Different brass by same manufacturer??

[Nomercy]

I have been saving brass from when I started shooting my '06, but I was using high dollar 150gr Winchester Balistic silvertips for deer, and cheaper 150gr Winchester Super-X Silvertips for coyotes. Thing is, the Balistic Silvertips come in a silver case, I don't know if it's chrome or still brass or what??

I have two questions:

A) are these silver cases suitable for reloading?
B) will I need to load them in their own batch, or will they perform similarly to regular brass cases. (also have this problem in .308 rounds, and will be loading match grade stuff for my benchrest rifle, so I'll need EXACTLY similar results).

Screw the 10 ring, keep them in the zero!!!

[Mark whiz]

Nomercy,

those silver cases are actually nickel-plated brass.

They are reloadable and can be treated just like any other brass case. However, after several reloadings, the plating can start to flake off of the brass - at that point it is best to retire them as accuracy will be affected. I've loaded a set of these Winchester cases about 4 times now & have seen no sign of flaking yet. Watch the inside of the necks on these cases, as that is where problems will show up first.

For .308 match shooting, I've found that these cases are a little heavier than standard commercial brass (due to the plating I suppose), so they may actually load very similiar to the heavier military type cases. And for consistancy's sake, just weigh them out like you would any other case and cull out anything that is either 1% over or under the average weight. If they weigh out in the same group as as your other regular brass cases do - they should react to the same loads as the brass does.


"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)

Trust God..........but keep your powder dry!

[mounting man]

As Mark says,watch the inside of the necks. The plateing makes the cases brittle and they will split the necks,first. I don't have any,but have been told that the flaking of the nickle,may scratch the insides of you dies ???

Mounting Man/in PA.