Nickel Plated Cases?

[Aprilia Man]

Hi Guys,

I got a hold of some Hornady TAP FPD Cases in 300 WM and some loose Federal Case in 300 WM as well.

Have no experience with loading these. Can they be reloaded just like brass cases? How many times can they be used? Same procedure when re-sizing?

I also have a handful of the nickel cases in 308, same question as above.

Thanks

 

[skhunter]

Yes everything the same as regular brass. Nickel cases are made of brass and plated with nickel, you will see when you trim. Some say you get less case life, that has not been my experience.

 

[Aprilia Man]

^^ Would the nickel plating start flaking off when re-sizing?

 

[Otto V]

^^ Would the nickel plating start flaking off when re-sizing?

I've never reloaded nickel plated rifle cases but I have reloaded some Winchester and PMC nickel plated .357 Magnum cases. On those, the plating did eventually start flaking off after multiple reloads.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Save yourself some hassle and leave those plated cases in the box.
My experience has been(limited) when it came to reloading those cases over non plated cases.
I found it very hard to run the FL RCBS dies through the nickle ones and thus became discouraged
with the extra effort to prep those cases over the regular brass ones.
Now if that is all you have(nickle plated cases) then take my advice for what it is...free.
Just tossing out my experience of having .
Best Regards and Tight Groups,
Rob

 

[skhunter]

^^ Would the nickel plating start flaking off when re-sizing?

I have only seen it flake off a tiny bit at the case mouth when trimmed.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

i can only speak to pistol calibre nickel plated brass, but it doesn't give me any troubles. i have some 38spl nickel that has be reloaded enough times that the nickel has worm off on the case head.

 

[Eagleye]

I do not use nickel plated cases except for straight-walled pistol. [357, 44 mags]

The nickel is harder than brass, and dulls trimming tools much faster.

Nickle does flake off from time to time.

It is easier to scratch dies with the nickel plated cases.

Besides appearance, and slightly better corrosion resistance, I cannot think of a single reason to use them.

Regards, Dave.

 

[fullauto]

I use them a lot i load all my hunting rounds in them have never had any issues use same procedures as you would on brass cases

 

[firemachine69]

^^ Would the nickel plating start flaking off when re-sizing?

In my experience it just started scratching off going through a FL die.

 

[glycerin]

Chamfering inside of neck, with or without case trimming might be a good idea cause I've heard of nickel brass scraping a copper jacket bullet. My nickel .38 spl federal brass lasts forever, nickel justs wears away, no flaking.

 

[yomomma]

My 30-06 had no issued. My .38 S&W cases started flaking right away.