What is the story with nickel cases and trimming?

[ghostie]

I've been reloading for about 5-6 months now. I've learned a lot, but still have a long way to go. Anyway..

My girlfriend was helping me reload .40S&W last night. She was trimming the cases with a Lee cutter for me (yes, it is fantastic to have someone to help me... but she also does shoot the product of our labours as well).

One thing we noticed was, none of the nickel cases (from a box of Speer Gold Dots) required any trimming at all. Is that generally the way it goes? These were all once fired - brass or nickel. It is a bit surprising how much some of the brass will lengthen with one firing.

I've also heard that nickel cases can damage dies: internet wisdom, or any validity to it?

One other question regarding case trimming: is it generally accepted that cases getting stuck in the chamber is due to insufficient trimming? I have had a few get stuck, both with rifle and pistol... and I have really tried to improve my case prep regime to avoid it in the future... as cases getting stuck in chambers sucks big time.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mikeman20]

Pretty sure the nickle plated cases are harder, so less lengthening when you shoot

 

[Al-Sway]

You don't know if they lengthened after one firing, as you didn't measure them before firing. They could very well have been variable length, and the nickel plated ones could have been a different length to start with.
As for use, I have used nickel plated brass for years in .38 and .357 Magnum and I have not found any significant difference. Certainly I have never noticed a die problem. Might have been an issue decades ago before carbide dies were common.
As for trimming pistol cases, that is amazing. I have never trimmed a pistol case, whether for revolver or auto. Why?

 

[rdgietz]

Mikeman is right... Nickle plated cases are a bit harder than non plated brass cases. Therefore there resist stretching. You also get an additional feature of a primer pocket that does not stretch as much either... I have only been reloading for about 2 years now but have never trimmed my 40S&W cases. Started with 2000 cases and have loaded 28,000 rounds in them... have only had about a handful of split cases and none that have failed to keep a primer in the pocket. Not really sure you need to trim you 40 S&W cases after each shooting. As you can see i have never done it (loaded each case about 14 times already). Because most pistol rounds headspace on the case rim... its not really an issue i think. Unlike rifle rounds which require trimming after a few shootings to ensure the headspace of the round is within safe limits.

With regard to your stuck cases... Not sure its the case trimming that is causing this. Look at your extractor. It may be broken or failing. What type of gun are you shooting these rounds in?

Are you crimping your rounds too much at the end of the reloading cycle? This might be your problem also. One way to find out is to remove your barrel from your pistol and then try your newly loaded round in the chamber. You should be able to feel the found headspace on the rim of the case and then it should easily rotate in the chamber. If you cannot feel the round contact the end of the chamber and are unable to rotate it you may have one of two problems. The first is too much crimp allowing the round to slide past the position where the case is supposed to catch the chamber. This can cause the round to jam in the chamber... Not sure if it would jam after shot but it may... You need to make sure that you donot crimp the round too much. Only bring the case back to the parallel case wall position with your crimp die so it will headspace on the chamber.

The second problem if you cannot rotate the round in the chamber would be your bullet seating length is too long for your chamber and the bullet is touching the lands of the rifling. You need to test the OAL of your round and reduce it until it does not touch the lands of the rifling. Donot reduce the OAL too much as it may cause increases in pressures and cause catastrophic failure (probably not your problem, only put it in for completeness sake).

Hope this helps..

RDG