I have been necking down all my 264 win mag cases from 7 mm rem mag fired caese because they are either cheap as heck or free.I was wondering if new Nickle plated 7mm mag cases would be easier to neck down to 264 win mag.Yes I know you can still get 264 brass but at .03 each its pretty cheap to neck them down.I know its easy to neck down new cases for my 375 jdj vs fired 444 cases.I want it neck down some nickle plated 444 cases unfired.I dont know how much longer they will make 264 brass but there is plenty of 7 mm mag brass.

Hey dgr416, I tried forming some 350RemMag cases from various Nickle plated Belted cases and was not real pleased with the resulting Case Life.

The Neck was formed from the Body portion of those much longer cases and they looked good at first. But, they might only last a couple of shots before the Nickle began to flake during Resizing. So if you do it, watch the Necks closely each time you fire them. You sure don't want any to flake off and get into your barrel.

I can recommend "Imperial Sizing Die Wax" for any kind of Case Altering. Great stuff.

And you will typically have better luck with "New" cases as you reform them because of the necks being Annealed from the factory. Nothing at all wrong with you Annealing the Used Cases though and then doing the reforming.

Then Anneal them again after the Reforming to get the best Case Life.

You might do fine with the Nickle cases, but I prefer regular cases when I'm Reforming.

Best of luck to you.

Rant on:

Nickel plated cases for bottle neck cases SUCK!

Rant Off.

The only thing positive I can say about nickel plated brass is they look good. Beyond that, they are worthless. When you resize and begin to collect nickle plating in your dies or chamber as it flakes off the brass, you will stop using it.

If you are doing any neck sizing or forming the case, you cannot anneal nickle brass to regain neck tension. In short, you’re wasting your time. Stick to brass cases. I have not noticed any significant difference from necking down virgin brass from once fired brass. The only noticeable difference is virgin brass may be a little softer.

All the above is true, few other negative items.
Nickel plated brass scratches the hell out of your dies. They scrape the moly off your cases. And really dull your outside neck reamer. They are not meant for serious reloaders. Nickel Pistol cases and carbide dies are not included in the above. I know some people disagree.

The main (only?) advantages I see to nickeled cases is that they don't corrode as quickly as brass cases do. Thus, when you handle your ammo (in a hot climate like Africa, say), the nickled cases don't corrode as much from your handsweat. I also feel that nickled cases are a bit more slippery, and so they tend to chamber just a tad easier (not much, though). Nickled cases can be handy, when you want to keep different ammo or loadings apart - easier to spot in the field.

Other than that, nickled cases would not be my first choice for necking up or necking down. They seem to be quite a bit harder and less mallable than regular brass cases...

- mike

Nickel-no nickel arguments aside, I suspect it is always easier to neck down NEW brass than brass that has already begun to get work-hardened from being fired......

Answer - unfired
Unless you anneal fired cases they tend to be harder/more brittle and less condusive to easy forming.

I'm assuming that your 7mm Rem cases will be once-fired. That shouldn't be a problem and they should resize about like new brass. I sized some (new) .308 nickel down to .243 in one pass and didn't loose a case. I doubt that you'll have any trouble going down a measly half a millimeter.

Oh, wait, I forgot. Nickeled bottleneck cases are the Devil's very own invention and are the ruination of all guns and men. Send me all of your nickel cases for proper exorcism and disposal.

It is true that nickeled cases are much better resized with a collet-type die that "presses" against the case wall than with a conventional die that "slides" against the case wall. That's the way I resize my .222's, .22-250's, and .243's and it looks like those damnable nickel cases will last well beyond my lifetime. I also load hunting loads in nickeled .270 and .30-06, but with conventional dies. Of course, two or three sizings IS all you do in a lifetime for hunting rounds.

I have had good luck with 416 rem mag Nickle cases.I just hate when cases get tarnished in rough weather.Its the rain and snow that gets them good.I have been using nickle plated 7mm rem mag cases with good luck.They were once fired and .05 each.I usually only load belted cases about 5 times or less usually .I have loaded 416 rem mag cases with reduced loads about 10 times.I think the big weatherby 378 cases are the toughest.I have loaded some 338-378 cases about 15 times.