Nickel Brass
- Thread starter 750k2
- Start date
I have avoided nickel plated brass like the plague since I started handloading. The stuff is just bad news all around. I believe German Salazar has an article on nickel brass on RiflemansJournal.com.
There are many problems that come with nickel brass. First, nickel is a very hard metal. If it starts to chip or flake or gets dinged it can scratch your chamber, loading dies, or the inside of the barrel. If you feel the inside of the case neck it will usually be rough, which is not going to help accuracy in any way. If the nickel isn't evenly plated it will cause variations in neck thickness. There are just more issues with it than are even worth writing of. The best advice you will ever hear about nickel plated brass is to stay away from it.
If you are planning to blow the shoulder forward the nickel is going to crack, split and peel off in the chamber and probably beat your nice new barrel to death. It isn't soft like brass and probably isn't going to stretch. Annealing will probably start to break the bond between the brass and nickel and cause issues there as well. And I would only imagine it will cause uneven heating of the brass anyway.
Honestly, brass is cheap enough when buying Remington or Winchester that it's not even worth risking damage to anything. Throw it all away and buy standard brass.
Or find a source for once fired 7.62 NATO brass and run that, as I would imagine it can be had cheap.
There are many problems that come with nickel brass. First, nickel is a very hard metal. If it starts to chip or flake or gets dinged it can scratch your chamber, loading dies, or the inside of the barrel. If you feel the inside of the case neck it will usually be rough, which is not going to help accuracy in any way. If the nickel isn't evenly plated it will cause variations in neck thickness. There are just more issues with it than are even worth writing of. The best advice you will ever hear about nickel plated brass is to stay away from it.
If you are planning to blow the shoulder forward the nickel is going to crack, split and peel off in the chamber and probably beat your nice new barrel to death. It isn't soft like brass and probably isn't going to stretch. Annealing will probably start to break the bond between the brass and nickel and cause issues there as well. And I would only imagine it will cause uneven heating of the brass anyway.
Honestly, brass is cheap enough when buying Remington or Winchester that it's not even worth risking damage to anything. Throw it all away and buy standard brass.
Or find a source for once fired 7.62 NATO brass and run that, as I would imagine it can be had cheap.
Cannot comment on nickel plated rifle brass, use mostly Lapua, but have used nickle plated .357 Magnum for my Cowboy Rifle Silhouette loads, and compared with plain brass cases, will get a split at the mouth of the case, much sooner than when using plain brass. The required roll crimp is tough on the brass, but the nickel does split long before the brass.
Have a lot of 1000 of Nickel Federal Brass all once fired still have bout 100 left to load every time at a match when i leave them on the ground for just a minute people are always asking IF I WANT THEM as they are ready to pounce on the nickle brass, so there must be some value in this type of brass
I agree with both Frank and Kenny's comments. I've never had nickel plated cases that I like so far, whether pistol or rifle.
.38 Special + P cases both split in no time and scratched an RCBS sizer die beyond redemption. 7mm-08 Federal (I think) brass had necks so tight after sizing that bullets had to be forced into the case-mouths and the jackets were badly scraped. A sizer die problem, I thought until the same dies had no trouble at all with common or garden unplated cases. There was a third cartridge that it didn't work out in too, but I can't remember offhand what now.
I was told that there was only one good reason for plating cases - dangerous game cartridges to be used in very hot and humid climates that could cause corrosion on unplated brass. I don't know if that's true or not, but it makes sense.
In any event, it seems to be an unecessary complication best avoided in ordinary shooting and handloading, even more so where fireforming is involved.
.38 Special + P cases both split in no time and scratched an RCBS sizer die beyond redemption. 7mm-08 Federal (I think) brass had necks so tight after sizing that bullets had to be forced into the case-mouths and the jackets were badly scraped. A sizer die problem, I thought until the same dies had no trouble at all with common or garden unplated cases. There was a third cartridge that it didn't work out in too, but I can't remember offhand what now.
