Brass vs nickel plated brass

eurosport

eurosport

Member
Can anyone really tell the difference in case life between brass or nickel plated brass with rifle brass? That nickel sure is pretty!! Bob
 
The nickel seems to be a little more brittle... but you are right about the appearance... especially if you polish the bullets as well...

I have several that I've set aside for display with my Service Revolver and my Beretta 92...They don't tarnish near as quickly..I've found very few in .223, but I don't buy factory anymore..
 
I am glad i saved all my Winchester brass before I started reloading. They look sweet with Hornady Vmax and Nosler ballistic tips loaded in them.

As far as case life is concerned I have only used Winchester plated brass and it does not accept as many reloads as most others. The same applies to their regular brass as well.
I have been able to reload Lake City, Hornady and Lapua more then just about any other I have played with. Some of them way more times then you would believe. Remington's RP is decent stuff as well.
 
I've had nothing but trouble with nickel plated in .223. It was bad enough I pulled apart a couple hundred to recover components. I'm saving the brass for decoration, but won't reload it anymore.
 



I've fired literally tens of thousands of nickle plated cases through both the .223 and the .223 Ackley. No problems to report with the nickle cases.

Actually, I rather like the nickle-plated cases because the ammo feeds out of the magazine like quicksilver.

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Here's a photo of a few fireformed .223 Ackley cases. Maybe fifty pounds of brass and maybe fifty pounds of nickel.

Please don't ask for me to share my stash with you.

Steve Timm
 
Steve, I am on my way to Oregon!!!

Is your brass new or used? If it is used how did you get it so clean? thats the cleanest brass I have ever seen!
 
I have shot some of the nickle out of a 25-06,243, and 223 in bothe the 25and 243 they need to be trimmed more than the 223 or the other brass that I use. All are loaded the same and shot out of the same gun. But I do agree the sure do clean up good and look better longer the other.
 
I use nickle in my 223 and brass in my 6x45mm easy to tell at a glance which is which. Never had any problems with my dies, been loading the 223 since 1969 switched to nickle about 10 yrs ago when I built the 6x45mm. Always used nickle in my 357 Model 13 HB and Model 28 before I quit shooting pistols.

AWS
 


Originally Posted By: kohSteve, I am on my way to Oregon!!!

Is your brass new or used? If it is used how did you get it so clean? thats the cleanest brass I have ever seen!


Friend KOH,

I simply tumble the cases for twenty-four hours in an RCBS Vibratory Polisher with regular ol' RCBS media (I think it's walnut shell).

I'm a retired goldsmith, so occasionally I'll spike the media with a marble-sized piece of platinum rouge (Vigor-322, I believe).

A few years ago, I weighed my stash and it scaled 116 pounds at that time.

The guy who dies with the most brass WINS!!!!!!!
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Steve
 

Oh, by the way, I have never scratched a die with nickle-plated cases. I make sure that they are spiffy clean and run the necks through a Redding Type-S Neck Sizing Die that is fitted with a .243" titanium nitride (TiN) bushing.

No damage to either case nor die.

My .280 Ackley cases are also Winchester nickle-plated; mostly I neck size, using Redding Type-S dies, but occasionally I use the Redding Body Die for easire chambering. Again, no problems experienced.

Steve Timm
 
Tried them once and that was the last. Yes they are nice and shinny but, the nickel is some hard-brittle-stuff. Inially I had a heck of a time getting my bullets started (boattails would probably load easier), had to take a 22 degree reamer to the neck opening. Don't believe they corrode like the brass though.
 
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I heard that nickel scratches the bullets when seating them. Pulled a few and confirmed the rumor. Had good groups with nickel, but now I load brass to try to keep the groups as tight as possible.
 
I can absolutely verify that nickel plated brass WILL wear out a sizing busing in a Camdex 2100 series faster than normal brass.
Would you ever be able to tell the difference in normal dies? Not likely.
John
 
"I heard that nickel scratches the bullets when seating them. Pulled a few and confirmed the rumor."

So does bare brass. Even bare brass is harder than copper so of course it will scratch the copper bullets. Maybe not quite as much as nickel?

Jack
 
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