223 reloading question

[Josephnagy1]

I am just getting my first batch of 223 started. I have deprimed and trimmed and cleaned out the primer pocket. My question is when I repriming the case some of the primers do not seat as easily as others. In fact some I have to struggle with to seat and then they seam to deform. Picture attached. Clearly I am doing something wrong. I am using a RCBS trim center to remove the military crimp and uniform the pocket. Am I not getting the crimp out? Please help.

 

[wgaynor]

yup... it's the crimp.

 

[Josephnagy1]

Bit More

Is it that i am not cleaning enough of it out? Can you be more specific?

 

[FROGO207]

You might be on the right track there. If you do not go deep enough the whole crimp is not removed. Also some brands of primer are harder to seat because they are a smidge bigger. Tula, PMC, and other metric primers have been the ones that bother me there. It also looks like a misalignment of the punch or brass could also be in play there. Make sure you have no crud in the way either in the groove of the shell holder or the socket it mounts into. Are all the casings the same headstamp? If so and they are military my thought is not removing the crimp enough.

Oh boy I type slow.

 

[HexHead]

You're not removing the crimp. The RCBS tool doesn't work very well. A friend of mine used one on some 9mm NATO brass I had, and primers still wouldn't seat. I ended up getting a Dillon 600 swager, and the primers just glided right in.

 

[beatledog7]

You still have some crimp in those pockets and it's interfering with the primers going in. Looks like they're starting in at an angle, which could be an indication that the crimp is not evenly removed, forcing the primers to cant rather than go in straight.

It's more critical to create a uniform decrimp than a thorough decrimp. But there's no reason not to do both. Take a bit more material out and make sure you're left with a uniform bevel around the entire circumference of the pocket. That'll fix it.

 

[iraaskram]

chamfer and swage

What I've found that works for me is to first chamfer the primer pocket and then swage. At least when you swage you get a feel for the size of the pocket as kind of a go/no-go gage. After I chamfer and then start to swage I will again separate the cases into one tray of loose fitting primer pockets and ones that are real tight from the start going onto the swage base. The loose fitting ones are go the tight are no-go. I will then take the no-go cases and chamfer a bit more and swage again. Yes, it is time consuming but... you lessen the risk of a primer detonating or getting stuck in the priming tool.

 

[moxie]

Also I highly recommend using a hand primer like the Lee Autoprime.

 

[LiveLife]

If your brass has crimped primer pockets, you just need to remove the crimp.

There are various primer pocket tools available and some will use counter sink bit on a drill. Even a cheap $4 Lee chamfer tool works well.

 

[stavman11]

Yup.... I can still see some of the crimp ring in yer Pics

This is what I use in my Drill

3/4 Countersink Bit from Home Depot... works perfect and can bang out aa bunch in a short time

Only like $13

I also use my Lee Chamfer/Debur tool if I only need a couple done or get a TUFF bugger that fights back with me:banghead:

 

[Walkalong]

Use at low speed.

 

[stavman11]

Use at low speed.

LOL

Ya yer not drilling a Pilot Hole

As always Good add-on to my Post Walkalong...


It works well since the angle is steep emough to not come in contact with the primer hole....

 

[grubbylabs]

I have the RCBS tool and I have had no problems with it. First time out having never don it, it took me two cases and I had it set right and I am good to go now. primers seat like you would expect in new brass.

 

[Mohave-Tec]

Cutting brass makes deformed bores, off center bores, non cymetrical bores and variable canted walls. Use the swaging tool if you want to swage.

Dillon Super Swage 600

RCBS Pocket Swage Tool - 2

 

[SpentCasing]

I use the same exact setup as you with no probs. OP, are you "bottoming out" the primer pocket on the die? The depth is preset from the factory and the case needs to go down all the way.

 

[rcmodel]

I think the OP said he was using the RCBS Trim Center to ream pockets.

I have used the RCBS swaging die set for about 40 years and it works perfectly.

I did have to grind off a tiny amount on the end of swaging plug to get enough depth on some brands of brass.

And I use a light shot of spray sizing lube on the primer pockets.

Works slicker then owl dodo.

rc

 

[kayaks]

I think the OP said he was using the RCBS Trim Center to ream pockets.

I have used the RCBS swaging die set for about 40 years and it works perfectly.

I did have to grind off a tiny amount on the end of swaging plug to get enough depth on some brands of brass.

And I use a light shot of spray sizing lube on the primer pockets.

Works slicker then owl dodo.

rc

This matches my experience. Had good luck with the RCBS Swaging die and it does work better with some lube sprayed on the primer pockets. I bought a Dillion swagger and it is a lot easier to use. It is consistent and I don't pinch my fingers as much

 

[Otto]

I have a Dillon Super Swage but use a Lyman VLD tool which works just as well and is faster.

 

[Walkalong]

Cutting brass makes deformed bores, off center bores, non cymetrical bores and variable canted walls.

Your gonna have to explain that one to me.

 

[Mohave-Tec]

Just a matter of physics as well as personal experience.

 

[Walkalong]

How does it affect a rifles bore? Or are you talking about the primer pocket here?

I would agree that careless cutting of primer pocket when reaming crimps or uniforming in general can damage the sides of the primer pocket.

And because I say so isn't an answer.

 

[jsab9191]

Cutting brass makes deformed bores, off center bores, non cymetrical bores and variable canted walls. Use the swaging tool if you want to swage

I'm not sure I follow you explanation , maybe more detail would help.

 

[witchhunter]

RCBS swage tool, then I use a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer once to ALL brass that is new to me. This eliminates all speculation of "is it the primer or the brass." Sinclair make a drill attachment to hold it's tool and it makes it too easy not to do it.

 

[FROGO207]

Wish I had time to attend to EVERY primer pocket I have in my inventory. I tried it on a batch of 308 brass and found that my groups at 100-200 YDS (what I shoot at) made no difference at all so now I only bother to ream/swage crimped primer pockets at most. These days I don't even bother clean my primer pockets unless it is incidental, as when using SS pins to clean my sized brass. YMMV