I recently found a bunch of nickel plated brass I had kicking around, much of it unfired. I just went out and bought 50 pcs of real brass, and now find this.

My question is this. Have any of you actually wrecked dies with nickel plated brass? I know it is tighter to resize, but with adequate case lube, I have never had much of a problem.

When I first started reloading, about 12 years ago, I started buying the stuff so me and my hunting/shooting partner wouldn't get our bullets confused.

I hate throwing good brass out, but if it really does damage equipment, it will be going bye-bye.

I await your responses.

I resized some nickel 7mm mag brass, and it scratched the bejeezus out of my Lee decapping/expander rod. I also read about the possibility of the bullet jacket picking up nickel flakes, which would easily damage a barrel. I pulled the bullets from the nickel plated brass I reloaded, and sure enough, the jackets were gouged. Imagine driving a great big flake of super hard nickel, embedded in a bullet, down your barrel.
You could ream out the case necks, but you'll need something harder than nickel. I've also read about the nickel plating splitting as the brass expands and contracts during firing.
I just don't think nickel plated brass is worth the effort and risk. Use a magic marker on the bullet tip/ogive, above the barrel contact area, or likewise use a magic marker around the primer to help ID your ammo.

Albatross.

I shoot it in 4-5 different guns, only to easily identify the cases for those guns. They are all 17 and 22 centerfires. I never have had a problem scratching dies.

I have used different nickel plated cases in Redding & Rcbs dies and have never put a mark in any of them, and have never had any issue with shooting them either. I no longer use Mr Lees dies as I find the materials of them inferior.

I don't know about rifle reloading, but in my Dillon with handgun ammo never a problem.

What brass is it?.....I might buy it from you.....or some one else might want it.....I don't have an issue with the nickel brass!

I got a screaming deal on some .338WM nickel cases and bought a 100pcs. I have been using it in Redding dies for close to twenty years and have had no problems. I did find a couple had, for lack of a better term, "dingleballs" just at the inside edge of a couple case necks. I popped them off, sized, trimmed, and have seen no ill effects. Nate

I have a Redding case trimmer and was able to ruin the cutter head after trimming just a few nickel plated cases. That may obviously be a defect in the cutter heads which cost about $18 each. In any case, I've gone to using trim dies for my nickel plated cases.

I can't say I've ruined any dies resizing nickel plated brass.

I've use brass & nickel plated brass for many loads over the years, .222 Rem., .223 Rem., .243 Win., 25-06 Rem. (don't have any brass other than nickel for this cartridge), 7mm Rem. Mag., .30/06 Sprg., 300 Win. Mag. , 300 RUM & .375 H&H.

I've never noted a lick of difference between nickel or non-nickel plated brass other than for the Lee trimmers, and yes, they tend to dull quicker with nickel so I simply color code the ones I use for nickeled brass and change them more often.

As for Dies - never noted a single issue.

My dad-in-law had scratches he attributed to nickeled brass. Use a separate die for it -- I inherited his Lee and RCBS sets and can tell you he used LOTS of lube.

I use a lot of nickel plated rifle brass in a number of different calibers. The only nickel plated brass I have had a problem with was some R-P in 7mm RM which had incredibly rough inside neck walls (I have not found this on any other nickeled brass).

I used some steel wool wrapped around a mandrel of proper size chucked in an electric drill to remove the roughness inside the case necks. After that, all worked fine.

I do prefer to use a Lee Collet sizer on my nickeled brass in order to avoid the sheering action inherent in a conventional die, although I have resized plenty of nickel brass with conventional dies without detriment to either the cases or the dies.

JMO.....it's ugly

destructive? yes

I shoot and reload a TON of nickel plated brass. I have had ZERO issues, no faster dulling tools, no scratches to anything, and good brass life. I like it a ton. The only thing I find destrucctive is the damage a bullet does when I fire it from a Nickel Plated case!!

I agree it is hard to trim to correct length. Had sized 100 in .270win Calibre. It was Winchester Cases. Took a lot of elbow grease and almost 1/2 had dented just below the shoulder. Not excessive lube. Has somebody tried to anneal nickle plated cases. Not a good idea to reload. I rather use true brass cases. However with pistol nickle plated case and a carbide dies, it works very good.

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I shoot and reload a TON of nickel plated brass. I have had ZERO issues, no faster dulling tools, no scratches to anything, and good brass life. I like it a ton. The only thing I find destrucctive is the damage a bullet does when I fire it from a Nickel Plated case!!

+1

If your dies or cutters are softer then nickel brass you have cheap crap.

Back in the mid 90's I had bought some new nickel 444 Marlin cases to fireform to 309 JDJ and never had any problem with them, no scratched dies or expander rods. I lost count how many times I reloaded those cases but eventually the Nickel started to wear thin on them and you could see brass showing through. Gave the Guy the cases when he bought the barrel, last time I talked to him he still was using some of the cases. Now the next setup like that I get might rub the inside out of the die, LOL.

Steve E.....

quote:

Originally posted by Hunt-ducks:
If your dies or cutters are softer then nickel brass you have cheap crap.

Crap; I'll agree but not necessarily cheap.

I've only resized 40 .280 cases a friend who only uses factory ammo gave me.So far so good.

I load 458 Win Mag and prefer nickel cases--in fact, I have advertised on this and the Classified forums for some, as it is hard to find in 458.

I have never had any issues when using nickel.

My reasons for using nickel are that my rifle shoots accurately with the combination of cases, powder, primer & bullet; also, the rounds feed smoothly and . . . well, I just like the way they look!

quote:

Originally posted by sns2:
...
My question is this. Have any of you actually wrecked dies with nickel plated brass? ...

....

No,

Never,

ever,

no.

That is all

quote:

Originally posted:
...
My question is this. Have any of you actually wrecked dies with nickel plated brass? ...

....

No, I haven't. And I don't think you are ever likely too either.

Nickel, as you know, was at one time used as a major incredient in bullet jackets. That was done primarily because nickel has rather good lubricating qualities. It was discontinued because it was soft enough and smeared enough on its trip down the barrel that, combined with the copper in the same jackets (cupro-nickel) it built up in the bore as lumps of fouling.

But that was 50,000 p.s.i. of pressure with a hot flame too. You'll get the same temp and pressure inside some nickel-plated cartridge cases, but they won't be speeding down the barrel.

Anyway, I certainly wouldn't worry about their "hardness" goofing anything up. There's nothing like that pressure or heat inside a sizing die, let alone a seating die.