Nickel case warning

[PaulB47]

I got a deal on a bag of Fed nickel-plated .300 WSM brass and loaded up some (came primed, don't know what with). Went to the range yesterday and shot one in my Winchester 1885, a starting load. It acted normally but one of the things I do after shooting is to run a bullet into the neck of the fired brass just to make sure the fired bullet was released properly and to get an idea how sloppy the chamber neck is. Ideally the bullet should slide in with little resistance, but not be loose.

Well, I couldn't get the bullet in at all! Even trying to force it. That means higher than normal pressures. This is one of the reasons starting loads are lower... I didn't shoot any more. It's a good thing falling block actions are so strong, although the primer did not look abused or cratered and the bullet hit the target in a reasonable place (except higher than my regular loads).

I got my knife and trimmed a little of the brass around the inside of the neck at the end, and then the bullet would slide in. Apparently the plating process leaves a thick edge on the neck. I had not bothered to bevel the case mouth before loading.

All the cases are at the trim-to length, very uniform in that respect. I only have a fired-case holder for my Wilson trimmer anyway, so I don't want to trim them. I guess I will just bevel the mouths inside and out and hope that does the job. Annoying I have to tear my loads down...

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[scrandall01215]

Did you get these from RMR as factory pull downs? Just curious.

Stacy

 

[PaulB47]

Can't remember where I got them. It was a while ago. What is RMR?

 

[Member 34319]

I have had factory non nickel plated brass be a little craptastic at the front end too. It is always a good habit to bevel the edges on new rifle brass anyways before loading in my eyes.

 

[PaulB47]

I just assumed the stuff was ready to load as is since it already was primed. Didn't even occur to me to chamfer. Doh!

I looked with a magnifier.

An unfired case is smooth and straight on the outside, and has a big burr on the inside apparently from the final trim. It almost looks as if it was plated after the burr was created, because the burr itself is plated. I wonder if they just missed a step, deburring, in the manufacturing?

The fired case now has a distinct ridge around the outside. I expect some of the pressure from sizing or seating or firing pushed the extra material out.

I can definitely now see the point of chamfering that edge, and now will do that. The only question is how. Being bulk brass, the necks need to be made round first. I wish I could take that burr off first because if I size it (without decapping of course), as least in the neck, it will be a mess due to the uneven nature of the burr. But I guess there is no way to avoid sizing the neck first. Wish I had a nice tapered button like Hornady (I think) uses.

 

[Velzey]

I use allot of nickel brass in my larger rifles, and the necks need a little more attention when the brass is new. The plating process leaves just a little burr on the inside and the outside of the tip. So first thing I do is run the deburring tool on the inside and outside. And poof little burr is gone.

 

[ageingstudent]

The only question is how. Being bulk brass, the necks need to be made round first. I wish I could take that burr off first because if I size it (without decapping of course), as least in the neck, it will be a mess due to the uneven nature of the burr. But I guess there is no way to avoid sizing the neck first. Wish I had a nice tapered button like Hornady (I think) uses.

You could try to remove the burr before sizing with some steel or bronze wool. After trimming I stuff some wool in a socket and chuck the brass in a shell holder on the drill press and push it down into the socket full of wool. It puts a very nice rounded edge on the case mouth. Works great on my 22-250. I usually use bronze don't know if that will work on nickel.

 

[Tilos]

https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/are-nickel-cases-special.218556/#post-1437115

 

[scrandall01215]

Can't remember where I got them. It was a while ago. What is RMR?

Rocky Mountain Reloading
Stacy

 

[PaulB47]

I had an old Lyman .30 cal "M" die. The WSM brass is too fat to fit into it, so I just took out the center plug (which is normally used to expand sized brass) and manually pushed it into each case, thus rounding the mouths. Now I can deal with the burr. Also bought a VLD reamer (makes sense since the bullets are VLDs) for the inside of the mouth.

 

[ageingstudent]

I had an old Lyman .30 cal "M" die. The WSM brass is too fat to fit into it, so I just took out the center plug (which is normally used to expand sized brass) and manually pushed it into each case, thus rounding the mouths. Now I can deal with the burr. Also bought a VLD reamer (makes sense since the bullets are VLDs) for the inside of the mouth.

Yeah that VLD tool works well. It was kinda spendy but glad I bought it. Buy once cry once.

 

[Otter]

I shot and reloaded some 270 Win Winchester brand nickel brass and never had that problem. It was in a Ruger rifle and it had a generous neck. Plenty of room to expand and release the bullet.

I would be curious to hear if you measured a loaded round with a micrometer, or the neck wall thickness with a tube micrometer. If you did, what were those measurements compared to standards for a factory 300 WSM?

 

[ma96782]

IMHO....

Just cause you got a "new" bag of brass....you still need to process it to your spec.

Aloha, Mark

 

[P7M13]

I use allot of nickel brass in my larger rifles, and the necks need a little more attention when the brass is new. The plating process leaves just a little burr on the inside and the outside of the tip. So first thing I do is run the deburring tool on the inside and outside. And poof little burr is gone.

+1

I bought 100 unfired 300RUM nickel plates cases. Half were primed, half not. Just like @Velzey, I deburred inside and outside, before running them through the sizing die to reform them to 338 Edge. One thing I did note, while most cases did not touch the sizing die, those that did, even after running them through, rubbed just as much on each successive run through.
My unscientific conclusion: the nickel provides a springy toughness.
I have since fired and reloaded ~50, and the necks were still tight, meaning I could not hand-shove a bullet back into the brass.

 

[PaulB47]

Just cause you got a "new" bag of brass....you still need to process it to your spec.

It's primed brass. Ever try to process brass with a live primer in it? Just makes life difficult. Otherwise I would certainly do as you suggest; that's my normal procedure.

Speaking of which, I notice a few of them had the primer in backwards. Just another thing to watch out for.

Anyway I've got it all taken care of now.

 

[P7M13]

Very Intro I HAVE ABOUT 500 FEDERAL NICK IN 257 WETH AND 7 WETH BRASS DOWN STAIRS AND I HAVE NEVER RELOADED THEM!

I'd say you're sitting on a chunk-o-change there, sir!