nichrome alternatives
Resistance wire is sucky to solder, yes. I don't know of any resistance wire that has a low temperature coefficient and is really easy to solder, but Constantan is a lot better than Manganin or Nichrome and still has adequately low tempco for such an application. 

But you could also just buy a 1/4-W or better 0.25\$\Omega\$ resistor. For example, a 1/2-W 0.25 ohm 1% 1206 resistor costs less than 50 cents, so you can get a couple to have one for the next time this happens.