Speer Nickel 223 Brass

[Helka]

Just acquired over 700 pieces.

Looking to get more info on them, more specifically better or worse then Federal?

How many reloads should i expect, provided I anneal and no hot loads?

I know they are LE brass as i acquired them from my brother who qualified for his C8 Carbine.

(Sorry for the sideways photo, can't figure out how to rotate it!)

 

[Hitzy]

I suspect it is federal brass, same parent company as Speer.
I usually toss federal, and nickel plated brass as they can wreck dies.

 

[Helka]

Interesting ok.

 

[rosconow]

Can't say for rifle, but i have some speer nickle 357 brass and it goes and goes and goes....

 

[Helka]

I have a ton of 308 Federal nickel I haven’t used. So technically it’s my first time using it. We’ll see. Maybe instead of running them through my Hornady dies I’ll run them through my Lee ones in case they do wear them out.

 

[joe-nwt]

I have a ton of 308 Federal nickel I haven’t used. So technically it’s my first time using it. We’ll see. Maybe instead of running them through my Hornady dies I’ll run them through my Lee ones in case they do wear them out.

It was never an issue of nickel brass "wearing out" dies, I think the issue is the nickel flaking off during the sizing and damaging the dies. I've personally never had a problem with rifle or pistol but I guess it can happen.

 

[gewehr76]

Don't anneal these. You will ruin them. Just clean and reload as any other brass cases. They are easier to find on the ground or in the grass than brass cases, that's for sure.

 

[Helka]

Don't anneal these. You will ruin them. Just clean and reload as any other brass cases. They are easier to find on the ground or in the grass than brass cases, that's for sure.

Ok thanks I won’t anneal.

 

['Boo]

Nickel has a Mohs hardness of 4.0. Carbon steel has a Mohs hardness of 4.5-5-0. Hardened steel has a Mohs hardness of 7.5 - 9.0+

If nickel scratches your steel dies they are made of some spectacularly crappy steel.

What can happen is that flakes of nickel - or brass - can pressure weld on the inside surface of your dies and scratch the brass cartridge cases when they are resized. If you are getting scratched cases it is not because the dies are scratched - an indentation on one surface can't leave an indentation on another surface - it is because your dies are dirty or more likely rusty.

If you make sure your brass is clean after trimming and chamfering the necks you should not see scratched cases after sizing.

 

[Donny Fenn1]

when i used to hunt/call coyotes in the deepest/darkest/coldest winter i found that nickel plated brass fed or worked in the action of various rifles better than regular brass....don't know if it was mental or what but that's my 2 cents
never had any issues reloading in 223 or 22-250

 

[Helka]

Thanks for the info. Can’t wait to fire the above bullets see how they perform.

 

[BattleRife]

Don't anneal these. You will ruin them.

Ok thanks I won’t anneal.

This exchange cracked me up. Some guy on the internet makes an inexplicable assertion without explanation or rationale and it just gets accepted as gospel. I can't imagine.

I have never had any significant number of nickel plated rifle brass in my regular rotation but I did very recently rediscover a small stash of nickel plated .223 cases I had put away. When I saw this I dug them out, and today when my salt pots were going I annealed them, 540°C for ~6 seconds.

View attachment 318145

I don't see any issues, gewehr76, care to elaborate on why they might be ruined? The only notable thing I see is that the nickel, being much more resistant to oxidation than brass, did not take on any kind of heat tint from the annealing.