This has me stumped

[Ysabel Kid]

So, I know nickled brass is harder than regular brass. But I can't figure out for the life of me why my .38 S&W reloads in nickeled brass will not fit into the chambers of my revolvers in that caliber, but the ones in brass cases will. I run them through the exact same dies, alternate them even. Same load, same bullet. The ones loaded in brass cases, any maker, chamber fine. The ones loaded in nickeled cases, any maker, won't chamber at all. I've never had this issue with any other caliber. What am I missing?!?

[JimT]

Try running a loaded round part way into the sizing die. (remove the decapping pin ) Enough to get past the base of the bullet. Then see if it chambers.

[AJMD429]

.
If you've got a knife-edge micrometer measure the thickness of the empty but sized case wall with it. If the case wall is thicker then once the bullet is seated the assembled round will be thicker at that point.

I guess the easier way to verify that would be with a regular micrometer simply measuring the neck diameter of the two different loaded rounds to see if there is a consistent difference. I guess is that there will be.

Whether it's actually due to the thickness of any plated on nickel versus the brass itself being thicker, is hard to know without the first measurement.

[Griff]

Are the loaded rounds the same diameter thru-out the length of the brass? i.e. at the mouth of the case, at the base of the bullet, in front of the rim?

[RIDERED350r]

Although I've never experienced that issue, my guess finds me in agreement with the above comments. Adding to that it's possible your chambers are on the tight end of the specs for chamber dimensions.

Side note: is it possible that nickel being harder than brass that it sort of "springs back" more after running it through the sizing die??

[stretch]

Your chambers are probably on the tight side, and the nickel-plated brass that
you have has thicker walls than the unplated stuff.

I had this problem with a 10mm. Drove me nuts. Then I figured out that it
happened with only on brand of brass. And then I noticed that it only happened
with lead bullets - not jacketed. Then I measured the wall thickness
of the brass. AHA! One brand of brass for lead bullets, one for jacketed,
and now they all work and chamber.

If you measure the wall thickness of your brass, I'll bet you find the
silvery ones are thicker.

You can also measure the weight of the brass - that will kinda tell you the
same thing.

-Stretch

[4t5]

I think Stretch is correct, I also notice a difference between the two, stopped shooting nickel cases.
I find the nickel cases harder to resize , they seem to stick more in my sizing die.

[GunnyMack]

Are your bullets oversize? I recently loaded some 41s that apparently lubed but neglected to size . At the range they would not drop into the cylinder of my Blackhawk.
When I got home and pulled the bullets I realized they were all .413.
The minimal thickness the nickle plating adds plus an oversize bullet plus tight chamber .

[Walt]

Try sizing a couple of cartridges and inserting them into your cylinder empty. If they don't go in readily then your brass is springing back too much. If they do go in easily then your cartridge walls are too thick and/or your bullets are oversize.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Interesting question. I’m interested in the final diagnosis.

[joepb]

My guess is that they are a little longer and the crimp is putting a larger bulge in the case.............Joe

[Ysabel Kid]

Are your bullets oversize? I recently loaded some 41s that apparently lubed but neglected to size . At the range they would not drop into the cylinder of my Blackhawk.
When I got home and pulled the bullets I realized they were all .413.
The minimal thickness the nickle plating adds plus an oversize bullet plus tight chamber .

The bullets are actually undersized. The nominal diameter for the .38 S&W is .361". I am loading a hollow-base wadcutter that drops from the mold at .358". I didn't size them as I want them as large as they can be, so the bullet has to "bump out" less to better engage the rifling. If the bullets were cast too large I can easily see the issue, but I know they aren't in this case!

[Ysabel Kid]

Try sizing a couple of cartridges and inserting them into your cylinder empty. If they don't go in readily then your brass is springing back too much. If they do go in easily then your cartridge walls are too thick and/or your bullets are oversize.

I did do this, and the shiny silver ones, sized but unloaded, go right in. Bullets, as noted above, are not oversized. So I am thinking many of you are correct; the nickeled brass cases are a tad thicker than the brass ones.

[Ysabel Kid]

My guess is that they are a little longer and the crimp is putting a larger bulge in the case.............Joe

That actually describes these to a "T". I will have to measure the length of the cases when I get back.

[Ysabel Kid]

Try running a loaded round part way into the sizing die. (remove the decapping pin ) Enough to get past the base of the bullet. Then see if it chambers.

I had never considered that. I'll have to try it!