I have loaded a lot of nickel plated brass for pistols and rifles and it has never cost me enough extra trouble or problems to discontinue its use. The biggest advantage to nickel I see, and one that I don't ever hear about, is I believe it increases functional reliability. Being harder and impervious to tarnish, it feeds better from a magazine and extracts easier. For practice or high volume shooting I use plain brass but for a hunting cartridge or defense load I prefer nickel. Nickel will take a lot of handling, carrying in pockets, loading and unloading, etc. and still look new with a clean, slick finish.