Nickel Plated or Regular Brass?

[myarmor]

Is it worth going the extra for Nickel plated brass?
Whats the benifits of it?
Is it harder to size and fire form?
-Aaron

[KN]

It's a little harder to size, but not much. Fire forming I don't know. Cleans up alot easier,I don't care for it much because I always see little bits of nickle flaked off on my bench after sizing it and I don't think thats too good on my dies. Sure looks pretty though.  KN

[ricciardelli]

Do a search...this topic has been covered 100 times.

[rickyp]

I use nickle for hunting rounds. it makes it easy to find them in the woods when you drop them. they do not crude as bad as normal brass can.
If the nickle flakes off in a die it could scratch it so you just have to watch them.

[Questor]

I got nickel .223 brass because it's a different color than my .221 brass and helps me keep them separate when prairie dog shooting. Other than that, if you like the looks, then it may be worth using them. I see the differences as purely cosmetic.

[myarmor]

Ok, yes I have done a search on this, but it still (as always) leaves me with more questions.
 Plating a piece of brass with nickel is suppose to make a harder surface.  Brass/the case, is the weakest link of the reloading process, and brass is very flexable or better said malleable.

-In theory then, if nickel plated cases are "stronger" wouldn't they hold up to max loads better then regular unplated brass?

-How is it that the nickel flaking off makes for less reloads per piece of brass, other than the concern of harming a die?

-How is the nickel fused to the brass?

-Does annealing these make for less flaking?

[Castaway]

I passed on a bunch of once fired nickled 357 brass this past weekend.  The only advantage with it is carrying cartridges in an adverse environment (including leather loops) as it doesn't corrode.  My experience is that after two loadings with straight walled pistol cases is that it flakes off of the neck and it seems to me that the case neck seems to split faster than does brass.

[Reed1911]

-In theory then, if nickel plated cases are "stronger" wouldn't they hold up to max loads better then regular unplated brass?

-How is it that the nickel flaking off makes for less reloads per piece of brass, other than the concern of harming a die?

-How is the nickel fused to the brass?

-Does annealing these make for less flaking?

-Harder yes, stronger no, or not enough to be considered. It is only a VERY thin surface treatment.
-Flaking will not make more or less loads per piece in and of itself. It is merely a sign of over sizing/over expansion or a bad plating
-the cases are acid washed and then plated by electrolysis
-annealing is a pain on nickel cases unless you are using the crayons, you can't really see any color changes like you can on standard brass, not to mention that if you are looking to form the brass into anything other than the original caliber don't use nickel, it causes a terrible looking case.

[Grumulkin]

My concern would be bullets taking little nickle plating flakes down the bore and lapping it when I didn't want it lapped.

[Reed1911]

I would not be concerned about that. In any event nickel is pretty soft when compared to your barrel.

[Questor]

My motto is: If in doubt, find out what the competitors are using.

In this case, they all use unplated brass.

[rbwillnj]

I shoot mostly target loads, and my brass lasts almost forever.  But, the nickel plated stuff seems to start cracking after just a few reloads.  I let someone else pick up the nickel plated stuff.  I don't use it anymore for anything.

[Coyote Hunter]

My buddy uses some for hunting loads.  No use for it myself.

While it doesn't corrode like brass does when kept in leather holster loops, but they do not seem to last as long as brass cases.  My solution is not to keep the brass cases in the holster loops unless actually weaing the holster.

Sude do make for a good looking cartridge, though.

[rickyp]

Not a great picture but here are 4 silver bullets.

I used Federal nickle brass and Winchester 9mm silver tip bullets
They shoot well, I use them in my home defiance  revolver

[myarmor]

-Harder yes, stronger no, or not enough to be considered. It is only a VERY thin surface treatment.
-Flaking will not make more or less loads per piece in and of itself. It is merely a sign of over sizing/over expansion or a bad plating
-the cases are acid washed and then plated by electrolysis
-annealing is a pain on nickel cases unless you are using the crayons, you can't really see any color changes like you can on standard brass, not to mention that if you are looking to form the brass into anything other than the original caliber don't use nickel, it causes a terrible looking case.

Thanks Ron, that pretty much cleared up my questions.  :toast: