I saw Remington has .222Rem cases in both brass and nickel.

What's the advantages/disadvantages in using these two kinds of material?

Nickel plated brass is slicker, but some guys claim it scratches us their dies.

George

Nickel is good for a carry handgun, won't tarnish or collect dirt as easy. In a rifle, triming is not as clean, harder on loading dies, looks nice, can not neck turn nickel, have also seen nickel peel.

243winxb -

quote:

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can not neck turn nickel

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Why not? I've turned nickel ones. They look a little funny once the plating is cut off, but, they still work okay.

R-WEST

Pyrotek,

The only rifle cases that I have ever gotten stuck in a FL die were nickel. This despite a more than adequate lubing with Imperial die sizing wax.

r-west, sometimes when turning, you only skim the brass (nickel) leaving half of the neck brass and the other half nickel, they expand at a different rate. On firing the case neck will move towards the nickel side.243winxb

I bought one batch of nickel brass for a .338 and won't buy any more. It doesn't tarnish but when sizing and inspecting it I noticed something like small beads,for lack of a better description, on the inside of the necks. I like the bullets to slide in and these bead-like things looked to be an obstruction that would cause uneven tension and rough gouges on the bullets. I cleaned them out which was very time consuming. I guess I really don't see the need.

The reason you are getting "half and half" is because you are not taking enough cut. Take another couple of "tenths" off and you will get down to all brass. Case necks can have a 0.002" difference in thickness in some brands of brass.

I just went through that process getting brass ready for a new 22-250 Encore barrel. I found the Rem 22-250 nickle brass held 3 gr H20 LESS than Fed brass cases. Even though the nickel plating is thin it is on both sides and it makes the case heavier and have less volume.

Ditto on Rem 25-06 nickle cases. After looking at the results of todays range session the nickel cases are going in the landfill.

Gone down this road before but just had to try it again to see if the first go-round was a fluke or if I was getting spurious data.

They are pretty and if you only do "once a year" or like showing off your rounds, go for it, otherwise stick with the brass. Yes, plating will peel.

Afte resizeing .270 Rem. nickle brass for the second time the case came out baddly scrached. Called RCBS. They said after the second re-size the nickle would flake off and score your dies. Sent dies back to RCBS were re-polised at NO CHARGE. Took all my nickled plated bottle necked brass and threw it away. Streight walled pistol nickle is OK. Use carbide sizer dies.

I shoot both .38SPL and .357. All my .38 brass is Nickel and all .357 brass is brass. That way even on my numbnuts days I can tell which is which instantly.

I mostly use brass for differentiating between wildcats on the same case. For example, my 7mm Gibbs will use nickeled brass to make it easier to tell it from the 280 Rem stuff. - Dan

Dan,
Did you have any of the nickle plated brass chip or peel while fireforming your 7 Gibbs.
I'm having a 30-06 Ackley built as we speak and the gunsmith stongly suggested I stay away from nickled brass. He said it's ok for standard rounds but bad for wildcats.

On a side note, how do you like your Gibbs? I thought for a long time about having a 30Gibbs built but was told they were a big pain, forming brass and the loading dies are very expensive even compared to Ackley dies! Besides not being able to shoot factory rounds in a pinch I think the Gibbs rounds are a great idea.

Elk Country

EC, I've had no problems with the nickel cases while fireforming. They do start to wear through and chip after some use, though. I like the Gibbs. It's faster then my 280 AI was, pretty close to a 7 Rem Mag. Forming cases is tougher then for the AI series, but it's not rocket science. If you use a control feed mauser type action you can fire factory 280 Rem ammo in it in a pinch. Loses quite a bit of velocity doing that though, and the brass won't last as long (of course, as this is one of those "emergency" things, longevity is a moot point). I would do it again, and am having my second 240 Gibbs chambered now. - Dan