7mm-08 Winchester Nickeled plated brass... Junk or Not?

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ackertjosh

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Hey all!! So I went out and bought some factory loaded 140gr Winchester Ballistic tip for my 7mm-08 just so i could have some of that pretty brass when i was done lining up my rifle... Not only that a quick neck size and ready to go for my 150gr Swift bullets....

So here is what i ran into.. All but 3 brass are kinked.. have a bulge that looks like possible head separation. Some of the primers were flat which i thought was odd for a factory round but have ran into crappy winchester factory junk before..( had a 22-250 factory winchester Super X glue my bolt shut on my CZ550 Lux) but thats a different story all together...... Anyways when i measure the brass at the head where the bulge the head is acutely been stretched back and is now .463(some thinner and some thinker) but on the case side of the bulge its the appropriate .470..

Note this bulge is not all the way around... its only on one side of the brass making it look like its kinked or out of round when put on the trimmer.

Anyone else run into this?? Im thinking of discarding this brass and throwing it away.. what would you all do?
 
its a custom built 7mm-08... Remington model 700 action.. there is a pic of the rifles... the chamber is tight cause my Remington brass did not do this... strait as an arrow.. no kink or swell.. nothing... i find this odd
 
Never had ANY luck with niclel brass. Tried it in .2506 .270 .300winmag and tossed it each time. Winchester
brand also. Funny cause Winchester brass has been my go-to brass for 15 years. Plain brass is as good as any
other but stay away from the nickel stuff.
 
I've used Federal NP brass with no issues. Thought it would be nice for use on long hunting trips as brass tarnishes. Purely aesthetics. I know a few fellow shooters who say it scratches dies and would never think of using it.
 
Take the gun and the cases to a reputable gunsmith and have him check it out. Don't go to the guy you got the rifle built by. Get an unbiased opinion. I have never had a problem with NP casings, but then they were all Federal. In fact I manage to neck up 308 to 358 in a single pass and not one single failure or split. It's like your chamber is out of round or head space is incorrect. Don't take a chance, take it in and get it checked out. I would even contemplate doing a cerocasting of the chamber , read the instructions on using it and take your measurements as directed.
 
i will take the gun to a gunsmith here soon with the brass to get it looked at.. I appreciate all your replies. I do have a hard time believing there might be anything wrong with the gun since these were the very first 20 rounds out if the rifle, but all 40 since(remignton brass) are perfectly fine. but like you said Paul.. Better safe then sorry. I really love this rifle. I sure hope everything is good.

Thanks again!
Josh
 
If your chamber is tight your fire formed brass should tell the tale... nickel brass will still fire form but not to the degree of raw brass... too bad you didn't have an unfired case to compare it to... I would suspect the chamber, except that you say that your regular brass is fine... strange... you could do a chamber cast to see what your dealing with...
 
A buddy gave me 150 +/- Winchester nickel plated 25-06 brass. No problems for me, whatsoever.
Stiff load of H-4831, Federal Primers & Nosler BT's ... have cycled them through IIRC, 5 times now.
 
I have reloaded Winchester & Remington nickeled cases for years without problem. I also have 20 plated 30-06 cases that have been necked up to 338 and have over a dozen reloads on them without issue.
 
So i was at the range this weekend to try my loads again today. I did have my Chamber looked at and everything checked out.. I showed the gunsmith my brass and he has run into this before as well but it is rare. He cut one brass apart and it confirmed that its just bad brass. He said i could reload them again since they are fire formed already but they won't last long.. I have them around but likely won't be using them since i got 50 new remington brass already fire formed to my chamber.

Thanks all for the replies and advice.. This is why I love CGN and reloading.. You learn something new every day!!!
Josh
 
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