FC (Federal Cartridge?) in .308 Winchester, and a Hornady in .223 Remington. They were both shiny and silvery. I assume nickel-plated brass because a magnet didn't stick to them. Nickeled cases aren't unusual in some premium lines of handgun ammo, but this is the first time I'd seen rifle cases like this.

There is nothing unusual about nickel-plated rifle cartridge cases. I have examples of several varieties in the collection I use for teaching about ammunition identification, and not because I deliberately chose them to the exclusion of cases without the plating. The one I picked up at a range most recently was a Federal case for the 7mm PRC cartridge.

Where did you find them?

^^^ Just lying around at the range. People don't seem to pick up their brass there. More for me, because a gallon bucketful is worth over $40 as scrap. No rule against it. My latest "haul", 15 lbs. x $3.47 = $52 back in my pocket.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

Yeah, that's Federal Premium cases. I have some 7WSM Vital Shok like that.

As noted, it's not uncommon. Speer, Federal, and Hornady all use nickel plated brass cases on their defensive rifle ammo and premium hunting rifle ammo lines. It's not just for handguns.

Does this do anything other than looking shiny? Better feeding or ejection? Extra corrosion resistance? You have to work at it to get verdigris on brass.

Based on what I think I know rather than relying on the evil Internet, I believe that nickel plating on rifle cartridge cases is primarily to give the appearance of higher quality. But as it’s evidently most common on hunting load cases, it may also be intended to offer assurance that the cases won’t start corroding while someone is sitting on a tree stand for a couple of hours a few mornings during the season. (Yes, I know that some hunters do in fact hunt in more demanding conditions.)

Whether the plating is necessary to prevent corrosion in actual use, consider that Hornady’s TAP (Tactical Application Police) line doesn’t use plated cases nor does most military small arms ammunition. One would think that if corrosion were a real problem under adverse conditions that military and police users would be first affected.

On the other hand, the TAP line dates back to at least 2004 (my earliest reference), and one of the things that was evidently initially planned was for the cases to be black. I don’t know if that was going to be some sort of oxidization or a coating, but the stated purpose was to reduce their “visual signature” when ejected during firing. I never saw any black cases, though, so evidently that idea was dropped early on.

But speaking of police, as far as I know, nickel plating cartridge cases began because of police practices. In the days when revolver reload ammunition was carried in leather cartridge loops on officers’ duty belts, it wasn’t uncommon for the rounds to be left in the loops for extended periods. In addition, the chemicals used to tan the leather were corrosive, and that resulted in the development of verdigris on the cartridge cases, sometimes to the point that the rounds couldn’t be removed from the loops, or if they could, they couldn’t be inserted into the revolver cylinders.* That led to manufacturers’ plating the cases of 38 S&W Special and, to a lesser extent 357 S&W Magnum ammunition to prevent that corrosion.

Today it’s still common for handgun ammunition intended for police or other defensive purposes to have nickel-plated cases, again probably to enhance the appearance of quality. Although it’s still common for ammunition to be left in magazines for long periods without being so much as inspected, so who knows—maybe it’s still important.

* As I recall that was something the authors of the early “Street Survival” books even mentioned. Despite what some may think about law enforcement these days, its professionalism has vastly improved over what it generally was up until the 1960s.

Oh, yeah: One other thing about nickel-plated cases. Back in the day when reloading 38 Special cases was common, a complaint about the nickel plating was that it could be transferred to the resizing dies and build up to the point that it caused resizing problems. As I recall there was advice about how to remove it from dies. I can only wonder if it would be an issue with resizing nickel-plated rifle cases today.

Thanks for the question because once again I was prompted to dig deeper into something I wasn’t all that familiar with.

This time I did do an Internet search and several ammunition-related sites state that an advantage to nickel-plated cases is nickel’s lower coefficient of friction as compared with unplated brass, and (supposedly) especially when brass gets tarnished due to handling, etc. The slipperier nickel means that the cases stack together in a magazine more readily, and the cases feed, chamber, and extract more reliably than naked brass does. That of course could possibly be an advantage for hunting and defensive ammunition.

All that being said, my own thoughts: At one time it was common for some gunsmiths to advertise “reliability” work for certain guns, including the SIG Classic line pistols. My reaction to those efforts was, “More reliable than what? More reliable than completely, unfailingly reliable for ten thousand rounds?” I won’t debate all the claimed values of nickel-plated cartridge cases, but I will state my opinion that if someone has a gun that requires slick ammunition to function properly, it’s time for a new gun.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Whether the plating is necessary to prevent corrosion in actual use, consider that Hornady’s TAP (Tactical Application Police) line doesn’t use plated cases

Though their Critical Duty line of police handgun ammo does.



As does Hornady's Critical Defense line of rifle ammo.



And their Outfitter line of hunting ammo.