ArchAngelCD
Member.
Yup, that will eventually happen without a doubt!We'll be standing by when he finds out about Berdan primers.
Yup, that will eventually happen without a doubt!We'll be standing by when he finds out about Berdan primers.
I cringe reading OPs account as I almost had this happen when I was new.
I wish there was a way to let newbies know that popular calibers may be crimped or not.
Better yet, I wish the industry would clearly mark crimped primers.
As that’s not likely I guess this is just a reminder to be safe and when in doubt presume brass is crimped if you’re not sure.
As for OP I’ve not had good luck with a reamer. I have the RCBS swagging tool and it’s ok. It’s slow and a pain, frankly I’d save a few bucks and get the Dillion tool. In fact it’s on my list as the next reloading tool I get. Then I’ll probably modify it with the spring hack so the process speeds up. Sorry I don’t recall where I saw it but a search should be easy enough to find the hack.
This is another problem that is normally solved by reading the front of a reloading manual. You do have a reloading manual don't you?
Believe it or not most reloading manuals will even tell you where you're most likely to encounter crimped primer.
Crimped primer pockets are clearly marked. One just needs to look for that extra brass in the pocket.
And that's why public gun forums like THR exist, to help better educate new reloaders.Lyman 50th ... only briefly mentions crimped primers along with several other generic reloading books.
It’s something that should have occurred to me but it didn’t.
+1 This was all I came here to say. We don't want to end up calling you Lefty.Always wise to wear eye protection when reloading.
I'm another voice in the "slow-but-firm" choir. I have seated primers upside down and not popped them. I have seated them sideways and crushed them terribly and not popped them. I have re-seated high primers in loaded cartridges without popping the primer. I have de-primed and re-seated primers without popping them. I have applied sufficient force in attempting to seat a primer in a crimped case to begin bending the outer wall/ring of the primer backwards, such that it would not fit in any case afterward, without popping them.
Am I blessed with supernatural powers? I don't believe that I am. I just apply steady force to the press lever. I do not try to make the job easier by getting a "running start" at the stroke. Sometimes I apply a considerable amount of force to the arm, but I do it gradually. And if something feels wrong, I back off.
Hi everyone, so I just started reloading and after working some brass I tried to seat a few primers tonight. It was my first time, and honestly I think I made a mess of things... I’m using a Lee breach lock challenger and I was priming on the ram. I have once fired (by me) federal .223 brass and I’m using Remington #7.5 small rifle bench rest primers, and I had cleaned out all the primer pockets with a lee primer pocket tool.
All the primers seem like they’re a little too hard to press in, but being new I don’t really have anything to compare it to so I could be wrong. I was getting very erratic seatings, some to high, some that look to be in to far, and even some that look smooshed a little or cockeyed. I’m sure a huge part is user error and me needing to get familiar with the feel of the press but what really concerned me was when one went off.
It felt tough like I was forcing it a bit and then it just went bang, there was no indentation on the primer but after trying a few more and paying very close attention (and putting in ear plugs) I noticed tiny slivers of brass lodged into the primer cup holder after several of the rounds that I cleaned out each time. My thought is that one of these slivers acted as a firing pin, but my big question is what’s causing them? And why are these primers so hard to seat correctly?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice, I don’t know anyone personally who reloads to ask and teaching myself is proving to be a little daunting... especially after a primer went off on my first try, my wife ran down saying “throw it all out and get a new hobby!”
Image is of the primer cup and one of the tiny slivers of brass I found in it.
My theory is that if you have not seated a primer or three sideways