Reloading Nickel Plated Brass

[CoElkHunter]

I have some nickel plated once fired .375 h and h and .458WM brass cases I’ve thought about reloading. But I’ve never reloaded the nickel plated cases before so if anyone has any suggestions on reloading them I would greatly appreciate it? Thanks!

 

[Albert GRANT]

Just load as normal, but do a closer inspection before each subsequent reload looking for cracks

 

[CoElkHunter]

Just load as normal, but do a closer inspection before each subsequent reload looking for cracks

And lube the cases the same? Thanks!

 

[Albert GRANT]

And lube the cases the same? Thanks!

Just lightly lube them

 

[CoElkHunter]

Just lightly lube them

Ok. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Watch for chipped plating. I have had some flake off and scratch the inside of my full length dies. Had to polish the die back smooth.
With my nickel plated cases, I only neck size to help reduce this. I also now only use them for light (235 grain Speer) loads for practice.
Mine are all Federal 375 H&H cases. The primer pockets seem to get loose quickly as well.
Just my experience. Maybe I’ve just not had good luck with them. A friend seems to do fine with his 300 WM plated cases.
Best of luck!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Watch for chipped plating. I have had some flake off and scratch the inside of my full length dies. Had to polish the die back smooth.
With my nickel plated cases, I only neck size to help reduce this. I also now only use them for light (235 grain Speer) loads for practice.
Mine are all Federal 375 H&H cases. The primer pockets seem to get loose quickly as well.
Just my experience. Maybe I’ve just not had good luck with them. A friend seems to do fine with his 300 WM plated cases.
Best of luck!

Thanks for this information. Yes, these would be used for light-medium practice loads and I’ve always just neck sized bottleneck cases for practice loads when shot in the same rifle. With the straight walled .458, I may be able to just expand the inside case to allow the bullet to seat properly. I figure if the reloaded cartridges chamber in the same respective rifle without an issue, they’re good enough for practice loads and will extend case life by not full length resizing every time.

 

[Albert GRANT]

Watch for chipped plating. I have had some flake off and scratch the inside of my full length dies. Had to polish the die back smooth.
With my nickel plated cases, I only neck size to help reduce this. I also now only use them for light (235 grain Speer) loads for practice.
Mine are all Federal 375 H&H cases. The primer pockets seem to get loose quickly as well.
Just my experience. Maybe I’ve just not had good luck with them. A friend seems to do fine with his 300 WM plated cases.
Best of luck!

This is the reason for needing to closely inspect before each reload after the first one.