Curses; What's up with this 223 brass primer cup?

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berettaprofessor

berettaprofessor

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I recently purchased a bolt-action 223 and a couple of boxes of factory cartridges and after sighting in, decided to use the brass to begin loading 223 for the first time since it was all one headstamp and lot. The brass is from Federal Premium Gold Medal Match 223 Rem (factory loaded with a 69gr Sierra Matchking BTHP). After cleaning it up and depriming/sizing, I got an unexpected surprise as I inspected the cases: Fired case on left, unfired cartridge right.

IMG_4265_zps428rlldd.jpg
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So what exactly am I looking at? I know military 5.56 have crimped primers, but this 223 looks different, like the primer cup has a separate casing? Tried reaming it out, but it doesn't seem to ream easily, nor am I sure of staying centered to insert a new primer.:banghead: What do I do about this brass to reload it...or do I scrap it?
 
Looks like crimped primer pocket to me.

For a batch of FC .223 brass with crimps, I used a Lee chamfer tool to remove the crimps and the cases primed without issues.

Picture showing removed crimp and primed cases
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Yep as others said its crimped. I have a bucket full of FC .223 REM that I had to swage. Just keep an eye on the primer pockets. They tend to loosen up quicker than others after a few firings. It seems like I get 3-4 firings, then the primers get loose.
 
Vintage-Slotcars, I am using a Lyman Primer Pocket Reamer. Just seemed like hard going....

BDS, I'll try the chamfer tool.
 
berettaprof.

I've had good results with a little 1/2" 82 degree countersink with either a drill press or cordless drill with those.

Paying extra cuz it's gun related, as well as turning anything by hand more than a few times has become quite old to me.
 
Doing a few .223 cases with the Lee tool is handy but if you have a lot more to do, you may want to consider a dedicated tool or countersink chucked to a drill.

I bought a large lot of .223 cases with military crimp and thinking about getting the Dillon super swage 600 and doing the rubber band mod.

[YOUTUBE]LaZHeSUqQbk[/YOUTUBE]
 
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ after many years of using a number of primer pocket swagers, cutters and reamers, I've found the Hornady reamer to be the best.

I had a friend with a lathe turn down the opposite end of the aluminum handle to a diameter of .375" and 1/2" long so it will chuck into a 3/8" variable speed drill.

Works like a champ. Doesn't cut too deep or too much.
 
If I only have a few to get the crimp removed I put the RCBS champher tool in my lathe. On large lots of brass I use the Dillon Super Swedge.
 
I don't like how the Hornady can scratch the sides of the pocket, in deep. The crimp only goes maybe 5 or 10 thousandths deep into the pocket. A regular chamfer bit or even a case chamfering tool chucked in a drill works fine for me. I hear a regular phillips bit works, too.

I keep the Hornady around in case I have to actually ream out a pocket. It's overkill for removing crimp, IMO.
 
If you are using larger diameter primers like Fiocchi/Tula/Wolf, swaging tools may be helpful to size tighter primer pockets of S&B/RWS cases?
 
Someone mentioned a Phillips screwdriver bit ... that is what I've been using for a while ... need a good one ... not rounded up edges as in a used one ... I buy the Dewatt ones by the bag for other uses ...I just go grab a fresh one chuck it up in the magnetic holder and ream away ... cuts well enough to not over ream but does it quick also ... once you get the "feel" down ...I can ream brass pretty fast and even ....
 
Thanks for all the help and ideas, everyone. I'm embarrassed, because I thought I knew what military crimping looked like, but this one fooled me.
 
I'm going against the flow and saying it looks like some sort of a sleeve, to me
Click to expand...

I gotta agree. All of the crimped pockets I have ever seen, the crimp is part of the casing. The OP's picture looks like a different material.

Laphroaig
 
What I see in the pic it does indeed look like a separate piece since the color appears different.
OP- can you pry it out or have you checked it with a magnet?
 
That's what I thought at first with my crimped FC brass but what appears to be a shiny sleeve is a reflection of light from the crimp and maybe discolored by primer sealant. On cases with offset crimps, it is more obvious that they are crimps and not sleeves.

And once I started cutting the crimps with the Lee chamfer tool, they were all solid brass and the crimping clearly showed.
 
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Here's a comparison picture of different amount/levels of crimp along with OP's picture. Some may look like sleeves but they are crimps. The FC case at bottom left even shows red primer sealant (like the green primer sealant in OP's .223 case).

attachment.php
IMG_4265_zps428rlldd.gif
 
Just a FYI

I have been reloading for a very long time. In the last couple of years I have had on occasion when depriming .223 mil brass I have had the bottom of the primer separate from the sides of the primer. I found this when I went to swage the primer pocket with the RCBS primer swaging tool because the cylinder sides of the primer got stuck on the swaging nob. I think some primers are not only crimped but also sealed into the primer pocket making it harder to remove.

Just an observation. The pic's above it appears the crimp needs to be removed but I wanted to relate what I have found as a FYI.
 
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