I was told that there was only one good reason for plating cases - dangerous game cartridges to be used in very hot and humid climates that could cause corrosion on unplated brass. I don't know if that's true or not, but it makes sense.
In any event, it seems to be an unecessary complication best avoided in ordinary shooting and handloading, even more so where fireforming is involved.
Copper-based alloys, like 70/30 cartridge brass, are only hardenable by cold-working. Heating to critical temperatures will anneal but not harden. Nickel is hardenable by heat treatment at typical brass annealing temperatures, sometimes reaching RC 70 with attendant ductility reduction. This is the opposite of what we try to achieve when annealing. As Kenny said, avoid nickel-plated brass like the plague.
Laurie said:
...and shiny!
Sleepygator, I hadn't even thought of the nickel hardening when the brass is annealed. That would add another interesting variable for sure.
For any type of precision shooting, nickel brass shouldn't even be mentioned or considered. High quality brass, or plain factory brass for that matter, is more consistent and far easier to work with and get superior results. Factory loaded ammo that is used to hunt and the brass forgotten about never to be loaded again, that's probably ok too. But the only reason I would even think of picking it up is to go in the trash so as not to pollute the environment.
The crap costs more than standard brass with little gain and many shortcomings. Plenty of reason to just buy standard brass.
For any type of precision shooting, nickel brass shouldn't even be mentioned or considered. High quality brass, or plain factory brass for that matter, is more consistent and far easier to work with and get superior results. Factory loaded ammo that is used to hunt and the brass forgotten about never to be loaded again, that's probably ok too. But the only reason I would even think of picking it up is to go in the trash so as not to pollute the environment.
The crap costs more than standard brass with little gain and many shortcomings. Plenty of reason to just buy standard brass.
I used a bunch of 308 I got in a trade to make 7-08's then after
I parted with that I made 243's out of all of it 400+/-
Turned into the shoulder a touch.
I don't FL size but it's worked for at least 7 on the more used cases.
Have lost only a couple to splits(neck) and those necks were a little on the thin side for my chamber.
This was Rem brass and have had no flaking - bullet pull seems consistent
by the way they seat (arbor press).
The only nickel I see coming off is on the case head from a rough ejector
hole - reminds me I've got to polish that out one of these years :
I parted with that I made 243's out of all of it 400+/-
Turned into the shoulder a touch.
I don't FL size but it's worked for at least 7 on the more used cases.
Have lost only a couple to splits(neck) and those necks were a little on the thin side for my chamber.
This was Rem brass and have had no flaking - bullet pull seems consistent
by the way they seat (arbor press).
The only nickel I see coming off is on the case head from a rough ejector
hole - reminds me I've got to polish that out one of these years :
NFhJR62( how do you pronounce that?), Nickel plated brass can shoot just fine. Some Highpower shooters use nickel plated brass in the rapid fire stages as it feeds better than regular brass cases. You can also neck turn these cases as well( I have done this), but annealing is the probably wrong way to go as stated above due to hardening the nickel plating. My experiences using many 308 win nickel cases, full length resized and neck sized has been positive to date and I have not seen any evidence of the plating flaking off or rifle barrels ironed into smoothbore muskets. Maybe I've been flirting with disaster the whole time and have just been lucky. Good luck!
boltman13
Gold $$ Contributor
Years ago there was a time when 7X57 brass was hard to come by. In desperation I bought 200 nickel plated Rem ones from Midway. As I recall they were not any more expensive. I have used these cases over the years in my Model 93 Mauser with no ill effects. The loads are mild in defrence to the Model 93 action and I use a Lee Collet die and neck size only. I honestly don't remember if I full length sized them ever, but I may have with a Redding die. That die has never given me any trouble with regular brass cases when I use it. I did turn the necks on 100 of those cases with a Forester tool years ago, and cleaned about 75% of the neck diameter. It didn't seem to make any difference. I think the only real reason manufactures went to nickel plating was so pistol rounds stored in loop cartrige belts wouldn't tarnish the way brass ones do.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.