Alright so here is a question I havent been able to find the answer too...

What are the pros and cons of using nickle over brass? Reason I ask is for my 308, I have 20 pieces of brass that I shot out of it from Federal Premium with Trophy Bonded tips, rounds shot fantasic in the rifle. but I also have about 100 pieces of 308 Brass from over the years in my youonger days of hunting and shooting.

For my hunting loads, which is all I do for rifle, the only difference I see is the nickel is a little slicker for loading and feeding. Performance wise I have seen no difference. Then again, I don't try to wildcat nickel either.

I think nickle-plated brass is just a marketing ploy. If the inside is not plated, there ought to be no difference in the volume of it over the volume of an unplated case. No difference in volume would pre-suppose no changes in how the bullet performs. At least, that's how I look at it. I use my nickle-plated brass as foulers in my target gun so they are easy to spot over the brass ones which are loaded to actually hit the target...

Nickle plated pistol won't discolour in a gun belt. Other than that I can't find any real advantage. It is harder than brass which means it would be harder on your dies and chamber. They'd wear out in a mere 100 years instead of a 150 years.
I bought some to try and keep seperate loads for two .223s. After a few reloads, the nickle plate would craze and flack off around the neck and shoulder. I didn't like it for that reason.
If it is "slicker" than plain brass, that means it won't grip the chamber walls as tightly as plain brass. You'd have more back thrust on the bolt and lugs. I don't know if it would change anything significant in the pressure dept. And I don't know if you prepped two pieces of brass the same and one of them was brass and the other plated if they would shoot to the same POI.

Pro's

• Wipe and load - no tumbling
  
• Never turns green from moisture
  

Con's

• Less neck tension - I'm assuming it springs back more after resizing, but I don't know for sure. I do know that bullet setback in my Marlin GG is more difficult to manage with nickel brass.
  
• Case mouths seems to crack sooner and the plating will flake.
  
• Seems to take a little more umpf to resize
  

I like nickel plated brass and I buy it when available.

OK one more time - nickel brass was developed years ago for police. brass cases tarnished and greened and eventually stuck in the old leather belts they used at the time. nickeled brass didn't do this. Hence it all started with the old 38 spcl, then spread from there cause some guys liked the shiny silver stuff. thats all there is to it. nothing special, nothing really different. its just a plating

It does seem like a good way to keep 2 different loads for the same rifle. I know for my 204 when I start reloading it I will have 2 different loads for it, with 2 different bullets. Then all I got to do is write down, mark or remember where my target turets are for each round.

Brando--Good idea of using it for two differnt loadings. For myself--for the various guns I shoot, I come up with my idea (which could be wrong) of the best bullet weight and that's what I use.. For example I do like the 30-06 and one positive you hear is the large availabilty of bullet weights, which means nothing to me----I use one weight. I'm not going to try and use lighter bullets and make it a .22 centerfire---I'll use my .22 centerfires. Which brings me to my point. I shoot .223 and .222 and most of my .222 is nickel and none of my .223 brass is--so I can quickly sort em if I mix the cases as in tumbling.

Or, use it to sort the brass between 2 different rifles. I use Nickle plated for my Garand fodder, and regular brass in my bolt gun.

the advantages of nickel are; it does not discolor your leather belt and leave green residue and secondly, hunting with them--- after you drop your game dead, its much easier to see them in the leaves than brass!!

I'm with Carpetman, find an accurate load with a good bullet and use it on everything.
If you need a different loading or bullet, buy another rifle for that niche.

Aside regarding .222 and .223. .222 ammo will chamber and fire in a .223. Don't ask me how I know.

I use nickel cases for a) Solids for my dangerous game rifles- If I see a silver case I know it is a solid- easy to distinguise even in the dark. B9 IPSC pistol loads...easy to find the cases in the grass.

Nickel caes do not have the lifespan of brass- if you trim them the nickel generally starts to flake off etc. I never load my dangerous game cases more than twice anyway.

They are also hell on regular dies. TC dies in my dillon for pistol loads are4 fine, but they are not kind to rifle dies!

Nickle wont scratch dies, it is softer than steel. What happens is that a flake of nickle
can stick to the side of the die and scratch
the case. If you champher the case mouth before
sizing this can be avoided. Think about it; if
the die were scratched it wouldend have a protrusion to scratch the case.
Good Luck
Thay are much easier to find in brown grass.

I prefer Nickel plated cases for straight wall pistol cartridges...easier to clean and reload.

I heard that nickel plated rifle cases can flake and damage dies, If what Hawkins says is true, even though the dies may not be damaged, the cases could be if your not watchful while FL sizing.

Nickel plated brass cases look and preform awesomely , when topped with a Silver Projectile !.

Any time I've been invited on werewolf hunts using the above ammo , I've failed to bag a werewolf !.



So my recommendation would be other than werewolf hunting , they're as good as anything else !.

I use nickel plated rifle cartridges to identify Heavy bullets for hunting loads .

Personally never had a negative issue pertaining to nickel cartridges or cases factory or reloading !.

quote:

OK one more time - nickel brass was developed years ago for police. brass cases tarnished and greened and eventually stuck in the old leather belts they used at the time. nickeled brass didn't do this. Hence it all started with the old 38 spcl, then spread from there cause some guys liked the shiny silver stuff. thats all there is to it. nothing special, nothing really different. its just a plating

YEP !.

I use nickel cases in my 6x45 - solely to avoid confusion with "normal" 223 ammo

I like them, but mainly cause they look different. The only real reason for nickle cases is as others have stated, the don't corrode like brass does in leather cartridge holders, they are easier to see on the ground, and they can be used as a visual difference in loads such as solids or softs ect...

I get nickle when I happen to run across it for something different, but that's not very often. I'll have to see about just being able to wipe the grime off them without tumbling, that might be a plus for me. If I thought for some reason I would be throwing my cartridges in the mud and digging them out later, or leaving them roll around on the wet floor of my truck while stepping on them getting in and out I'd use nickle

The nickel plating is extremely thin....maybe .00005" thick.....or 50 millionths

I've never had it flake on me. However I agree...it just might embrittle the brass a tad as it does seem to cause split necks a bit sooner than regular brass.

I also use it for hunting loads to keep them separate from other loads. I like them too!

I have loaded nickle brass for years in pistols I see little diff in it then brass as far as wearing out when it does I toss it but i'm not a counter how many times fired when it comes to pistols.

I do load all my 338 hunting loads with it because it's pertee and does not corode like brass and I have a lot of it.

with 38 super nickel is about the only game in town unless you have starline brass. seems fine to me.

Nickel plated brass looks great topped with a black or blue bullet. It is also a good choice if you are going to be loading and un-loading the same ammo many times over as it won't tarnish from sweaty hands.