[supergus]

Are these reloadable? I know they are brass but with a nickel coating. Besides being a little harder to see flaws in used casings due to the dark color, are there any issues with reloading these?

[Highpower]

Yes, nickel plated cases are reloadable. In fact they make resizing a bit easier due to the "slickness" of the nickel. I've got some .38 /.357 cases that are brass colored - that used to be shiny "chrome" looking nickel plated cases.
Reloaded them so many times, it wore off the plating!

[supergus]

Originally Posted by Highpower

Yes, nickel plated cases are reloadable. In fact they make resizing a bit easier due to the "slickness" of the nickel. I've got some .38 /.357 cases that are brass colored - that used to be shiny "chrome" looking nickel plated cases.
Reloaded them so many times, it wore off the plating!

Shiny huh? Maybe I'm mistaken. The TAP's have a black chrome look to them.
is that nickel?

[cpttango30]

Nickle plated brass do not last as long as regular brass cases. The nickle over time will get brittle and crack along with the brass. Maybe not so much with revolver brass but with bottle neck cartridges like rifle cartridges your going to get a shorter life span than regular brass.

[Highpower]

Originally Posted by supergus

Shiny huh? Maybe I'm mistaken. The TAP's have a black chrome look to them.
is that nickel?

Yes, it is/was a special "blackened" nickel plating that they used - although I could not find it listed on their web site any longer. I still have a couple cases of it (black) myself. It appears they have gone back to the "chrome" look in current production though. From the looks of this (from the web site), I would venture a guess that they had some complaints from law enforcement / military users however. (My emphasis...)

Silver nickel cases eliminate the potential for corrosion, improve feeding in all firearms, and are easily visible in low light conditions.

tango speaks the truth of course. I just automatically assumed you were referring to hand gun ammunition, because no one "I" know can afford to use the Hornady TAP rifle ammunition on a regular basis....

p.s.
Ahh Ha! Just found this: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=844082

[res45]

If you want to closely duplicate the Hornady TAP rifle ammo just use the V-MAX bullet like they do in the TAP rifle ammo and push it at HV like in the 308 110 gr. TAP rd. a lighter fragile bullet at HV will cause a large wound but not over penetrate

The main thing is trying to find a powder with low flash qualities like the TAP ammo uses,thats probably the hardest part. The black nickel and now plain nickel were chosen to aid in smooth feeding in semi auto rifles and to be able to separate it quickly from standard fighting ammo.

I load my own TAP style ammo for my X39 using the Hornady .310 123 gr. V-MAX at MAX velocity and its a pretty destructive rd. and accurate also.

[robocop10mm]

The nickle cases, especially the black nickle cases are extremely dangerous to even have laying around. Box them up and ship them to me. I will safely dispose of them.

I have not seen a drastic reduction of life in the nickle cases. All cases will harden and crack eventually. No big deal.

[lpalmer80]

The only thing i would add is make sure everything is as clean as you can get it before running through a size die. The hard case coating will cause dirt to scratch your dies very fast if not cleaned.

[supergus]

Originally Posted by robocop10mm

The nickle cases, especially the black nickle cases are extremely dangerous to even have laying around. Box them up and ship them to me. I will safely dispose of them.

Holy CRAP! I had no idea... what's your mailing address?....
Seriously, It's not that I want to replicate the performance of the TAP's. I just want to make sure any ammo I buy is reloadable...
Extremely dangerous-(snicker....)