Hornady handgun cases

A

Aguila Blanca

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Going through a pile of .45 ACP brass I've picked up at the range, I culled out several cases that are Federal brand, and black in color. IIRC they are from one of Federal's premium self defense ammo lines, but I don't recall which.

The question is, what is the coating? Is it black chrome? Black nickel (is there even such a thing as black nickel?)? ____?

I pulled it out rather than tumble it, but I'd like to find out what it is and if it's okay to tumble it. I tumble nickel-plated cases and I haven't noticed any ill effects. I was thinking that keeping a few of these black cases around might be useful for visually identifying a special load, or something like that. So I don't want to tumble them if it's going to erode the finish.

Note: I don't tumble in stainless steel pins. I use corn cob media with an occasional dribble of brass bright.
 
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Check it with a magnet. Some of it that I have picked up at the range is steel. I don't know what the coating is but it looks like a black anodizing. I haven't bothered to reload any steel cases but I know people who do - it doesn't seem worth the trouble it might cause to carbide dies. I even quit reloading nickel plated cases because the plating makes them more brittle and I got a lot of split necks with them.
 
Hornady, not Federal

Correction -- and I'll see if I can edit the thread title. I wrote Federal but, after digging out some of the cases, they are Hornady. I'm pretty certain they aren't steel or aluminum, but I'll test them with a magnet for chuckles.
 
I may have answered my own question ... to an extent. According to Guns & Ammo Handguns magazine, it's a black nickel coating. That should be okay to tumble in corn cob media, so I guess I'll try a few and see what happens.

http://www.handgunsmag.com/reviews/pistols/hornady-tap-fpd-ammunition/

From the Hornady web site, it also appears that they have dropped the black and now use a "normal" silver nickel plating on the cases. So I guess I'll hang onto the few I have and use them for things like dummy rounds for classrooom use.
 
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Ive reloaded many of these in 223, they are brass cases and reload just fine, I do find that black is wearing off leaving a brighter nickle coatimg underneath.
 
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