Brazed composite rivet contacts can be provided with virtually any contact face material that will withstand high temperature brazing. The wide choice of backing materials enables the designer to pick a metal with high electrical conductivity for heat dissipation or to select a metal which has the greater physical strength necessary for mounting or assembly. So, the contact engineer has great latitude in material and size selection.

The most generally used backing material is CDA102 OFHC copper which is relatively inexpensive, and has excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. In many applications, copper, nickel or silver-plated steel is selected as the backing material because it is strong and economical. Plating improves resistance to corrosion.

Since brazed composite rivets are made from several components, dimensional tolerances are greater than a solid counterpart. These tolerances can be improved by such secondary operations as coining.