I am hopefully picking up my new P320x Compact(9mm) this week sometime(waiting on NICS) and was wondering others experiences using the following-

Nickel-plated brass 

Thanks 

 

If you plan to reload, you want brass, though the nickel plating doesn't really add anything.   Otherwise, they'll all go 'bang' in a satisfying way when you pull the trigger, so for cheap practice ammo any should be fine.  

I don't think anything considered high-quality is loaded in steel or aluminum cases, but with a new gun you want to put a lot of rounds downrange, and could only practice with a smaller quantity of more expensive ammo if you plan to have it on hand for home defense.

1 hour ago, Rickap7 said:

I am hopefully picking up my new P320x Compact(9mm) this week sometime(waiting on NICS) and was wondering others experiences using the following-

Steel

Nickel-plated brass 

Aluminium

Thanks 

 

I would only comment that I personally would not run steel or aluminum in a new gun.  The reason being that you need a baseline.  If the gun won't run solid with brass, the problem is most likely the gun.  Once you're sure the gun is solid, you can introduce steel or aluminum and if you have failures, you can blame the ammo.  Also, super cheap steel and aluminum may have a lacquer coating or something else that impedes function.  Shrug.  

Start with the fewest possible variables.  Run a known brand of brass for at least 200 rounds would be my suggestion. 

 

2 minutes ago, Malsua said:

I would only comment that I personally would not run steel or aluminum in a new gun.  The reason being that you need a baseline.  If the gun won't run solid with brass, the problem is most likely the gun.  Once you're sure the gun is solid, you can introduce steel or aluminum and if you have failures, you can blame the ammo.  Also, super cheap steel and aluminum may have a lacquer coating or something else that impedes function.  Shrug.  

Start with the least possible variables.  Run a known brand of brass for at least 200 rounds would be my suggestion. 

 

This 

Brass only dude unless you can't source it and have to go to AL or Steel. It will all work, but brass is best

I know when I got my sig  124gr  was recommended the first 100 or so rounds.

Don't go looking for problems with a BFN gun .  After a couple hundred rounds then you can go cheap.

6 months ago 1K of 9mm was a $ 100 cheaper then it is now. jmho.

 

Anyone?

On 6/10/2020 at 1:15 PM, Malsua said:

I would only comment that I personally would not run steel or aluminum in a new gun.  The reason being that you need a baseline.  If the gun won't run solid with brass, the problem is most likely the gun.  Once you're sure the gun is solid, you can introduce steel or aluminum and if you have failures, you can blame the ammo.  Also, super cheap steel and aluminum may have a lacquer coating or something else that impedes function.  Shrug.  

Start with the fewest possible variables.  Run a known brand of brass for at least 200 rounds would be my suggestion. 

 

 

On 6/10/2020 at 1:17 PM, Ray Ray said:

This 

This makes 3 of us.

Nickel cases supposedly offer better feeding as they are "slicker" than any of the others.  I have no proof for or against this.

1 hour ago, Rickap7 said:

Anyone?

I bought 92x recently...first 200 round of brass not a single jam. I used Winchester forged and 3-4 jammed in 100 rounds. I did some research on that ...it turns out that brass thermal expansion co-efficient is much higher than steel so my theory is that steel doesn’t dissipate heat fast enough and hence  doesn’t get back in normal size fast enough to eject from chamber. Plus steel could deteriorate barrel more then brass being harder material ( in very very long run).

2 hours ago, GRIZ said:

 

This makes 3 of us.

Nickel cases supposedly offer better feeding as they are "slicker" than any of the others.  I have no proof for or against this.

i would not run steel cased ammo in my firearms.

3 hours ago, ronhonda said:

i would not run steel cased ammo in my firearms.

I've shot very little steel case.  Mostly just to try it out and it worked okay.

I remember reading a test of wear on AR barrels and they found steel case created more wear.  I guess it depends on the gun.

I also remember reading a test by Peter Kokalis on a Glock17. He ran 170,000 rds thru the gun, no cleaning, zero malfunctions.  He said he usually shot steel case in it as cheap training ammo.

 

I only use brass in all my firearms. Just not worth it to me to risk impacting the reliability of my firearms to save a few dollars.   Or worse, damaging them in some way.

FWIW, I have a little experience shooting aluminum case ammo.  Never any problems with 9mm or 45 ACP.  38 special would often stick a bit in the cylinder.

Aluminum is slicker than steel but not as slick as brass.  As I said before nickel plated cases are probably slicker than brass.

Any semi auto ought to work no problems with brass.

4 minutes ago, GRIZ said:

FWIW, I have a little experience shooting aluminum case ammo.  Never any problems with 9mm or 45 ACP.  38 special would often stick a bit in the cylinder.

Aluminum is slicker than steel but not as slick as brass.  As I said before nickel plated cases are probably slicker than brass.

Any semi auto ought to work no problems with brass.

Nickel plating, basic metallurgic properties include corrosion resistance, and lower coefficient of friction than brass. 

The surface is more "slick" so to speak, it being less porous helps with corrosion. It's easy to control the plating process too, creating an accurate and thin layer. I bought my house from a cop who left about 1000 rounds of nickel 9mm cases in a box out in the shed... i looked into before deciding to reload them.

