Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Do Nickel Cases Have the Same Capacity as Brass Ones?

A few years ago I picked up a couple hundred new 308 nickel cartridge brass cases but sold my last 308 chambered rifle shortly thereafter.

Now that I have a couple of 308 rifles again and brass is at a premium and hard to find I thought it might be a good idea to load up some 308 ammo so I pulled a bullet in some ammo that shot really well in my new Model Seven AWRII 308 and weighed the powder so I could duplicate the charge.

For some reason when I loaded up that ammo I didn't record the load so I'm stuck duplicating it. The bullet was easy. It was obviously a white tip Nosler Accubond 165gr which is my favorite 308 hunting bullet and the powder was that telltale pale green of Varget persuasion and I weighed the charge and it was 44gr. The case was what looked like a new Remington case and the primer was likely a Federal Gold Medal Match.

Then I got to thinking that I'd rather use the new nickel brass I have laying around. Do y'all think I need to work up a load again or can I just assume that the case capacities are similar enough to just load a few and go confirm they shoot well?

Bob

Ive never changed loads between nickel or brass...

Me either, "after" checking case capacity when changing lots or brands. So far, I have never had to change a load using a nickel case.

There is probably very little difference between a plain brass and a nickeled case OF THE SAME BRAND. All bets are off if the brands are different.

Fill 'em with water. Weigh the water. You'll know.

In my opinion it is best to get rid of the nickel cases.

The only thing I have noticed is nickel is a little harder and seems to require a little more force to resize.

Rocky,

LOL.... I was hoping you or someone else would now or would have already done that for me. Sounds like a messy business....

Something else I found a bit interesting... I have pulled less than a handful of bullets in my lifetime but when I pulled this one and tried to just dump the Varget out of the case I was surprised to find that the powder was firmly compacted and it took a good bit of tapping on the case with a plastic screwdriver handle to get it loosened up enough to pour into the scale pan.

Yes... Same brand.

Thanks,
Bob

Just weigh the cases dry and after filling...

You get two pieces of valuable info that way...

I'd be happy to do it for you, but the cases I'd weigh wouldn't be the same as yours.

I'm a bit surprised that a 44-gr charge would be compressed in a .308 but perhaps that bullet is longer or seated deeper than usual. Since it does seem to have been compressed, that does hint that case volume might be a bit less than usual, too.

Weighing the water from a case is easy with a digital scale, of course. Just put a small paper or plastic cup on the pan, zero/tare the scale and dump in the water. If you're persnickety, zero the scale with a wet cup - so your second and subsequent weighings aren't that wee bit off. But it's insignificant.

Or do as good Mr Sitka says and weigh the cases dry and full.

Hey Bob,

I have never noticed a difference, in hand loads as indicated by chrono results, between brass and nickeled brass.

Small kernel extruded powders such as Varget, the Ramshot series, some of the Reloders, and most ball powders pack into the case as you described and usually take several taps to dislodge when disassembling. Just make sure you get all the kernels out of the cases before you resize the neck and load them.

Remington 22-250 regular and nickeled brass has the same capacity. Nickel cases are slightly heavier but capacity is the same.
I say because I have measured it, I am not guessing.

The only ones that I have checked were .280 Remington cases: the nickel cases averaged a few grains less than the plain brass (both R-P head stamps). Can't find the notes right now, but I did use the same loads in both and didn't notice any significant difference.

Edited to add: I found the note page and the average difference was just under two grains...

Of new unfired brass that I have bought, a hundred cases will vary 5 grains+ or -.

Different manufactures of all brass or all nickel coated cases will vary from one manufacture to another and will vary more if they are military cases.

I just compared two plain brass and two nickle plated factory brass (once fired from factory ammo). They ranged from 56.3 to 56.5 grains of water. The two nickle plated were 56.5, the two plain were 56.3 and 56.4. Can't imagine that making a difference.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I'm headed back to my loading room to see if I can duplicate that great load that shoots so will.

Bob

I agree with prm. Nickle is hard on your dies and if you measure them with a ball mic, you will find the necks vary more than brass.

Case capacity is not a problem but the damage they do to chambers, dies etc. is.

Having loaded thousands of nickel pistol cases and hundreds of nickel rifle cases, I have yet to damage a die, chamber, trimmer or any other loading equipment. rick.

I've never found either one of them to be able to hold their liquor worth a darn - a twelve-gauge hull will drink them both under the table.

Same-o here.