Zinc 22lr cases

[Ajax111]

Has anyone made and shot bullets from 22lr zinc cases. They seem to be really soft after annealing them. Lot softer than the Brass cases. I annealed a bunch of brass made jackets and there was quite a bit of the Zinc cases.

Just wondering if they are usable or not?

Thanks.

[Lakehouse2012]

I don't think I've ever seen 22Lr cases made from zink...

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[MrWolf]

Don't think I have even seen them in aluminum either.

[Sasquatch-1]

I did a quick search and the only thing I found were zinc coated steel cases.

[Ajax111]

I thought they were coated also. I cut one open and it looks like one piece. Not plated?

[Lakehouse2012]

Are they magnetic? Zinc itself is not.

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[Ajax111]

After cleaning them up after annealing I found out I have more than one brand.
The CCI cases, that I have mostly, look to be Nickle plated brass.

The other brand I was asking about and the first one I checked. It has a 22 stamped on the end. It is not magnetic, has a different color to it. Using a file, I can't find a seam of any other metal. It's probably foreign and I'm going to throw them in the trash.

[TD1886]

Herters use to sell 22 ammo just marked 22. Also Romania sold 22 ammo just marked 22 also. You sure the cases just didn't discolor?

[SSG_Reloader]

I'm guessing those are actually nickle. I've done 6.5 from nickle 22mag and .224 from nickle 22lr CCI cases.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

After cleaning them up after annealing I found out I have more than one brand.
The CCI cases, that I have mostly, look to be Nickle plated brass.

The other brand I was asking about and the first one I checked. It has a 22 stamped on the end. It is not magnetic, has a different color to it. Using a file, I can't find a seam of any other metal. It's probably foreign and I'm going to throw them in the trash.
Did you anneal the ones you think are Zinc?
Zinc melts at 787º
How hot was your annealing temp?

Side note: I had some Russian 22LR from the 1990s, one flavor had steel cases and the 'better' flavor had brass cases.

[Ajax111]

I run my temp in the kiln at 800 to 850 degrees. I never thought about them being Nickle.
If they were Zinc I should have had puddles in my container. :) I'll make a few bullets out of them and see how they do.

Thank you for all the help!

[dtknowles]

Be careful what magnet you use when checking cases. I was checking the frame on a nickel plated Stevens tip up pistol to see if it was brass or iron. The magnet stuck to the frame but not as strongly as it stuck to the barrel. I am thinking to myself, ***, I was sure the frame was brass. I tried the magnet on a piece of nickel-plated cartridge brass and guess what it stuck to that too. The new rare earth super magnets will strongly attract nickel and stainless steel that would not attract old school ferrite magnets. Live and learn.
Tim