 

It may be cheaper to buy steel and aluminum cased ammo but to me it's a waste of money since I can't reload them. Brass ammo costs a bit more but the ability to reuse the brass definitely makes it the best buy in the long run!

12 minutes ago, JackDaWack said:

Nickel plating, basic metallurgic properties include corrosion resistance, and lower coefficient of friction than brass. 

The surface is more "slick" so to speak, it being less porous helps with corrosion. It's easy to control the plating process too, creating an accurate and thin layer. I bought my house from a cop who left about 1000 rounds of nickel 9mm cases in a box out in the shed... i looked into before deciding to reload them.

I've been reloading nickel cases for over 40 years.  The nice thing about them they are easy to clean. However after enough reloads the nickel starts to wear off and they aren't as good looking.  Doesnt affect their function just not good looking.

Aluminum case ammo was first marketed in the 80s by CCI AFAIK.  Most LE agencies don't use reloads. Thats the market that CCI was targeting. Aluminum case training ammo can be made cheaper.  CCI made it a point to say the aluminum case ammo was for training not duty use.

If you shoot major matches, use brass cased. Not because the cheaper stuff won't work, but because the safety officers in the pit volunteered to run the match for you to shoot (and often spent their own money on a hotel for a night or two) and they get only the brass as reward.

Don't be a cheap bastard - at least leave brass cases behind at a match.

On 8/4/2020 at 9:14 AM, Rickap7 said:

Anyone?

All the replies indicate that brass is preferred.

What specifically is attracting you to nickle-plated brass?

 

On 8/4/2020 at 9:23 AM, GRIZ said:

I would only comment that I personally would not run steel or aluminum in a new gun.  The reason being that you need a baseline.  If the gun won't run solid with brass, the problem is most likely the gun.  Once you're sure the gun is solid, you can introduce steel or aluminum and if you have failures, you can blame the ammo.  Also, super cheap steel and aluminum may have a lacquer coating or something else that impedes function.  Shrug.  

Start with the fewest possible variables.  Run a known brand of brass for at least 200 rounds would be my suggestion. 

 

 

On 8/4/2020 at 9:23 AM, GRIZ said:

This makes 3 of us.

Nickel cases supposedly offer better feeding as they are "slicker" than any of the others.  I have no proof for or against this.

This makes 4 of us.

Rosey

On 6/10/2020 at 11:41 AM, Rickap7 said:

I am hopefully picking up my new P320x Compact(9mm) this week sometime(waiting on NICS) and was wondering others experiences using the following-

Nickel-plated brass 

Thanks 

 

Is this your first hand gun?  Cause if it is, just be glad you can find anything to pew with due to current market conditions.  Just remember some indoor ranges don't allow steel case ammo due to "steel core" ammo dimpling the steel backstops, which then can cause ricochets.  Some ranges use a magnet on the heads... (Maybe you knew this already & if not other Newbies lurking just got educated  

For home defense stick with brass or nickel plated brass.

Rosey

I have shot plenty of steel cased ammo in my life and have never had any issue with it.  There is no way that the steel used in the cases is even close to the hardness of a chamber.  Here is a Brownell's video on the topic that came out yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEtx_Epa4Fc

I’ll use whatever goes bang.. It doesn’t matter. 

This is unbelievable...if arms and ammunition is so much in demand why is this? 
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2020/08/05/remington-arms-nations-oldest-gunmaker-may-lay-off-700-ny-workers/3297259001/

 

1 hour ago, Smith said:

This is unbelievable...if arms and ammunition is so much in demand why is this? 
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2020/08/05/remington-arms-nations-oldest-gunmaker-may-lay-off-700-ny-workers/3297259001/

 

Because Cerberus/Freedom Group bought Remington, H&R, Marlin, Bushmaster, (others) and has destroyed these once good companies.  I wouldn't take a new Remington for free. The older stuff from all of these makers is very good, but all the new stuff is absolute crap.

First to the OP. Nickle plated brass is good to go for brand new ammo. It usually costs a bit more but I have never seen it done on anything that wasn't decent quality. For remanufactured ammo.. meh. I try to avoid it. It's goal is cheap rather than quality, and that has issues many times.

On 8/6/2020 at 10:59 AM, Smith said:

This is unbelievable...if arms and ammunition is so much in demand why is this? 
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2020/08/05/remington-arms-nations-oldest-gunmaker-may-lay-off-700-ny-workers/3297259001/

 

Remington is owned by Cerberus. REmington also has legal troubles and was run like shit. this is happening 1) because they make jack shit htat is popular and selling like hotcakes. 2) They are financially distressed. 3) CErberus does nothing but load stuff up with debt and take cash out of their business.

The last one is important because if you say hey, we are restructuring to be more profitable, while making stuff that is for the next 6-12 months likely to be HIGHLY in demand, and you are likely to be buoyed up by industry peers having increased stock prices, while you SPIN that shit, get a bigger fool to come along and offer you more loans, and then you pocket the cash again.

 

On 8/5/2020 at 10:19 AM, 124gr9mm said:

All the replies indicate that brass is preferred.

What specifically is attracting you to nickle-plated brass?

 

Availability