brass or nickel?

With 9mm I notice no difference at all.
With .38/.357 I find the plated case develop splits at the mouth sooner probably due to the roll crimp used on those cartridges.
 
the nickel ones dont last as many times as the regular brass does, but the nickel ones also dont corode, so if your going to make yourself 100 special cartridges just to keep in your safe just incase, and you want them to last the nickel would be better
 
Nickle is more brittle and subject to splitting earlier. It really depends on how hot your loads are. You also need to be more diligent when using nickle as if they are cracked you can damage your dies very easily. You must carefully inspect the nickle casings before sizing to look for cracks or plating flaking off.
Performance wise there is no difference.:)
dB
 
So when comparing nickel to brass cases in 9mm at regular pressures the nickel should last just as long as the brass, if not just fall short on longevity. Is that a fairly accurate statement?
 
Nickel work hardens due to resizing more than plain brass thus it tends to flake or split more often than brass. Not flaring the case mouth excessively will help it last longer although I haven't thrown one away in years.

I also trim my straight wall pistol brass on occasion and that has also eliminated the problem of split case mouths,I find the primer pockets loosen up before I have issues with split cases. I have no preference and shoot lots of both types.
 
I have found .38Spl / .357Mag nickel plated to weaken and split on the side more often than the mouth. Guns & Ammo did an article on this phenonemon a while back, they did not have a definitive answer though. Nickle plated has a bonus of being easier to clean though. Performance wise, no difference to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom