Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Nickle plated brass...huh..Good God...What is it good for?

A friend who doesn't reload gave me 120 once fired Federal .30-06 cases.

{He shot them then put them back in the plastic retainers and boxes. Seeing the price tags on the box <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> makes me wonder how any non-loader can afford to shoot but thats another subject.}

The bad news (to me) is 100 are nickle plated. I'll use these a time or two but I'd never trust them hunting. To me these cases are more brittle, split/fail faster, are hard on trimmers and dies and have weaker bullet retention.

Am I nuts? Anyone else distrust nickle plated cases?

Nickle-plated brass is all I try to use now. I have yet to have anything negative to say about that brass whether from the reloading bench or having them in the field.

Plus, they look better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I love them.They absolutely glide through the dies.I have loaded hundreds and hundreds for my service and silhouette rifles. The Fed. nickel match cases are as uniform as they come <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Just my 2 cents worth

I use them in in several cartridges. Bullet tension can be greater than regular brass in my experience, although lots will vary. The stuff looks like it is brand new always while regular brass can and does deterioate.
Now, if you debullet some nickel brass, as I did recently with some Winchester Supreme factory ammo, bullets may slide in and out freely as the necks did not spring back.
I do not reload them several times but know of those who do here with no problems.

That's all I use in my 270 Weatherby mag, Federal nickel plated. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Great stuff!

I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. Besides straight walled pistol/revolver cases, I have NO use whatsoever for nickle plated brass. Hard on dies, flakes off if you try to fireform to a wildcat, and usually heavier than the brass equivalent. There might be some justification for them if you hunt near saltwater, since brass will corrode when exposed to a lot of salt, but for the average reloader they are neither needed or desirable, IMHO. Eagleye.

I have used quite a lot of it, Federal and Winchester and as it wears out, I am not replacing it. I load for about 3 dozen guns, primarily big game rifles and I have come to favour Winchester plain old brass cases with Federal in second place.

I am going to get some Lapua brass in 9.3x62 and use RWS in my 9.3x74r; I hate Norma, don't care for Remington and won't buy any of that cheap, offshore crap. Overall, I think that brass brass is best best.

I'm with Eagle Eye on this one. When I first bought my 300 winnie, I got 50 Nickle casings. They go through the dies tougher, they split easier. They sure do look sexy though, if you're into looking sexy with a bullet.

I prefer the brass ones, preferably FC or RP. They sure resize nice, and I seem to get slightly better groups from them.

I also noticed when reloading pistol ammo that the old brass casings lasted way longer and were much easier to resize. For me, it's brass for sure. You know though, the fail safes with the black bullet and the nickle casing sure look good. Now . . . . . . if looks could kill . . . . . hmmmm.

I use 300 Savage nickle brass to form into 308x1.5 Barnes, never had a problem with the dies, flaking or any of the other problems commonly told about nic brass. I have loaded thousands of nic plated pistol rounds without a problem. I have also used them in 7/08, 44 Mag, 7mmBR and a couple other wildcats-no problems. I do use regular brass in most of my loading but don't feel there is a problem using nic brass.Rick.

What is it good for? I like to measure the pressure ring like Ken Waters and it will hold a little more pressure before getting bigger than regular brass does. On the bad side, the necks will split quicker than regular brass. If I've got it, I use it but I don't buy it unless I'm trying to seperate a lot of brass and can't just buy another brand. BM

Bill

i used 25-06 and 338 nickle this fall. i had a hard time shooting the 25-06 with the nosler bt with their blue tips. they were to good looking to shoot and it killed my doe just like the hammer to the back of the head.

i find they are easy to find on the ground after the shot, not sure about in snow though.

I have used R-P Nickle (same 100 pcs) in my .270 for 15 years. 20 have been shot 5 or 6 times for load development and annual sighting in. The balance are shot at game, a few each year.

The rifle shoots these consistently in the 0.4"s. Can't think of a bad thing to say about them for hunting.

I prefer nickel-plated brass, because I don't have to worry about having to tumble them. Since I don't reload too many rounds, I just brush the inside of the cases before decapping them, and wash them in soapy hot water after. After a few days of hunting under the rain, regular brass loses its shine and coloration, but not so with nickel-plated brass.

Nickle should not be a major issue one way or the other. It has some pros and cons but, in your case, the single pro - "it's free" - should easily outweight the cons.

I have some nickled brass in a number of different calibers including one which is reformed. None, other than the Colt brass, which is worked a lot more than most cases due to oversized chambers, has had a significantly different working life.

Generally I like it, but I tried to resize some from 338Win Mag to 416 Taylor and not all of the necks made the stretch.

Sure would like to get my hands on some 458WM nickle plated brass!

BW,

Are you annealing first? I do that with all my nickled 340 Weatherby which I make from 300 Weatherby. OTOH, I make all my 358 Win brass from 308, mostly NATO, and simply neck it up usually in two steps. Several years ago I necked up a bunch of nickled 303 British to 44 (.429) Souper. I don't recall losing a single one (but I may have) and I didn't anneal those either. In that case, however, I was using forming dies.

I know people seem to have strong opinions on nickled brass and I thought I had one for awhile until I realized it was just a single type and brand (Rem 45 Colt). Even that may be fine if it was used in closer tolerance chambers. I can't honestly say that I can see a difference other than the fact that the surface of the brass seems slicker which consequently makes it act harder - which it probably is. I know that can be a feeding advantage at times.

I used alot of Federal's nickel plated 7mm Rem mag for about 3 years. When I got a new 7 mag, I migrated back to standard brass, only because it cost less. I never had one problem with nickel, and I agree with others, it chambers easier, looks better, never had any issues while reloading it.

The one silly concern I did have was the fact it was shiny, at the wrong moment, that shiny cartridge could sure send a glaring reflection to game animals you were in the area. But then really, the cartridges are in your rifle, and the one being spit out of your rifle should be after the one shot kill.

Short answer, I like nickel, I dont like the higher cost.

If you don't want them, I could probably be talked into buying them from you!

Read my post, that wasnt the impression I relayed....LOL...but I dont blame you for trying.
take care.

Back in the 80s I tried a little unscientific loading test. I had just bought a HK-91 semi- auto in 308. Every story I had read about the gun the writers said not to reload the brass, as the gun with it's fluted chamber was very rough on brass. I didn't really want to believe that, as I am a reloader and seldom if ever buy factory ammo. So I bought 20 rounds of Federal nickle brass, and started loading. The gun does make a mess of the brass leaving long serrations down the side of the brass, and leaves the brass almost black with the gas blow back, and usually takes a very small nick of brass out of the rim when it ejects. Well after 37 loadings and shootings the brass never split a neck and would have gone on a little longer, but I stopped there. I had proved my point about loading for the HK-91. When I started I never gave any thought to the nickle peeling or necks cracking etc, I just wanted to make sure I could reload the brass, what ever kind it might be. I did lose one case during my 10th firing. I was shooting near some tall grass and one of the cases flew over into the grass and I never did find it. So I do use a lot of nickle brass today, it's good stuff. Remember it is made of brass, and just nickled plated. Should last as long as any brass case.