Had a buddy come over tonight with 20 once fired nickle winchester 22-250 cases. Like Iv done a thousand times i set up my 22-250 sizer/decap die and about 1/2 way in the press stroke it seemed as if the case was going to get stuck. they were properly lubed. why is this? iv loaded nickel 270 with no problem. your thoughts please. thanks

Nickle is "stickier" than brass. Get Imperial die lube and live happily forever.
Good luck!

go get some kiwi neutral boot polish, as you can pick that up anywhere, and make em slick ... its the same thing as imperial, but you can get it at more stores ... rubbing alcohol takes either off .. heck, bagbalm works, too.

then again, where they shot in a savage?

Your friends rifle chamber may be larger, requiring more sizing of the case body. Nickel is harder, and at times will need a different die setting to fully bump the shoulder back also.

The last time i said most people don't reload nickle plated rifle brass every one that loads nickle dog piled me. So I won't say that most people don't reload nickle plated rifle brass because it can wear on your dies, or flake off in your equipment.

I will honestly say that I don't know if the plating seperating from the brass is a first resizing problem or an occurance after repeated resizing. I also know a couple of shooters who load regular brass for most of the year and a handfull of once fired nickle for hunting season. Personally I cull out my nickle plated rifle brass for trade. I have loaded the occasional nickle pistol round.

Agree, nickel has been a pain to reload for me as well... whatever the factors, it hasn't been worth it

Loaded 1000's of 308 nickel.with imperial sizing die wax. No problem..

Everything nickel I load is segregated by which rifle it came from and I neck size only. No problems at all. Touch of imperial sizing wax around the case mouth no troubles. No problems with sizing and case life has been great. I have some 7mm08 that is on the 6th loading.

quote:

Originally posted by ty_falcon:
Loaded 1000's of 308 nickel.with imperial sizing die wax. No problem..

It's interesting to see the folks that are having trouble with nickel.

I like the stuff and have never had a problem with it and even used it before I started using Imperial. I find it amazing how a coating of nickel .00005 thick can cause so much trouble.

Maybe I've just been lucky!

quote:

I like the stuff and have never had a problem with it and even used it before I started using Imperial. I find it amazing how a coating of nickel .00005 thick can cause so much trouble.

+1!

The big advantage of nickle you can find them in the grass.
Good luck!

What if tiny nickel flakes get onto the bullet jacket? Then you shoot a nickel flake encrusted bullet down your barrel. I resized a bunch of nickel plated 7mm mag brass once, and it scraped the crap out of my neck sizing stem, and there were nickel flakes all over the place.
Something to think about.
Albatross

I too have loaded thousands of rounds with nickle brass. As others have stated, get some Imerial sizing die wax.

It is marketed by Redding now, same stuff, only it is Redding green.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by ty_falcon:
Loaded 1000's of 308 nickel.with imperial sizing die wax. No problem..

It's interesting to see the folks that are having trouble with nickel.

I like the stuff and have never had a problem with it and even used it before I started using Imperial. I find it amazing how a coating of nickel .00005 thick can cause so much trouble.

Maybe I've just been lucky!

Here is what Remington have to say about nickel cases in response to a couple of questions submitted to their help site. It appears from the answers given below that it is not just a matter of a few thou coating of nickel on a brass case and nothing changes. The nickel does have some effect due to it's hardness, but not insurmountable, and the brass case is potentially affected by an etching process, according to Remington anyway.

"The nickel plating is typically only a few ten thousandths of an inch thick. Prior to the first loading, the inside of the case mouth should be chamfered slightly to remove the plating that builds up due to electrical potential on the edge. This will allow easier seating of the bullets and will not cause scuffing of the bullet’s jacket. The plating doesn’t affect the overall length to any degree of significance. The plating also eliminates the oxidation which causes the brass to tarnish. However, since the plating is a little harder than the brass and the brass surface is etched slightly to hold the nickel, case life is typically a little shorter than with a plain brass case."

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27
Here is what Remington have to say about nickel cases in response to a couple of questions submitted to their help site.
[QUOTE]
"The nickel plating is typically only a few ten thousandths of an inch thick. Prior to the first loading, the inside of the case mouth should be chamfered slightly to remove the plating that builds up due to electrical potential on the edge. This should be done with brass that isn't nickel plated too!


This will allow easier seating of the bullets and will not cause scuffing of the bullet’s jacket. The plating doesn’t affect the overall length to any degree of significance. The plating also eliminates the oxidation which causes the brass to tarnish. However, since the plating is a little harder than the brass and the brass surface is etched slightly to hold the nickel, case life is typically a little shorter than with a plain brass case."

As to case life.....I've noticed that I have more split necks with nickel but I only use the nickel cases for hunting and most often do not save the cases in the field while hunting.....so at least for me the shorter brass life is not an issue.....it might be for others.

Thanks to eagle27 for that post!

There seems to be lots of discussion in nickel brass loading. Here is a link to some additional information.
Let me say, I've not loaded nickel before but will most likely give it a go, based on what I'm reading here.
Here's the link:
loading nickel brass

quote:

Originally posted by Brennanc9093:
Had a buddy come over tonight with 20 once fired nickle winchester 22-250 cases. Like Iv done a thousand times i set up my 22-250 sizer/decap die and about 1/2 way in the press stroke it seemed as if the case was going to get stuck. they were properly lubed. why is this? iv loaded nickel 270 with no problem. your thoughts please. thanks

I resized 100 nickel plated cases. Sizing was very difficult in rock chucker press and about 30 had dents just below the shoulder. Lyman lube used. The dent is not of too much lube. (When you put too much lube it would dent the shoulder). I belief it is due to the cases being too hard. I stopped it and would never try it again. I think it could ruine the dies.