Having recently bought a 300 WSM I have also got some Winchester 150gn Ballistic Tip factory ammo which comes in that Nickle Brass.

Does the Nickle coating come off when resizing or neck sizing this brass and also should I develope a load for it separately from the "standard" Winchester Brass?

Any other comments or advice re this brass would be appreciated.

I saved a bunch of the nickle from Winchester factory loads for my 25 06. I'm still using some of it just for plinking. It started flaking around 10 times sized. I just chuck em when I see the flakes comming of on the shoulder.



I still don't like to buy their nickle plated new. I picked up a couple of bags new for the 280 last year and 2 out of 3 had their primer pockets too small from the nickle plate. The primers were not seating all the way in. If I lined the loads up standing on their heads primed, they would rock around like friggin bobble heads.



This problem went away after a few firings and some aggressive cleaning but why do I want to fire a couple of boxes of bullets to get my brass the way I like it. Forget about it!!



Unfortunately, my 25 06 likes it way more than the regular Win brass. I tried everything for the last year to duplicate the awesome groups I was getting with the factory nickle plate and I was getting nowhere near the results. I'm still getting it from the old over used nickel so I've gone and ordered a couple of bags of it.



I find Federal puts the plating on alot thinner and I don't see it flake but just fade away. Thats my experience anyway.

I use both nickle and plain brass in a couple of rifle calibers. I don't think you need to develop a "special" load just for the nickle.

However, you may find when you change brass for the next round of loading that you need to "tweak" your load a little. Just as with any change in components.

Conventional wisdom is that you will get fewer reloads from the nickle plated brass. Earlier neck splits, usually.

Same as brass!

I have a feeling from trying to get a 270 Win up to speed with 130 gr bullets that I was getting back thrust and therefore hard bolt lift with nickel brass. The load showed no other signs of pressure including the velocity which was not what a 270 should do.

The dimensions are just a fraction tighter with the electro plating.

I have had good and bad nickel brass.The good was 416 Rem mag brass its awesome and primers went in easy.The bad nickel brass was Remington 338 win mag brass.I could not get primers in it no matter what.I also resized it and to my suprise it would not fit in my rifle.The shoulder made a weird curver when I full length resized it.I never tried any more new nickle brass besides the 416 rem mag.It also shaved the bullets I reloaded in it.

As far as I can tell, reloading nickle cases is just like reloading brass ones.

I have not had any problems with Nickle brass..I like to use it for solids and brass brass for softs....that way my bullets are color coded.

Do be aware that nickel brass can damage your dies. It is easier to clean and a little easier on the eyes. But I strictly stay away from it. No way am I gonna risk scratching the inside of my redding competition dies. They cost too much.