A dozen years ago when I started reloading i had access to a lot of once fired 308 Win Federal Gold Medal yellow brass and nickel plated Tactical brass. I was primarily neck sizing only and loading only “moderate” pressured charges. I ran a lot of each type until I started getting neck splits and if memory serves me ... never had a split in yellow brass before 15 reloads or in nickel plated, before 13 reloads. I adopted a practice of limiting yellow brass reloads to 13, and NP to 11 times. Never had a split with that restriction. Conclusion was that for that particular cartridge/load ... yellow last longer than NP.
I had heard stories about “scratched” sizer dies from dislodged flakes of the nickel plate so I made sure my necks were clean and never had an issue. Others experience might vary depending on cartridge/pressure?
The only benefit to it, I would thing, that it might chamber and extract a bit smoother. Other than that I think it just looks pretty. I don’t care about pretty brass but I’m sure I’d load some up if someone gave some to me.
Personally, I must admit that I don't like nickel plated brass. I've found that it is a bit harder to work through a sizing die. I've also noted that after a couple or three cycles through a die, some of the plating flakes off and contaminates my die. I've never found an advantage to it. I also like to anneal my brass necks not only for extended life but primarily for consistent neck tension. I've not annealed plated brass, thus I can't comment as to how it would react.
Fiances dad reloads nickel brass in his 3006. He likes that it doesn't tarnish and is easier to find when he ejects a piece of brass and it falls on the ground. As far as I know he full length resizes and it doesn't cause any damage to his dies. He reloads both yellow brass and nickel plated. Right Wrong or Indifferent, he gets results with whatever he does.
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I feel I was denied, critical, need to know Information!
I also did a comparison of group consistency with the 308 and with the factory rifles I was using, could not discern any differences between like number of times fired brass. Disclaimer is that my own consistency at that time was a bit questionable.
Nickel Plated Brass
Linear Mode
