nickel plated brass reloadable?

[setter]

Is nickel plated brass reloadable? Why do some factory loads use this type only for certain rounds?

 

[JackinSD]

Yes they are reloadable. The brass is thinner to allow for the nickel plating. Expect a shorter life before they are no longer fit to be reloaded.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Yes they are reloadable. The brass is thinner to allow for the nickel plating. Expect a shorter life before they are no longer fit to be reloaded.

That applies more to a bottleneck case. I can load just as many times, a straight walled pistol case in brass or nickle plated brass, makes no difference other than the nickle don't tarnish or show fingerprints like brass does.

 

[JackinSD]

You're right Sidecarflip. I may have made a assumption based on forum that was not correct. I use alot of nickel plated brass in my pistols with no noticeable difference in the number of reloads.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Yes they are reloadable. The brass is thinner to allow for the nickel plating. Expect a shorter life before they are no longer fit to be reloaded.

I'm getting more reloads out of my 7mm RM winchester nickle rifle brass than I am with regular Federal brass. And I neck-size only, so both brass get the same treatment. Nickle brass is also heavier, which to me means it can probably withstand more pressure, because it doesn't show as many pressure signs with the same loads as it does with my regular brass.

Honestly, I prefer the Win nickle brass. If anyone has a bunch of it, and doesn't want it, shoot me a PM. Neck-sizing makes it very useable for my applications.

 

[woods]

They CAN booger up your dies or trimming equipment

Example: New WW 280 Remington nickel brass. Some necks were dented as is common with all WW brass so I ran a Lee Collet mandrel down the necks to uniform

Now the Lee Collet mandrel is not hardened steel like some dies. The mandrel was longitudinally scratched because it was entering a neck ID smaller and expanding it

I have also had to order a new trimmer head from using the nickel

I think that the reason some have not noticed the wear on their dies is because it is happening up inside the die at the forcing cone where the neck mouth hits the die and is forced into the neck sizing portion of the die. Not readily observable and hard to quantify

Varmint Al's Handloading/Reloading Page

 

[varmintH8R]

The nickel plated cases are reloadable, but definitely harder. Trimming them gives me the willies, you can tell it is way more work than brass . . .

 

[SidecarFlip]

BTW, none of those issues manifest themselves with a pistol (straight walled case) and pistol dies are for the most part all carbide inserted, which also eliminates the case lube regimen too. Pistol cases are sized and loaded/crimped dry. I infrequently shoot a quick spray of one-shot in my sizer die for ***** and grins if nothing else.

Been loading NP cases for a good long while now. NP eliminates the tarnish from handling issues.

I have some NP 308 cases and I'll keep a close eye on them. No issue trimming with a WFT. I run a solid micrograin tungsten carbide end mill in my trimmer.

 

[setter]

That's great info on reloading. Sounds like it might be used only on some factory loads in order to handle greater pressures than plain brass?

 

[boomtube]

Nickle plated cases originated as a way to reduce the green brass corrision caused by acid tanned leather belt loops. It has little meaning today and is purely a cosmetic selling gimmick for rifle ammo - flashy stuff sells better. It's certainly reloadable and I won't toss it if it's free but I sure won't pay for it.

Nickle has a higher friction coeffficent than brass so lay on an extra bit of case lube for sizing; RCBS/STP works well.

 

[Demon061]

Wish I could find some Nickel plated .270 and .30-06 brass just for the cool factor. It just looks mean hahahaha.

But seriously, where can I get some? Or which winchester F/L ammunition uses nickel?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Old thread.......

 

[Demon061]

Old thread.......

Necro bumps can be useful.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Necro bumps can be useful.

Well, I almost posted exactly what I had posted a year ago because i didn't read far enough down to see I had already posted till after I had...Then I looked at the start date and was like, whoa, backup! No need to repeat myself. LOL

For the record, I'm still using all of that nickle 7mmRM brass I was talking about in my original post.