Nickel vs Brass casings
- Thread starter marc.lam
- Start date
Never had an issue with Nickle plated PISTOL cases.
However, the rifle cases are a different matter.
I have had several that the plating started to peel off in the neck area.
This nickle is quite a bit harder than the brass, so damage is possible.
I don't use NP bottleneck cases at all any more.
Eagleye.
As stated above, nickel plated cases are fine to use with carbide handgun dies. However, after ruining a set of 280 rem RCBS dies I will not use them with my rifle dies. RCBS replaced the die for me at no charge and they also sent a note advising not to use nickel cases.
what happend to the die set? i have around 500 nickel 30-06 (~300 Winchester, ~200 federal) and several of them are on there 5th and 6th reload now. i have lost a few that broke and split when fired but it was no big deal, just 10 minutes to remover the broken case and clean the gun. i have reloaded them the same as brass cased -06, but i prefere the nickel for hunting since they dont tarnish like brass does. i have never had a problem,but i use LEE die sets for my 30-06 if it makes any diference.
hatman1793
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Brass is brass
Nickel cases are not made out of nickel. Nickel cases are brass cases that have been plated with nickel. Nickel is a very good plating for long service rounds and or to combat corrosion in humid climates.
Nickel cases for all intents and purposes act just like brass cases. Only prettier.
Nickel cases are not made out of nickel. Nickel cases are brass cases that have been plated with nickel. Nickel is a very good plating for long service rounds and or to combat corrosion in humid climates.
Nickel cases for all intents and purposes act just like brass cases. Only prettier.
I used nickle cases when I shot IPSC with are revolver. When it comes to fast extraction from the cylinder and fast speed loading, nickle plated cases can't be beat. I never found that they had anymore impact on my dies then anything else. After almost 25 years, the set of RCBS dies I bought can still kick out 3,000-4,000 rds a year flawlessly. When I shot IPSC in revolver class it was 500 a week.
back40sniper
CGN Regular
- Location
- South east Sask.
Use nickel cases for my 280AI, never lost any fireforming and don't have any problems with them or my dies. I do keep them clean though!
I knew someone who did regular brass with nickel plated brass in the same SS batch. Apparently all of the cases came out black nickel plated. Probably due to some Nickel II compound being formed. The brass was still useable, but very ugly looking.
Lets say you were only cleaning nickel plated brass, how would they respond to being cleaned with the stainless tumbling media? Would the stainless pins wear through the nickel plating, or would this be a non-issue?
Read this this morning so i gave it a try as I've been keeping the nickel plated ones seperate. All 9mm
Result: Nickel ones seemed to be tighter in the sizer/deprimer, but only slightly, they needed a hair more in the expander to accept the bullet (Hornady XTP 124 gr) but after crimp somehow looked straighter than brass (less neck flare). And the primers seemed to be a little tighter going in and needed a little more push on the lever. I use the hornady LNL progressive. ONly thing I can say as a difference was a hair tighter in resizing and primer pocket but only because I was feeling for it. The graphite I put in the resizing die is still there after 200 rounds through it so I cant see how its any harder on the die.
Hope that helps
Result: Nickel ones seemed to be tighter in the sizer/deprimer, but only slightly, they needed a hair more in the expander to accept the bullet (Hornady XTP 124 gr) but after crimp somehow looked straighter than brass (less neck flare). And the primers seemed to be a little tighter going in and needed a little more push on the lever. I use the hornady LNL progressive. ONly thing I can say as a difference was a hair tighter in resizing and primer pocket but only because I was feeling for it. The graphite I put in the resizing die is still there after 200 rounds through it so I cant see how its any harder on the die.
Hope that helps
- Location
- Fort St John BC
I have never had a problem with nickel brass for pistol reloads in fact I prefer nickel.
back40sniper
CGN Regular
- Location
- South east Sask.
I read same article about SS and nickel plated brass being troublesome, will just keep using vibratory for it.
Rocket Surgery
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I ran this batch of 250 38special brass through my Lee carbide dies about 6 times, for a total of 1500 runs. The brass still seems fine and the dies are holding up alright. I'm not sure if this is enough to go off but maybe it will help. I see here in this thread that people think rifle and pistol are different, and I'd have to agree. Maybe for rifle it's hard on dies but not so much on pistol.
