What wire other than 1.6 mm stainless will work for chain mail? I've been making butted maille out if 1.6mm stainless steel wire. Cutting the rings myself. This stuff is strong and heavy! It looks and feels great! The wire is a little pricey at 11quid per 30ms. I was still curious to hear what other materials people were using. What other gauges of wire ect. I've heard that weaker steel can stretch at the crown or on the shoulders and I'd like to avoid that.
I made a butted link hauberk some years ago out of galvanized steel wire (the stuff I got was used in repairing fences - 20 gauge).  Not as shiny as other materials but I felt it was more authentic looking.  It is fairly easy to form and cut.  The mandrel I used to form the links was 3/8" diameter.

When completed there were some 40,000 links in it and it weighs around 40 pounds.  I wore it over a gambeson I also made.  The hauberk comes to about the groin (worn with a belt to adjust the weight somewhat) and to a few inches above  the elbow (I'm 5'10").  

I wore it numerous times to SCA type events and reenactments but never did much mock combat with it.  I never had an issue with links stretching or popping out.