What's your guys' opinion on reloading with each of these, PROS and CONS..? Thanks Tikka22-250

Hi just use the plain brass the nickle brass can flake and cause problems .

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While you can make nickle cases work, they can pose some potential problems. The only reason to use them is they look good and don' tarnish. Beyond this, there is no benefit and with some downside.

I usually reload all brass for my .338WM five or six times. I imagine I could use the cases a little longer, but brass for the .338 is very cheap nowadays. I haven't had any problems whatsoever with nickel-plated brass. In fact, I prefer plated brass because it does not stain like plain brass does. I have never seen nickel-plated brass flaking.

I clean the inside of the cases before sizing, and at the end of the reloading process I always clean the dies.

As far as I'm concerned, the only advantage nickel has is that it doesn't tarnish. It runs thru the dies with much greater difficulty than brass and it seems that the cases feel very "scratchy" during the sizing and decaping operation. Varmint Al's web page has an interesting analysis on nickel vs. brass cases. I'm not going to use it any more.

I've not had any problem using Nickel brass so far. Handy to tell at a glance my two different loads that I've used. One I use Win regular brass, and the other I use Win Nickel brass. I necksize and it works well for me. No flaking of the nickel or unusual wear on my dies.

Like many topics about shooting, guns or reloading, you ask a question and you will get diametrically opposed answers. You have to try for yourself and make your own decision.

Dave

[ 05-28-2002, 08:22: Message edited by: rifleman ]

I have tried nickel-plated shells with my 300 Wby. I found two problems with nickel-plated shells:
1.The brass shells seemed to last a little longer. Perhaps the nickel shells were worked harder in the dies. Both brass and nickel shells were made by Remington.
2. The nickel wears off over several firings. I don't mean large areas are flaked off, but rather a thinning of the nickel until the brass begins to show through.

On the plus side, nickel shells do look good; especially with Fail Safes or Ballistic Silver Tips.
Once I wear out my current batch of nickel shells, I plan on buying only brass from now on.

That is my two cents,
Shawn

The only cases I have ever gotten stuck in a sizing die were nickel plated. Of course, I didn't have a stuck case remover at the time.

They do seem to work harden faster than brass cases.

Nickel plated brass is less ductile than brass brass. It splits more readily because of the properties of nickel.

Varmint Al discusses this. Al is a structural engineer.

http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/arelo.htm#Nickel_Brass

HI

I have never been a fan of the shiny nikelplated cases. I think Federal and the rest of the "shiny people" should quit this mess. Nikelplated cases cuses greater stresses on the bolt and have a nasty habit of splitting faster than the ordinary brass cases. nikeld cases are not very good to anneal I guess.....

I clean all my brass cases then the get uggly.

/ JOHAN

I like to use nickels for hunting trips, particularly when I'll be in bad weather conditions. I generally don't like reloading them.

TXLoader

Thanks to everyone that replied, Martin

I use nickle plated brass in my hand guns and some of my semi-auto rifles. It seems like they cycle a bit better than regular brass. I also would consider using it in extreme climates with any load. Anyway it could just be my thinking this but thats how I justify it to myself. GOOD LUCK...JD

I've used nickel casings exclusivly for the last few years. I can't see any difference in performance and it cleans up better.

I load for two different 243s, and use brass and nickel cases to differentiate between rounds meant for the different rifles. I've had no problems with them in the 243, although I haven't reloaded any of them more than 3 or so times.

I had some for the 223, and they were the only ones to give me split necks. About 20% have split, whilst brass cases that are much older are still going strong.

There can also be a very hard ridge of nickel on the inside of the neck. I went to some trouble to remove that, as it was slicing a ring of copper off the bullets as they were seated.

The upshot is that I've not had problems in the 243, but they were a pest in the 223.

I quit using nickel plated brass. I bought a batch of .25/06 RP and about 95% of the case necks split before I had a chance to fire them. It seems that the plating process makes the case mouth very brittle. I have also had problems with flaking. Go ahead and spend the money on a tumbler and use regular brass.
Also had trouble with stuck cases, figured that one out though. Remove your die from press, this takes a little effort because of the shell holder. Lock it in a vice. Remove decapping stem. Drill out flash hole with #7 bit, and tap with 1/4"x20 tap. Find a small socket in your toolbox that will fit over the shell and rest on the die body. Run a 1/4"x2 bolt with flatwasher through the socket into the threaded hole in the shell and tighten with a wrench. Shell SHOULD back out of the die. You have just saved yourself $30 and a week of downtime waiting on the stuck case remover.

Eric