Cleaning Primer Pockets

[jbradley]

OK, i know I am a newbie so if this is a good question, great. Otherwise, I hope some find it amusing.

If you want to tumble your cases and eventually use a progressive, things seem out of order. I know you do things in quantity, but let's take it as if it was a single case. You put the case in the press and do step 1, skip the rest of the steps, take the round out, tumble it, then put it back in the press "starting" at step 2 and finish out.

1) am I missing something?
2) what are your steps?

Thanks

John

 

[JDGray]

Tumble first before you size.....I don't clean primer pockets in handgun cases, only for rifle, and that may even be a waste of time

 

[LiveLife]

jbradley, depending on the purpose of loads, I use two processes:

Plinking/General range load
1) Tumble with polish

Following done on progressive:
2) Resize/deprime
3) Press prime (primer pocket never gets cleaned)
4) Neck flare/powder drop
5) Seat bullet/taper crimp (use bullets as they come 1-5 gr+ variation OK)


Match/Match practice load
1) Tumble with polish
2) Resize/deprime on single stage or progressive with case feeder for speed
3) Hand prime (inspect primer pocket / clean as necessary)

Following done on progressive:
4) Neck flare/powder drop
5) Seat bullet/taper crimp (weigh bullets and sort - 1 gr variance for match grade / 1-3 gr OK for practice)

 

[psyshack]

I do this for all brass,,, pistol or long gun.

Tumble in walnut media for a hour.
Resize and decap.
Tumble in cob until mirror clean and shiny.

I don't see a diff. between a plinking round and my HD/SD loads. I can load my rounds for half the price of retail fodder and all are tuned for and setup for my pistols. I load every stinking round as if my life depended on it.

I want good brass, clean primer pockets, good powder and good bullets in my pistols be it a target session, night stand duty or CCW.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I never clean pistol pockets and have some brass that has seen at least 20 loadings. It always goes bang.

 

[blarby]

Heres the short and sweet of how I do it with once fired brass :

1. 2 Hr Dirty tumble, no extra added polish in Corn Cob Media with a dryer sheet. ( I don't use "virgin" media, but I don't add fresh polish at this step.) This removes 99% of that misc. firing gunk, and stuff from brass I pick up. This way it doesn't end up in my dies

2. Resize/ Deprime ( lubing cases first, for rifle)

3. 4 hr Beauty Tumble, with polish. Gets 'em nice and shiny

4. Trim case length. I use a Lee Zip Trim, and Lee cutters and measuring studs. ( rifle only)

5. Primer Pocket Uniform. I use an RCBS trim mate for this and the rest of the case prep- the uniformer does a great job of cutting the pocket to the perfect size AND cleans the pocket...handy.

6. Flash Hole De-burr. ( needs doing only once)

7. Inside Neck Chamfer. ( rifle only)

8. Outside Neck Chamfer. ( rifle only)

9. Inside case neck polish ( I use an appropriate size copper brush mounted to the RCBS) ( rifle only)

10. Prime.

11. Charge.

12. Seat Bullet.

13. Crimp bullet. ( rifle only, pistol dies usually crimp appropriately in #12)

14. Measure for spec.

15. Weigh for spec.

For twice fired and beyond rifle brass, I ultrasonic clean after step 1 using water and citric acid. Ultrasonic cleaning usually wont get your cases shiny ( debatable, but not why I do it) but does an excellent job of cleaning the buildup of residue from the inside of your cases.

Hope this helps !

 

[ArchAngelCD]

blarby,
You add a lot of extra work to rifle reloading. There's nothing wrong with that if you like reloading as a hobby but if you're trying to make enough ammo to shoot every weekend you do a lot of extra stuff.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I agree....Lots of extra work that likely doesn't reap any benefit, especially for handguns. It might if you are chasing rifle accuracy, which I do, but I still don't do several steps on that list.

 

[BigN]

Tumble brass first before you resize, your dies will last longer if you put clean brass in them. I usually only neck size but if I have to full-length size, I need no lube if they're tumbled first. I only clean the primer pocket out if it's full of crap, if not, I don't fool with it. Never had a problem.

 

[blarby]

Ya, I'm one of those guys- Sorry.

When It comes to explaining how its done, I'll give the full story... everyone can omit what they choose to from there.

I'm not an accuracy chaser, I reload for safety purposes. Bright shiny bullets that shoot a smidge better are a nice side benefit.

 

[cfullgraf]

OK, i know I am a newbie so if this is a good question, great. Otherwise, I hope some find it amusing.

