Annealing nickel plated brass.

chiefr · November 12, 2017, 09:50 PM

I have been reloading for many years and have been forming brass for about as long. Fully experienced in the art of annealing unplated brass.

However I have several hundred rounds of nickel plated 270 and 30-06 brass I do not need and want to turn it into 8 x 57 and 7mm x 53 Mauser brass. I always anneal after forming or during forming depending on what I am making.

In all my years reloading, I have never annealed any NI brass. Anybody experienced in doing so have any advice here? Thx

T. O'Heir · November 13, 2017, 03:17 PM

Brass anneals at 650 to 700F. Nickel depends on the alloy, but it starts at 705F. No idea what Closed Annealing is though. Still higher than brass.
http://www.totalmateria.com/Article32.htm

OzeanJaeger · November 13, 2017, 03:27 PM

Me neither. Don't run into plated bottle necks much.

True, but since the Ni is a plating would it be necessary to fully anneal (or anneal at all) it if the brass underneath was fully annealed? I don't know, but I don't see it being dangerous to give it a go and see how it turns out. Obviously if big pieces of Ni are flaking off when you're reforming them I'd either toss them, or try to get it all off. It may just flake off after you anneal and resize. I imagine they would have to be plated after they were annealed (if they were) at the Mfg.. I'm interested to know how it works out.

RC20 · November 13, 2017, 04:04 PM

I look forward to the response from a technical vantage.

I tried to size a nickel plated case as the wisdom said it could be done.

Not worth the struggle.

hdwhit · November 13, 2017, 07:44 PM

Quote:

chiefr wrote:
Anybody experienced in doing so have any advice here?

No experience annealing nickel plated brass, but I do observe the thermal expansion of nickel is different from brass, so if you're heating from room temperature to the range of 700 degrees, the difference in expansion rates may be sufficient to cause the nickel plating to de-bond (i.e. flake off) of the brass substrate.

The only way to know for sure is to go ahead and do it. Try it on a small sample of 5, maybe 10 cases, and see what the results are. My suggestions would be 1) use as little heat as you can get by with, and 2) work the brass slowly to give the nickel and brass an opportunity to move together.

Reloadron · November 13, 2017, 08:32 PM

Take the following for what it may be worth:
Nickel plated brass is not suitable for case forming as it tends to crack due to hardness greater than standard brass.
Nickel plated brass is harder on reloading dies due to this greater hardness than brass.

The above was taken from here. Remington Reloading Brass 30-06 Springfield. At some point over the years I ended up with about 500 Remington 30-06 Nickel Plated pieces. I have about maybe 300 left and while I never tried to form them they were a pain to reload and the case necks didn't fare well, cracking after a few firings. You can try a few and see how it works for you as was suggested.

Ron

F. Guffey · November 14, 2017, 10:21 AM

Mileage varies: I have formed hundreds of nickeled 30/06 and 280 Remington cases to 338/06 and 35 Whelen, half of the cases split, the cases were new and or once fired.

I have necked up new 30/06 cases to 35 Whelen without one case splitting out of 300.

F. Guffey

chiefr · November 15, 2017, 05:41 AM

I never cared for NI brass, but it was given to me. I will go ahead and form and anneal about 50 to see how they fare. Thanks to all and especially F Guffey.

November 12, 2017, 09:50 PM	#1
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	Annealing nickel plated brass. I have been reloading for many years and have been forming brass for about as long. Fully experienced in the art of annealing unplated brass. However I have several hundred rounds of nickel plated 270 and 30-06 brass I do not need and want to turn it into 8 x 57 and 7mm x 53 Mauser brass. I always anneal after forming or during forming depending on what I am making. In all my years reloading, I have never annealed any NI brass. Anybody experienced in doing so have any advice here? Thx

November 13, 2017, 03:17 PM	#2
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	Brass anneals at 650 to 700F. Nickel depends on the alloy, but it starts at 705F. No idea what Closed Annealing is though. Still higher than brass. http://www.totalmateria.com/Article32.htm __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

November 13, 2017, 04:04 PM	#4
RC20 Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2008 Location: Alaska Posts: 7,014	I look forward to the response from a technical vantage. I tried to size a nickel plated case as the wisdom said it could be done. Not worth the struggle. __________________ Science and Facts are True whether you believe it or not

November 13, 2017, 03:27 PM	#3
OzeanJaeger Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2014 Posts: 301	Me neither. Don't run into plated bottle necks much. True, but since the Ni is a plating would it be necessary to fully anneal (or anneal at all) it if the brass underneath was fully annealed? I don't know, but I don't see it being dangerous to give it a go and see how it turns out. Obviously if big pieces of Ni are flaking off when you're reforming them I'd either toss them, or try to get it all off. It may just flake off after you anneal and resize. I imagine they would have to be plated after they were annealed (if they were) at the Mfg.. I'm interested to know how it works out.

November 13, 2017, 08:32 PM	#6
Reloadron Senior Member Join Date: June 8, 2016 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Suburbs Posts: 1,750	Take the following for what it may be worth: Nickel plated brass is not suitable for case forming as it tends to crack due to hardness greater than standard brass. Nickel plated brass is harder on reloading dies due to this greater hardness than brass. The above was taken from here. *Remington Reloading Brass 30-06 Springfield*. At some point over the years I ended up with about 500 Remington 30-06 Nickel Plated pieces. I have about maybe 300 left and while I never tried to form them they were a pain to reload and the case necks didn't fare well, cracking after a few firings. You can try a few and see how it works for you as was suggested. Ron

November 14, 2017, 10:21 AM	#7
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	Mileage varies: I have formed hundreds of nickeled 30/06 and 280 Remington cases to 338/06 and 35 Whelen, half of the cases split, the cases were new and or once fired. I have necked up new 30/06 cases to 35 Whelen without one case splitting out of 300. F. Guffey

November 15, 2017, 05:41 AM	#8
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	I never cared for NI brass, but it was given to me. I will go ahead and form and anneal about 50 to see how they fare. Thanks to all and especially F Guffey.