Nickle Plated Brass

[The One and Only WV Hunte]

Hi guys, Its WVhunter. I had to reregister because i had some problems with the old computer. This thing wouldn't even let me on this site.
Anyway I have worn out my standard brass, and recently order some Remington Nickle Brass from midway. I am getting increased resistance from these cases whem trimming and resizing. I was wondering if that is a result of the nickle being harder than brass.

 

[Bigwheels]

I just got back on too.Had a "CRITICAL ERROR" every time I tried to get here.Yesterday it just started working again. :?: But to answer your question.Yes,the nickel is harder than the non nickel brass.I think it lasts longer too.It is harder on your dies too,& I make sure they are well lubed when I size,but some have lasted me through 7+ resizes in my 338 WM.

 

[longwinters]

That is all I use in my 280 and have never had even a hint of problems with it. It does take a bit more to de-bur and champher but with a Trim Mate it is no problem at all.

Long

 

[SOTN]

WV:
Here's what RCBS says in answer to my question to them.

"Yes that is true - nickel is a coating and flakes off and embeds in the
die wall and ruins the die. Avoid nickel cases. Have a great day."
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-----Original Message-----
To: rcbs tech
Subject: rcbs.com - Ask RCBS Form

I've heard that RCBS reccomends against reloading Nickle Brass, because
it can sometimes scratch a resizing die. Is that true? or possible?
Thank You in advance.
Smitty

 

[kraky]

The first thing I do when I buy nickel brass is run them over a m-die to get the wrinkles out of the neck and then I trim them about .003" under minimum.
I have no fears using nickel brass but I have found that when you get it the mouths are real rough and sometimes sharp. Trim it more often and you will find it works great and will not give problems.
I really haven't noticed much more effort to size them but I guess it's possible.
One thing is they seem to clean up easier in the tumbler....and I like how they look after hunting or extended storage.

 

[Alaska]

Bulk RP Nickle Brass does flake.........but the Federal and Winchester Nickle brass is excellent, used it for years in my 308/30-06/338.

The walls of the neck are a little thicker, just use alittle dry lube when resizing and everything will be fine.

 

[rick smith]

Guess I should write RCBS and see if they have a method for removing Nickel from the dies caused by thousands of nic cases being run into them. I have ruined a couple of dies in 40+ years of loading and that was with regular brass. I use nic 300 Savage brass to form 308x1.5 Barnes cases and the form dies are RCBS. Never had any flaking, never heard of nic embedding in a die wall. Clean all your brass, lube cases properly, keep the dies clean, the dies cannot tell the difference in type of brass. If you look hard enough for a problem, you will find one.Rick.

 

[Powerstroke]

+1 Long

My .280 as well.......never had an issue with it.....tough yes.....damage Nope !

 

[FOTIS]

I prefer conventional brass but I have used both in the past.

 

[The One and Only WV Hunte]

Hey guys I was in the reloading room today and was looking at the six cases i resized the other night. The only difference I could see in the them was 3 had a crimp in them from the previous loading and three didn't. I woundered if that could be the reason for the increased resistance when sizing and trimming so i decided to run a test.
One with a crimp, and one without. The result was just as I thought the crimp made it almost twice as hard to resize. :grin:
I also was looking to see if the cases were plated with nickle or actual nickle cases. It looks to me that the cases are pure nickle.

 

[SOTN]

I'm inclined to believe RCBS.

I have to believe that they say this for a reason. Maybe they have had to replace dies that were damaged from the nickle. I dunno.

And, they're not saying it's gonna happen every time.

Anyway, it's good enough for me. I'd rather not risk it.
Smitty of the North

 

[mj30wilson]

I have also found that nickel plated cases do not strech you will not have to trim as much off everytime you trim. Also if you are worried about your dies, go to carbide. Regular dies will last a very long time if you properly use case lube. Plus nickel plated brass resist scatches which may occur from loading from a box magazine.

 

[SOTN]

I have also found that nickel plated cases do not strech you will not have to trim as much off everytime you trim. Also if you are worried about your dies, go to carbide. Regular dies will last a very long time if you properly use case lube. Plus nickel plated brass resist scatches which may occur from loading from a box magazine.

mj30wilson:
I confess that I have loaded quite a bit of 357, and 38 Special brass that was nickel. It's just the nickel bottle necked rifle cartridges I avoid, and I will/did load new brass, one time because the die barely touches new brass anyways.

That is interesting what you say about nickel resisting scratches. The extractors on both of my Rem. 700s scratch up the case heads, quite a bit.
Smitty of the North