Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Nickle plated brass VS plain Brass?

Is there any advantage of nickel plated brass vs just brass ? I was in Africa and they carried nickel plated cartridges.

TOTAL Outsider here, but I have an opinion.

Nickel-plated brass feeds like quicksilver and it doesn't corrode in leather cartridge holders. Personally, I prefer it.

The naysayers will tell you that nickel-plated cases scratch the crap out of loading dies and do other deleterious things. I have never found that to be the case. A quick wipe of the cases will prevent that from happening, if it occurs at all (which I friggin' doubt).

Are the nickel-plated cases as case neck concentric as brass-brass cases??? YES. Measure the necks with a Sinclair MIC-4 Case Neck Guage and throw away those that vary more than .0015" and you will have no problem.

And, of course, the unasked question ... Can nickel-plated brass be fireformed to Improved??? Yep, with nary a problem.

Second unasked question ... can fireformed nickel-plated brass be FL-sized back to what my buddy, Johnny Barsness calls "normal" configuration??? Again, Yes and with no problems.

I have about sixty-pounds of .223 Ackley nickel-plated cases and I love 'em. And I use nickel-plated .280 Ackley Improved cases that are fireformed from .280 Normal Winchester-brand brass.

So, summing up: The nickel feeds like quicksilver and presents no problem in handloading. Essentially, that is your answer.

So now I happily go back to wherever I've been, but at least you have the answer to your question. And that can be nothing but a good thing.

God Bless,

Steve

Thanks for the info. Did not know about the corrosion in cartridge holders.

Thanks for asking the question, if only to bring Steve out of the woodwork.

I'd agree with all this. The only thing I would add is that nickel-plated brass can flake after a few loadings, and the flakes get into crevices that they're not wanted in. It also behaves a bit harder than standard brass, so despite annealing is more prone to shoulder/neck cracking than non-plated brass.

I ran a bunch of Federal nickel stuff recently. The primer pockets all opened up before anything flaked or cracked.......

I love my nickel 300 Weatherby reformed to 340; great brass.

So too is Remington 308 reformed to 7mm-08.

I also like the WW nickel stuff in 44 Mag. I must say though, that RP nickel in 45 Colt is the splitting-est stuff I've seen in any iteration.

It does feed like slickety-snot though, and is much less inclined to go green in the ziplocks than is plain brass.

And that shiny stuff is much easier to find after it hits the ground.

Yeah, IME it seems to depend on the lot and manufacturer. I've just noticed that it exhibits those two characteristics more often than non-plated brass.

Great information. Thanks

My results have unfortunately been about 180 out from Dogzapper's...

Nickle sizes a little hard and crack prematurely compared to plain even when annealed IME.

Good to see Steve posting!
Don't be a stranger.

I ran nickle R-P 30-06 brass for years, only stopped cause I couldnt find it anymore.

Never flaked.

Never scratched my dies.

No issues with neck cracking.

No issues with loading or accuracy.

I love Starline nickle pistol brass.

'cuz you is from the contrary we call Alaska!

Nickel plated brass scratched my dies so I am no longer a user.

I am good with that!

I like using my nickled brass for my hunting loads. I've never had any problems with them, but I do probably use them less because I do save them for hunting with a few exceptions.

Pistol brass however is used all the time when available with carbide dies. Some really old, well used cases will start flaking. Also Hoppes no. 9 or ammonia is not friendly to the nickel. Don't wash bags of nickeled brass in the dishwasher with dishwasher detergent.

Used it off and on for many years, in several calibers, without a problem of any sort.
Do like its capability to stay clean, ages well, and haven't seen any corrosion issues.
Used to wonder if it might create issues when fired, due to its "slipperyness", but that has been totally discounted.
I think dogzapper got it right.

Nickle corrodes less. I prefer brass.

I used to have a 94 Winchester 30-30 that wouldn't reliably cycle with brass but it never hung up with nickle.