Nickel rifle cases

[ForneyRider]

I have some Winchester once fired nickel cases. They were handed to me from father/son next to me at the range for 270 Win. (>50 )

I started prepping them today and they needed almost no deburring of the neck after trimming. The shavings were very long. Just a light chamfer of the neck. The flash hole required more pressure to be applied to chamfer.

I am making some below max R22 loads of 130gr SST bullets. Are these significantly different from brass in internal dimensions?

 

[The Bushmaster]

Nope. Load'em. Shoot'em. Load'em again.....

 

[bigeye]

Agreed

Bushmaster knows his stuff. I love nickle cases, and will load them multiple times without problem.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Weellll...Sometimes I screw up, and when I do it's a doozy...But thanks...

 

[jim147]

Just make sure you don't get any nickle shavings in your dies and they work great. It can tear up a die.

jim

 

[Uncle Chan]

For me, the nickle flaked off too quick and they seemed to split too easy. So, I tossed all of mine (45LC, 45-70, 223). I'll only use regular brass from here on out. YMMV.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Nickel is softer then steel. By The Way. I've seen little flaking of nickel, but I have seen where the nickel is wearing off leaving the brass exposed. I load them too.

 

[FROGO207]

HA HA HA I have some .357 brass that has been reloaded 75 times at least. It has all the plating worn off and looks like regular brass with nickle headstamps. In this batch of 300 I have had only about 5 split necks so far, using full load lead SWC . The rifle brass that is plated will not last as long but you will get the same use as regular brass will. Worn off plating hasn't bothered me at all and still shoots the same even in my 300 WSM.
BTW Good score on that brass.

 

[Rokman]

I have shot my nickle 25-06 and 30-06 cases several times and I really like them. They clean up very easy and shoot just like my brass cases to me. I haven't seen any flaking yet.

 

[FM12]

Sure enough, watch for nickle embedding itself into the sizer die, which will cause scratches on the brass. Clean your dies often to prevent this. (Trust me on this)

 

[snuffy]

Sure enough, watch for nickle embedding itself into the sizer die, which will cause scratches on the brass. Clean your dies often to prevent this. (Trust me on this)

Not true! Nickle, as already stated is NOT hard enough to cut/imbed in steel dies. It's nickle, not chrome!

The very old cases, like back in the 60's, were plated using different methods. The plating was thicker and of a different composition. That stuff WOULD flake off, but was still much softer than die or barrel steel. Present technology puts a much thinner layer of nickle on the cases.

The worst exaggeration I ever heard concerning nickle cases, is when someone said he wouldn't use nickle plated cases because, the nickle would imbed in his rifle bullets, get dragged down the bore, cutting away at the rifling!

 

[jcwit]

Well the nickel WILL gall onto the inside of the die, and can cause scratching on the cases. It is easily polished out of the die with some 800/1000 grit wet/dry paper. Just because its softer than steel does not mean it will not gall on to the steel. Ever see alu. gall on to steel? That happenes also.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Forget it Snuffy. When you're dealing with "old folks", you just can't convince them that old wive's tales aren't true...

How ya doin' jcwit?

 

[snuffy]

Define "gall". If you mean rub off on, or somehow adhere to steel, what mechanism sticks it to steel, glue? If, by chance, there's a burr or irregularity on the inside surface of the die, that catches and holds some nickle, I'd buy into that theory. It's just that I've never had that happen to me, and I've used nickle cases by choice for over 30 years. It would be easily removed, I would wrap some 4-0 steel wool around a cotton bore mop, give it a spin with a hole shooter.

 

[jcwit]

Well I guess that is a possibility, regarding a rought spot on the inside of the die to start with. Didn't think about that as the reason for the nickle galling to the die, and I remember when it happened to me there was scratches all around the case which would indicate a machining mark in the die, causing galling all the way around. I remember I polished out the die with wet/dry paper and evidently cleaned up the machining mark.


Hey Bushmaster, us old dogs can learn new tricks too. If they're easy ones, and don't require alot of effort.

Gotta leave for awhile, have a good one guys.

 

[greyling22]

my nickel cases don't seem to last as long as my brass ones before I get splits. (.357's anyway, I lose the auto stuff long before it gets old enough to split) I think the nickel is prettier and easier to find in the grass. or dirt, or gravel, or muddy creek.

 

[The Bushmaster]

They are good in leather belt loops and foul weather hunting too...