The couple of thousand brake rivets I've installed were all brass, to the best of my recollection. We had a relining machine at the family shop back in the late 1950's. It had a built-in drilling fixture to remove the old rivets, a radius grinder to clean up the surface of the shoes prior to relining, and even a special drill bit to counterbore the lining material for the rivets. We bought bulk lining material in 100-foot rolls.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!