RE: Nickel plated brass...good or bad?
I like regular myself. A few reasons.
If FL sizing with a typical RCBS die, nickel doens't seem as springy as say brass. So when seating a bullet, it can be rougher. This can cause runout issues or bullet not loaded straight.
Nickel is hard to trim. Doesn't really cut like brass, but chips.
Lastly, if you are going to go with a type of brass for a gun, you need to stick with it. If you change to different brands or type, you load can change. Sometimes nickel seems hard to find, sometimes not. but brass seems to be constant.
I never worry about damage to my dies or anything like that. But I would only use a collet die with nickel or bushing die.j
I have nickel lying around but always seem to pass it up when loading.