Nickle cases anyone reload them?

[BigDon]

I have reloaded them for 300 WM, 300 WSM and 270 WSM all without issue. I have heard many people say they will reload them once or twice and them dump them. I carefully inspect all my cases (brass or nickel) after cleaning and before resizing. With the nickel cases I look for any nickel flaking or other damage. I have cases currently that I've reloaded now 3x's for the 300 WSM with no issues.
Just my 2 cents.

Does a nickel case generally anneal the same as a brass case?

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

I actually tried them in a benchrest quality rifle....same prep, same everything, I don't have the answer to how but they shot basically the same quarter inch group but they were 4 inches to the left of the normal brass cases, I have no answer as to to how and why it happened..

 

[Mike6158]

Does a nickel case generally anneal the same as a brass case?

I generated Aztec codes for 3 brands of 7mm Rem Mag brass if that helps.

Remington Nickle plated Brass: 140
Peterson Brass: 145
Norma Brass: 162

 

[Brad Quarnberg]

Does a nickel case generally anneal the same as a brass case?

Never tried annealing a nickel case so can't help there. I have only used them in hunting rifles, and started using them in Alaska because of the always wet weather I encountered when hunting up there: always seems to rain or snow.

 

[ARlife4me]

I generated Aztec codes for 3 brands of 7mm Rem Mag brass if that helps.

Remington Nickle plated Brass: 140
Peterson Brass: 145
Norma Brass: 162

why does it have/need 3 different codes for the same cartridge, unless you shoot them in different rifles? this is an honest question.

 

[Mike6158]

I think it has to do with how thick the neck is. The Norma brass required more heat (bigger number). I know that the brass is destroyed when you run it through Aztec mode. Something presses the neck wall in as it's heated. I should probably investigate it how it works but it seems to be pretty consistent. The name "Aztec mode" comes from the Aztec practice of sacrificing to the "gods".

PS - I know the bigger number means more heat because I set the annealer up to anneal and fat fingered the code. When I pulled the case out and it was glowing I knew that I had screwed up.

 

[std7mag]

I have to question, "why use nickel plated brass when plain brass is available"? For me, there is nothing wrong with regular brass and I will stick with that. It probably is a better option for most of us.

I can answer my own question. Nickel was originally developed for use in handgun cartridges. The thought was that the nickel would protect the brass from corrosion when stored for long periods of time in a leather holster gun belt. As I understand, the ammo loops in the leather can be corrosive to brass. At least so I have been told.

So most likely, if you are not storing your rounds in a leather cartridge belt, you have no use for nickel plated brass.

That makes sense.

Especially when you consider that law enforcement carried 38SPCL and 357 Mag for how many years.

I remember seeing that when doing qualifications, something like 3 out of 5 of the revolvers needed attention from the armorer and of those 2, wouldn't shoot if the officer had drawn it for duty.

 

[itchytriggerfinger]

Personally, I will not reload nickel cases.
I was given 5 boxes of Federal 338WM Safari Grade ammo with 250g Partition in 1989/1990 and took them on a Water buffalo hunt here in Northern Australia. Sighting in, hunting and mucking around sent 15 shots of one box into 5 Water buffalo and the rest into targets and some pigs.
When I returned, I proceeded to resize those cases and noticed that the necks looked terrible afterwards, sized some brass cases and the necks looked terrible on them too…hmmmm, I thought this is strange.
Long story short, those nickel cases ruined my die by scratching it to hell and back. Never again.
I also noticed that some of the nickel plate had come off the necks on 4 cases, so I assume that's what wrecked my die.

Cheers.

I had the same problem. The nickel flakes off when working the brass, gets embedded in the die and scratches the cases. At the cost of good dies these days, to me it's just not worth it. If I ever needed nickel for big bear or dangerous game I would buy factory ammo.

 

[itchytriggerfinger]

I have to question, "why use nickel plated brass when plain brass is available"? For me, there is nothing wrong with regular brass and I will stick with that. It probably is a better option for most of us.

I can answer my own question. Nickel was originally developed for use in handgun cartridges. The thought was that the nickel would protect the brass from corrosion when stored for long periods of time in a leather holster gun belt. As I understand, the ammo loops in the leather can be corrosive to brass. At least so I have been told.

So most likely, if you are not storing your rounds in a leather cartridge belt, you have no use for nickel plated brass.

I read somewhere a long time ago that due to the higher lubricity of nickel and more reliable extraction, it was preferable for dangerous game. Probably would apply to law enforcement as well. At least that was my understanding at the time

 

[fmuguira]

Yep, die scratchers. Had to polish out a friends 6.5 CM size die cause of nickel cases.

 

[VinceMule]

I have been shooting Ni brass since the mid 80's, and I have never scratched a die. The neck on the case shows Ni flaking first, and even more important when the case neck starts to split leaving a jagged edge of Ni which will scratch a die.

So, inspect your brass....problem solved...attention to detail.

 

[Brad Quarnberg]

I have to question, "why use nickel plated brass when plain brass is available"? For me, there is nothing wrong with regular brass and I will stick with that. It probably is a better option for most of us.

I can answer my own question. Nickel was originally developed for use in handgun cartridges. The thought was that the nickel would protect the brass from corrosion when stored for long periods of time in a leather holster gun belt. As I understand, the ammo loops in the leather can be corrosive to brass. At least so I have been told.

So most likely, if you are not storing your rounds in a leather cartridge belt, you have no use for nickel plated brass.

I bought some federal premium nickel plated and my gun loved them. I was and had been living in Alaska for a long time and it didn't matter when you hunted, it was wet 90% of the time. Nickel plated ammo was great since it was one less thing to worry about. That said, I have a bunch of that nickel plated and for some of my calibers (the WSM's) it can be hard to find brass for so I reload it because the brass is hard to come by and extremely expensive when I can find it.

 

[MarkInPA]

I bought some federal premium nickel plated and my gun loved them. I was and had been living in Alaska for a long time and it didn't matter when you hunted, it was wet 90% of the time. Nickel plated ammo was great since it was one less thing to worry about. That said, I have a bunch of that nickel plated and for some of my calibers (the WSM's) it can be hard to find brass for so I reload it because the brass is hard to come by and extremely expensive when I can find it.

I think you are the second one to mention the nickel being a benefit in a wet environment and I am open minded about that but, why is the nickel plated better than plain brass? Just curious. What does the nickel do to protect from water? Why doesn't the brass do the same thing?

 

[Josh06]

I found a good deal on 50 primed Speer nickel coated 30-06 cases on gun broker several years ago and picked them up to use in my 30-06ai. They fire-formed just fine and I they are on the 3rd loading now and still look great with no flaking.