223 too small primer pocket

[edfardos]

I suffered through this issue too. I reamed the crap out of pockets, even used uncrimped brass, yet primers were flush with the head at best. It was the primers - they were too tall by .003". I bought a new lot of cci srp's and they measured shorter and fit fine.

edfardos

 

[ol' scratch]

I had the same problem. I'll bet that they were Federal cases. You have to ream them enough as mentioned in a previous post. If you have some trouble seating them, ream them more. I do think that it is an issue with the CCI primers as I didn't have a problem getting Remington primers to seat. I know that some reloaders use CCI when their brass primer pockets get worn as to get an extra load out of them. I will still use CCI, they just are slightly thicker it seems in the cup.

 

[popper]

Had that problem, just warmed up the cases and all is well. No they weren't crimped but were federal. A lot of Fed is crimped in many cals. now.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I will still use CCI, they just are slightly thicker it seems in the cup.

Thicker, and a little bigger OD than others (.2114, IIRC).

I use CCI primers almost exclusively.

On a lot of 7.62 military brass (esp. LC), I run a .208" drill bit into the pocket after decrimping the brass. Squashed primers are not good for reliability, and it REALLY sucks when one goes off in your face during seating.

BTW, for decrimping, pocket cleaning and mouth chamfering, if you do enough of it to justify or have other uses for a lathe, they work great. I just decrimped and cleaned primer pockets and chamfered case mouths on 1,500 7.62 cases last night in about 4 hours. With 3 stages for each case, that works out to just over 3 seconds per case. Chuck the reamer or cleaning brush in the lathe, turn it on at ~2,000 RPM, and go to down. Reaming takes about a half second per case, and having your weak hand free to feed cases to the strong hand that is doing the work speeds things up considerably.

 

[icanthitabarn]

I use the RCBS swage tool. Make sure to get the new model with the hardened .223 rod. The company also has the stripper piece to fit other presses, if you ask.