hal8337
Member
Posts: 89 
Location: Livonia, Louisiana
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Post by hal8337 on Aug 3, 2014 9:14:53 GMT -5
A friend of mine brought me a bag of Winchester rifle cases which are silver in color. He asked the question why they were silver rather than brass color which I didn't know so I thought I would ask you guys who know more than I do. My guess is that the silver is a cover coating to prevent tarnishing.
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Post by hacker54 on Aug 3, 2014 9:47:12 GMT -5
Hal,
They are nickle plated brass cases. Yes you can reload these and they do hold up to more harsh climates than regular brass. I have nickle in 30/30 Win and 7mm-08 Rem and just sold some nickle in 444 Marlin. You can also find nickle plated brass in handgun.
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dangun
Member
I love the smell of burnt gun powder.
Posts: 517
Location: SW Florida
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Post by dangun on Aug 3, 2014 10:33:31 GMT -5
Hal,
Hacker is correct they are nickle plated brass. One thing to keep in mind. Nickle plated brass can be reloaded. However even if they are clean they are very hard on dies. Also nickle plated brass will not anneal like regular brass will. If not done with the greatest of care improperly annealed nickle plated brass will destroy you dies. One other thing, the plating can hide flaws in the brass that would be easily seen in un-plated brass.
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hal8337
Member
Posts: 89
Location: Livonia, Louisiana
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Post by hal8337 on Aug 3, 2014 11:26:02 GMT -5
Thanks guys for the information. Why do the cartridge companies use this. I would think the nickel would be more expensive not to mention the tooling to apply the coating.
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dskipper
Member
Posts: 29
Location: northwest florida
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Post by dskipper on Aug 3, 2014 14:39:00 GMT -5
i believe they do it more for appearance. they look great with tipped bullets and make you believe they are worth the $40 you just paid for a box of ammo . personally i don't like them. my experience with them is that after about 3 reloads they tend to start flaking around the mouth of the case and as stated earlier, i find it harder to inspect the nickle plated cases than the brass cases. my 2 cents worth.
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7mmmountaineer
Member
Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Aug 3, 2014 15:16:25 GMT -5
Hal skipper stole my thunder I have used and loaded the nickel plated brass before. They are harder in composition, harder to inspect and harder on your dies. If I have to use them after 3 loads they get tossed into a scrap bucket because the nickel is flaking off the case mouth or the necks are showing signs of splitting. Either way unless I have no choice I try to steer clear of nickel plated brass.
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bob
Member
I'm too old to be nice but never too old to learn!
Posts: 1,457
Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Aug 3, 2014 16:57:21 GMT -5
I won't be given, take, or use nickel plated cartridges for all of the reasons given. I believe the purpose of the plating is to resist corrosion.
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hal8337
Member
Posts: 89
Location: Livonia, Louisiana
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Post by hal8337 on Aug 3, 2014 17:15:29 GMT -5
Thanks guys. Appreciate the Info.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 3:05:55 GMT -5
The nickel plated cases are indeed much better protected against corrosion. But from what I learned in the past when I went to a guided NORMA factory trip in Sweden is that it's done for primarily one reason: Easy extraction from the chamber after firing. These plated cases do less expand than a regular case. Plus under bad (extreme) weather conditions these cases tend to feed into the chamber/cylinder/magazine as well. This is why premium hunting and law enforcement ammo is nearly always made with nickel plated cases.
You can't anneal these cases and like mentioned here before, it needs extra attention during reloading. By the way some methods of case cleaning (and cleaning solvents) can effect the plated layer. Stainless steel media tumbling (to long) can remove the plating at the mouth, base and rim. Even to long SS tumbling will remove the plating "altogether" (depending on the solvcents used). I have tried that out in the past with Winchester brass, the next time you SS tumble regular brass the nickel will transfer fromn the media back on the cases. In the early days this was also a method to plate objects but was very inefficient.
PJ
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My daughter came from Missouri, my son and grand son, my wife and I had a nice dinner of grilled "porter house" pork chops, corn on the cobb, my son, G'son and I share 10/5. G'son is 4 minutes early though @ 10/4.
Pooh I hope you find to right house . 
