shibumiseeker
Grandmaster
A few days ago I received some Winchester brass from kwatters who asked in my last brass life posting if I'd do a comparison test between nickle plated and brass cases. So sorting through the Winchester brass he sent I picked out 5 each brass and nickle plated. All looked to be once fired, he said they were LE range pickups most likely fired through Glocks. I tried to pick the ones that had the least bulge. I decapped them, tumbled, weighed, and measured them. I did take a pic of all ten in a line I'll post later.
Nickle: 70.0gr avg 1.3gr spread. .82"
Brass: 68.4gr avg 1.8gr spread. .82"
Dies- Lee 4 die set with FCD. Expander set to just allow bullet seating, FCD set to provide light crimp. Press is a Lee Turret.
Primer- CCI 500 Small Pistol Primer
Powder- 6.5gr of Power Pistol
Bullet- 180gr Ranier Plated flat nose (truncated cone)
Gun- Walther PPS
On the first firing I had one of the nickle plated ones split most of the way down. So thinking it a fluke (I know: bad statistical assumptions) I pulled it out of the lineup and replaced it with one that weighed the same and had the same length and loaded and fired it to keep the batch even.
After loading number 4 I had one of the nickle cases split about halfway down from the mouth towards the head. So it is out of the running. I am on loading number five and will report back with the loading numbers when anything significant happens. This test will get faster as cases drop out and I load and fire the remaining ones more.
Nickle: 70.0gr avg 1.3gr spread. .82"
Brass: 68.4gr avg 1.8gr spread. .82"
Dies- Lee 4 die set with FCD. Expander set to just allow bullet seating, FCD set to provide light crimp. Press is a Lee Turret.
Primer- CCI 500 Small Pistol Primer
Powder- 6.5gr of Power Pistol
Bullet- 180gr Ranier Plated flat nose (truncated cone)
Gun- Walther PPS
On the first firing I had one of the nickle plated ones split most of the way down. So thinking it a fluke (I know: bad statistical assumptions) I pulled it out of the lineup and replaced it with one that weighed the same and had the same length and loaded and fired it to keep the batch even.
After loading number 4 I had one of the nickle cases split about halfway down from the mouth towards the head. So it is out of the running. I am on loading number five and will report back with the loading numbers when anything significant happens. This test will get faster as cases drop out and I load and fire the remaining ones more.