If you want to tumble your cases and eventually use a progressive, things seem out of order. I know you do things in quantity, but let's take it as if it was a single case. You put the case in the press and do step 1, skip the rest of the steps, take the round out, tumble it, then put it back in the press "starting" at step 2 and finish out.

1) am I missing something?
2) what are your steps?

Thanks

John

I prefer to clean my cases between resizing/expanding and reloading.

So, I clean fired cases in my "dirty" tumbler for a while. Then resize and expand the mouth of the case.

Rifle cases get trimmed at this point if necessary.

Cases get cleaned again then stored away for future loading. This cleaning step polishes the cases and cleans off any sizing lubricant if it was used.

With the progressive, I still hand prime as I don't trust the priming system. Since case mouths are already expanded, I have modified the through the die expanders so that they do not expand the case mouth any more.

I seat the bullet and crimp in separate steps.

The progressive press is handy as it eliminates some case handling during the size/expand cycle and the reloading cycle.

Except for 223 Rem blasting ammo, I load rifle on the single stage.

I let the tumbler clean the primer pockets but don't obsess over it. It at least cleans the loose stuff out and prevents any build up. But, there are tons of articles out there that say primer pocket cleaning is unnecessary.

 

[GTS Dean]

I don't see a diff. between a plinking round and my HD/SD loads. I can load my rounds for half the price of retail fodder and all are tuned for and setup for my pistols. I load every stinking round as if my life depended on it.

^This.^

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

my hunting and 'premium' s-d, h-d rounds I spin a pocket brush a bit in.
'plinking' I just check to see light thru the hole after I pull out of sizeing/decapping die.

 

[Captaingyro]

jbradley: You asked a simple question because you're a little new at this game and unwittingly opened up an old can o' worms among reloaders, i.e, whether or not you should clean primer pockets during the reloading process. As you can see, there are two distinct schools of thought on this issue.

If you choose to go the "clean primer pockets" route, here's a routine you can follow that will keep your steps on the progressive "in order":

1. Deprime with a universal decapping die, either on the progressive or (better) a single-stage. Universal decapping dies are cheap, and won't be bothered much by a little range dirt or firing residue.

2. Tumble

3. Send 'em through the entire set of stages on the progressive. The decapping pin in the sizer will ensure that your flash holes are unplugged.

 

[BigBob3006]

jbradley,

When I come home from a shooting session my first step is to run my cases through a universal depriming die, clean the primer pockets then throw the cases into the case cleaner. When they come out I inspect the cases and clean the flash holes of media that might be stuck in them. Next step is to resize and trim as necessary. Then the cases go back into the case cleaner. After that, they go back into the plastic ammo boxes for that rifle. When all cases in that box has been fired I make a witness mark on the tally tag in the box. This way I know how many times cases have been fired.

Works for me.

 

[jb27]

jbradley: 1. Deprime with a universal decapping die, either on the progressive or (better) a single-stage.

This is what I do as well first thing when I get home from the range. You may consider picking up a Lee press and Lee Universal Decapping Die. They are relatively inexpensive and work well. Nice thing about the Lee Die is that it is universal and will decap most calibers. Only thing you need to change is the shell holder when switching calibers. The Lee presses also have a very nice spent primer collection system using a tube. Very clean and works well.

I use a ultrasonic cleaner, which is why I deprime prior to cleaning. I've got a tumbler ordered to shine 'em up after they're loaded.

 

[GLOOB]

Devil's advocate, here. Cons for decapping before tumbling:

Tumbling brass in normal media doesn't clean pockets very well, anyways. And there's a secret benefit to tumbling brass with the primers in place. Sometimes, the spent primers fall out in the tumbler. Presumably, from cases with loose pockets. So, aside from cases I purchased decapped, whenever I spot brass with an empty pocket, I throw it out.

Also, if you tumble with wax/polish, you will get some of it in the primer pocket. This may contribute to primers backing out. So I say don't break the seal until you're ready to reprime.

FWIW, some reloading companies will not accept cases that have been decapped. Common wisdom says it's so they can tell if it's actually from once-fired factory ammunition. But I wonder if they have other reasons.

 

[Sky King]

I first wash the cases with a little dish soap to clean the dirt and unburned powder off, dry, then tumble and sometimes wash again to get the media off.

 

[glockmon]

Resize first with Honady One Shot case lube , get an Ultra sonic cleaner by Chicago Electric power tools Item #95563 from Harbor frieght tools ( this has a heater which hepls a lot ) and use Honadys One Shot Ultra sonic cleaner . It takes 3 cycles of 8 minutes to clean the brass. I put them in front of a fan over night . They turn out very nice.