 6 to 7 loadings. based on that experience I have recently purchased about 1500 mixed Speer and Federal 9mm cases and I have loaded and shot about 500 of them and picked up every single one I could find. They all look good as well, even though their first firing was through a Glock (police range was the source).

I plan on using the rest of it, for about 5 loadings and then buy some more. At $9 per 1000 I don't care if I throw it out more often. It allows me to load close to 500 per hour in a 550B, the process is smoother. The mags load easier, the gun cycles better and the brass is easier to find.

Now, I wonder if there is some history we can put together and see if some brands are better then others. So far I see to people complaining about RP. I have never seen Winchester nickle, and the other I have seen are Fed and Speer and I had no problems with those. May it be that there are multiple ways to plate brass?

[Vlad]

Browsing the web lets me know that there are at least 3 types of chemical plating and though I'm sure about it I think that some of the options are not acid based. Now I have myself a project, finding more about plating process.

[kevin c]

some, like a few hundred rounds of RP 40 S&W brass, split up to 40% on the first firing. (Yes, I saw that happen.)

I had almost 50% of a few hundred RP 10mm nickel cases crack on first firing once years ago too.

I shoot mostly once fired factory RP nickel in my 170 PF match loads. My experience has been different from BE's and Shred's. While the nickel RP definitely splits more often than the regular RP and Win I have used on occasion, my failure rate is about 1 to 3% per loading (that is, the case splits after firing). But then, I usually get my brass in large lots, and have only gone through about three or four different lots. It might just be luck.

I've heard that aggressive flaring of the case mouth can contribute to splitting, and it is 98% case mouth splitting that I see. I use a very light flare, to the point that occasionally a short case won't take a bell with my setup, and the bullet won't stay upright in the seating station.

[JohnRodriguez]

I know you can find it in Sierra reloading manual, but the term used for why nickel plated brass will split faster is call Nitrogen Embrittelment. the only time I use regular brass is for a lost brass match, and my 223 and 308. all my other stuff is nickle plated remington