Personally I like the nickel cases too and use them in more than half of my loads. The main thing I like is they do not tarnish like brass. I think they are easier to clean than brass. I will agree though that they are a little more difficult to work with. For a beginner I would start with plain brass until you get some case sizing and trimming experience. One more thing about nickel, I have had very good luck with Starline nickel plated brass for .44 Mag and .45 ACP.

My favorite load for 30-06 is 56.0 gr. of H4350 behind a Sierra 165 gr. HPBT.

Good luck. You're doing the right thing by asking a lot of questions.