Nickel coated brass.

[Rocky Raab]

Billy and Adam, I think we need to separate straight-wall pistol cases from bottle-neck rifle.

I have and use nickle pistol cases, mostly .357 Mag. While I have seen few that crack or flake, it has happened, particularly at the mouth, where repeated belling and crimping are at work.

Rifle cases with a neck and shoulder are much worse. In the very few that I've tried to load (mostly .308), I've seen cracking and flaking all through the shoulder area as wel as the mouth. I attribute this to full-length sizing. When the shoulder is set back, the nickle apparently cannot "follow" the brass and it cracks loose.

Even worse than that is using nickle cases to fireform or "blow out" to other case shapes. Few if any survive the first fireform load.