Federal Nickel Cases

[WeatherBman]

Hello all, I am working up a load for a friend of mine who shoots a Rem 700 in 300win. He prefers 180 Nosler Partition. I worked up several different loads using the partition and different powders and 3 different cases. One case was a Federal brass case which chambered and fired fine. The second 3 were loaded with Winchester Nickel cases with IMR7828 which shot great (sub MOA). The last 3 were loaded with RL22 in Federal Nickel cases. The Federal Nickel cases would not chamber in his Rem700. They would just stop 1/2-3/4 the way into the chamber and had to be pushed out with a cleaning rod. All the cases were full-length sized at the same time, all trimmed to the same length, at the same time and all were set at the same COL. He shoots Federal Premium factory ammo, which were the once-fired cases I sized, trimmed and reloaded.

Has anyone else had similar problems with the Federal Nickel cases? I weighed the Winchester and the Federal cases and the Federal case was 7-8 grains heavier. Which tells me its a thicker case. Should I have neck sized them only?

I've loaded Federal nickel cases in 308 for my AR10 and have had no chambering problems,which is understandable.

Any help and advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[MDGrand]

I have reloaded plenty of nickle plated brass, both Federal and Winchester. I get good results too for the most part.

What I did learn is that the nickle plated brass is actually intended to be one and done and not reloaded for the most part as they do not resize as well.. or so I am told. I still reload it though and get good results.

This MIGHT be what is happening to your brass.. maybe the shoulder is getting pulled up over the expander ball too much or the shoulder itself is not resizing correctly. What I usually do, after resizing to make sure it is not a troublesome round or too tight is immediately load the empty case into the rifle to see how it feels loaded with the bolt. But my guess is that it is just a fluke of the batch you got. Especially since you full length resized them, trimmed them etc.

Good luck!

[WeatherBman]

Thank you for the tip. Up until today, I have not had any problems with Nickel brass either. I have heard from several other people who've had the same problem as I did today. If I don't get the results I want, I will just trash the cases and buy new brass ones. Thanks again.

[Huntbear]

I have loaded both.  I do find that the shoulder of the nickel brass will bulge out quickly, and cause chambering issues.

I think it has something to do with the nickel being harder to resize, and the material does not flow or stretch like regular brass.   If it is being fired in one rifle only.  Neck size, solves the problem in a heart beat, especially in once fired nickel brass.