| Posted: Sun Nov 1st, 2009 11:46 PM |
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Thecyberguy
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OK....guys, I am going to show my ignorance here. 
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using nickel plated brass with bottle neck cartridges such as a 243 win cal? 
Does anyone have any experience with it?
Thanks and have a good 'un, Guy
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| Posted: Mon Nov 2nd, 2009 12:25 AM |
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fryboy
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ummm it stays cleaner looking longer .....it's shiny silver instead of brass ( which tarnishes easier and quicker)u can use it to identify different loads at a glance ( if u load them diff that is ) it works ..it's always been open to personal preference , most seem to agree that it is a lil ( just a wee bit ) harder to size,i have some 38/357 that the nickel is wearing thin on ( call me super polish man but i think it's at least 20-25 years old ) as long as it's not flaking off it should be ok ,i prefer brass, umm one more thing ? it isnt really recommended for reforming into other calibers ( partly because of possible flaking and that it's harder than brass)
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| Posted: Mon Nov 2nd, 2009 04:00 PM |
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Dragon88
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I tried resizing cases from the 308 Hornady TAP load. Great looking black nickel cases, not so great looking after sizing. Stuff starts to flake off real quick, and some say they are harder on dies. Don't know if I believe that, though nickel flaking off inside the die could be an issue.
I've had great luck with nickel 357 cases though, use them for my full power load so they're easy to distinguish.
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| Posted: Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 03:03 AM |
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Gnarly
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The .357Mags are the only ones I reload.
The oldtimer who taught me to handload once told me,"Don't even try sizing any bottleneck rifle cases in my dies,youngun!"
When I asked why,he said they were harder than "real brass" and would "flake off and ruin dies!"And he insisted that is the reason why pistol dies were "carbide" dies- he said, "They're harder'n rifle dies!"
Not sure that's fact,but I never tried sizing any nickel rifle cases.Even after I got my own dies!
----Gnarly 
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| Posted: Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 03:10 AM |
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Have the experience to know that it works but I don't care for it. The friction of the nickle is higher, making it slightly more difficult to size and the extra hardness works on trimmer cutters more than I like.
But, it's purty when it's new!
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| Posted: Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 03:23 AM |
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miestro_jerry
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I have a good supply of 45-70 brass in nickle and never had any sizing problems. I use STP for my sizing lube, I find that it works better for some rifle cases.
Plus it looks pretty when it all cleaned up and loaded.
Jerry
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| Posted: Wed Nov 4th, 2009 05:25 PM |
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Thecyberguy
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Well, I thought I was going to find out first hand.
I ordered a bag of 20 from kensbrass.com with a couple other sizes and he sent plain brass instead of the nickel plated.
My son thought the nickel plated brass for the 357 mag was "cool" so I thought he might think it cool to reload some for his .243.
I was a bit disappointed.
Thanks for all the info, guys.
Have a good 'un, Guy
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| Posted: Wed Nov 4th, 2009 06:53 PM |
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Rapier
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I use nickel plated brass in just about everything, from the 223 to the 300 WSM. I use it for 7TCU out of 223, 22-250 AI, 260 out of 243 and various other cats. I anneal it like brass-brass and I have never had any problem with the nickel brass at all, in 25 years using it for my match brass in competition. There is no difference in Brass-Brass and nickel brass except it looks cleaner and cleans easier. It wears at the same rate, splits, etc. But, I do like it better for hunting where weather might be a problem, like Africa, where I took only nickel brass with me on the week long hunt.
Best,
Ed
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| Posted: Thu Nov 5th, 2009 03:31 PM |
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"I have a good supply of 45-70 brass in nickle and never had any sizing problems."
Didn't mean to imply nickled cases have "problems", just that it does have a greater resistance to sizing. With good lube it goes well enough but not as slick as unplated brass does.
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Paul B
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I haven't seen any nickel plated brass "flake off" yet, but I have seen it wear off, usually after being tumbled a few times. I also haven't seen where they're all that much harder to resize if properly lubricated. I also wonder if that is even "Nickel plating"?
If anyone has a copy of Ken Waters PET LOADS, read the section on the .280 Remington where he opined that the plating might be cadmium rather than nickel. I do know that all the winchester .280 Rem. brass I have is plated with whatever that stuff might be and it's not been a problem.
Seems like myths of that type seem to pop up out of nowhere. You knw, stuff like a 30-06 with a 1 in 12" twist will not stabilize 220 gr. bulets or that the .308 is not capable of decent velecity with heavy bullets like the 200 and 220 gr. weights. So we all read what that "egg-spurt", John Q. Gunwriter sez and it's holy writ, gospel from above.  Being a bit of a skeptic, I've shot 220 gr. bullets in a .308 with darn good results and yes, a 30-06 with a 1 in 12" twist will stabilize a 220 gr. bullet . 
As an example, at one time, the 30-40 Krag with 220 gr. bullet at roughly 2,000 FPS was considered a good elk cartridge. yet, a .308 Win. with the same weight bullet at 2310 FPS (from my rifle) would not be? Gimme a break. That .308, a Winchester M70 also has a 1 in 12" twist and groups run .375" to .50" at 100 yards. So much for that myth.
After just those examples, based on my own personal testing, I take what most gun writers say with a grain of salt.
Coming back to the plated brass though, I do notice that they are a bit more difficult to trim and it's difficult to tell when you've applied enough heat when annealing those cases. I just hold the case in my fingers and when they start to get warm, drop them into the water. It's worked for me so far doing it that way. I also find I have to anneal them sooner than conventional brass cases, usually after three reloadings rather than my normal five. YMMV.
Paul B.
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