50BMG Primer Troubles

[H&R Glock]

I have a Lee 50bmg loading kit. It includes a primer pocket swager. The swager is difficult to operate as the swaging does not occur at the cam over point of the press where it has the most power. The swager also fits my RCBS Rock Chucker press. Most of the time the primers seat normally. Sometimes I have to flatten the primer to get it closer to level or below the case head.
I enclose a photo of 2 rounds on my computer desk (messy) to illustrate. The one on the right looks great. The left one fails to seat correctly.
Both rounds fire fine in my LAR Bog Boar.
I have just spent $43 on a primer pocket uniformer which I hope will cure my problem. Has anyone elde had this problem with swaged pockets?
Thanks

 

[50 Shooter]

I use the K&M uniformer to get the pockets cleaned up, I don't care for swagers as they can leave a small lip on the pocket. I use an RCBS .17-.45 Cal reamer to to get rid of the crimp. The thing with reamers is to remember that you only need to remove a little bit or just enough material to get rid of the crimp.

Here's a link to one on ebay so you get the idea of what I'm talking about. http://cgi.ebay.com/RCBS-DEBURRING-...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5888f95af1 I chuck mine up in a drill and go to town on the brass, I can do a hundred pieces of brass in a few minutes. I also ream the pockets first as it makes getting the uniformer in and out of the pocket easier. Another trick is to spray some WD-40 into something that you can dip the uniformer into, makes it easier to cut the pockets. Just be sure to clean the WD-40 out of the pockets before repriming.

 

[Strongbad]

We ran into this with some of our brass. We've got a CH4D swager, but it seems to me that we just ended up using the 50 cal deburring tool and with just a little effort we were able to remove 3 staked/swaged areas.

 

[H&R Glock]

Thanks 50 Shooter and Strongbad! That K & M Uniformer arrived Tuesday and I already have the De-Burring reamer as I have loaded other smaller calibers for 20 years. The reamer, however, did not cure my problems with 50 BMG primer seating, but it did help in starting the primers. Right now all my 50 brass is loaded- so I will have to get out and shoot before I can see if the K&M fixes my trouble.
The K&M instructions suggests using the tool by hand or in a power screwdriver as use of an electric drill can result in ruined cases.
I use 205 grains of surplus 5010 from widener's and the 690 grain S.A. ball bullets that they offer.
BTW I just ordered 500 of their CCI #35 primers that are on sale now. (if you are in the market for primers take notice.)
I do not have a powder measure that will throw charges that large. As a matter of fact my RCBS powder measure will not meter huge grain powder like IMR5010. Therefore every charge I load is measured with a balance beam scale and a small teaspoon!

 

[Littlemac]

You are headed in the correct direction

I had a few flattened primers till I made sure all the swage was removed from Military brass. Once you have the swaged removed and the pockets uniformed I think you will find your issues disappear.

Strong was right on the correct solution.

It has been my experience that non military brass ( Barrett, Western etc) you won't have these issues.

On a side note if the brass says LC84- It goes in the brass can for resale, if you get to reload it once you will be fortunate as that brass has given me more issues than any other.

This advice is worth what you paid for it. LM

 

[50 Shooter]

If you use the uniformer in a drill, first be sure that it's set to the proper depth and second use some lube. You need to go slow at first as the K&M uniformer fits tight in the pockets and can bind if you try to jam it into the pocket. You'll also need to pull it back out to dump the shavings at least once while running it in the pocket.

Even with aftermarket brass you need to watch for crimped primers, Lake City currently uses a ring type crimp. It doesn't look like there's a crimp there but it will ruin a primer as fast as you can start to push it in. Same goes for the newer Winchester/WCC/CAL 50 brass, be sure to check it before priming.

 

[50 Shooter]

Little,
Yeah, some of the 80's LC brass was bad, one of the things that I do is anneal it before resizing it or anything else. That and inspect it from the inside out to be sure it's not junk. Most of it gets ruined from being fired through an M2 that didn't have the headspace tight.

 

[Strongbad]

TR when I said a deburring tool, I meant one of the MAN sized 50 cal deburring tools. I've got the Lyman. Thats what we used to fix the pockets on the Greek milsurp that we've got.