Brass or Nickel?

[drjterrell]

Any reasons to choose one over the other?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Laufen]

Nickel is harder and slicker. Might feed .0000001% better, so used for sd ammo. Brass is nice and soft, you can fireform it, easier on your gun, and easier to trim for reloading. Go with brass.

 

[Clarke123]

+1 - Nickel looks "good", but performs "bad" ... I use it 1x for SD Loads (I "wipe-on / wipe-off" red nail polish to seal the primer pocket and seated bullet case mouth to protect from moisture)

 

[Junior_357]

Nothing wrong with nickel cases on factory loaded ammo - unless you plan on reloading it. The nickel plating makes the brass underneath brittle. You might get 1 or 2 reloads out of the casing before the neck splits.

I've got some .38SPL brass that I am nearing 10X reloads on, and they are still going strong. I inspect them closely every time I load them, but they still look and function fine.

So +1 for brass.

 

[Chuckdog]

Brass will out live nickeled cases usually by a wide margin, especially on bottleneck rifle cartridges. Nickeled cases are harder and more likely to damage rifle dies too. I keep nickeled .45 Colts in my belt for looks, but I shoot brass.

I've had even low pressure .45 Colts split on the second or third firing. I had some Winchester .38 Supers split the first time loaded at target velocities. They're all show, I don't pick up nickeled cases left behind by others at the range, and I damn sure won't buy anymore.

 

[RamRoddoc]

Nickel cases were made for leather loops that old school LEO use to use to carry the rounds and not corode in the leather when exposed to the elements that the typical duty officer encountered. It's also shiny.

Other than that go brass for all the reasons mentioned. Also it does......

Oh something shiny!