Nickel Plated 308 Cases

[Fire4EffectCA]

I have a case of new Remington nickel-plated 308 cases. I have loaded up 100 cases and they function perfectly and look beautiful, but going forward I plan to anneal and neck turn. I also have a case of new Remington 308 brass cases and think these would be better suited for annealing and neck turning than the nickel-plated brass. I understand there are no issues with annealing and neck turning nickel brass, but I keep reading nickel plated brass is hard on dies and neck turning cutters.

Anyone here have experience with nickel-plated brass?

Thanks

 

[TurboTrout]

I have a case of new Remington nickel-plated 308 cases. I have loaded up 100 cases and they function perfectly and look beautiful, but going forward I plan to anneal and neck turn. I also have a case of new Remington 308 brass cases and think these would be better suited for annealing and neck turning than the nickel-plated brass. I understand there are no issues with annealing and neck turning nickel brass, but I keep reading nickel plated brass is hard on dies and neck turning cutters.

Anyone here have experience with nickel-plated brass?

Thanks

All my HST rounds are, interesting in a larger rifle cartridge, were these designed for a maritime environment?

 

[straightshooter1]

I have a case of new Remington nickel-plated 308 cases. I have loaded up 100 cases and they function perfectly and look beautiful, but going forward I plan to anneal and neck turn. I also have a case of new Remington 308 brass cases and think these would be better suited for annealing and neck turning than the nickel-plated brass. I understand there are no issues with annealing and neck turning nickel brass, but I keep reading nickel plated brass is hard on dies and neck turning cutters.

Anyone here have experience with nickel-plated brass?

Thanks

I have not had "a lot" of experience with them. But I have a batch of Federal .308 cases that I picked up as range brass and processed them for precision loading. I've turned the neck and they've been fired 4 times so far and ready to be fired a 5th firing. I was curious how they would do and so far they are doing just fine having had no issues with turning, annealing or sizing them. They've done as well as my regular Federal .308 cases that have been processed in the same way.

Here's some pictures of them:

 

[Fire4EffectCA]

Today I checked with the manufacturers whose tools I use about working with nickel-plated brass.

I spoke with John Whidden at Whidden Gunworks this morning and he is not aware of any problems or unusual wear on their resizing dies or expander buttons.

I spoke with Pat at PMA Tool this morning and he is not aware of any problems or unusual wear on their carbide expander mandrels, carbide turning mandrels and carbide cutters.

I corresponded with Pete at 21st Century Innovation today and he has no experience with nickel plated brass. He did mention he will be offering Black Nitride in caliber specific mandrels mid to late fall. I could order another caliber specific mandrel now to use exclusively with the nickel-plated brass until the Black Nitride versions become available.

 

[straightshooter1]

Today I checked with the manufacturers whose tools I use about working with nickel-plated brass.

I spoke with John Whidden at Whidden Gunworks this morning and he is not aware of any problems or unusual wear on their resizing dies or expander buttons.

I spoke with Pat at PMA Tool this morning and he is not aware of any problems or unusual wear on their carbide expander mandrels, carbide turning mandrels and carbide cutters.

I corresponded with Pete at 21st Century Innovation today and he has no experience with nickel plated brass. He did mention he will be offering Black Nitride in caliber specific mandrels mid to late fall. I could order another caliber specific mandrel now to use exclusively with the nickel-plated brass until the Black Nitride versions become available.

The nickle cladding is so thin on the cases, I just don't think there's enough of it to cause any harm to any cutting tools, especially if you've got a carbide cutter. I've read several comments in the past about the nickle cladding flaking off only in the neck area. To me, it does make some sense that could happen given how much expansion and contraction movement the neck goes through when shooting then resizing. So, I have a theory/feeling that the turning of the necks down to brass, like I have, will actually help with that issue.

 

[RTH1800]

I use nickel plated brass but out of an abundance of caution I would not neck turn it. Use other brass for that.