Depriming as a separate step

[morcey2]

By "stainless cleaned brass", you did mean without stains? Or was it nickel plated brass?

I think he means brass cleaned with the stainless-steel pin tumbler. Makes them look like new, inside and out. A little too expensive for me, but makes them awfully purty.

Matt

 

[Rico567]

What I've read in this thread is that no progressive press on the market really deals with the case problems centered around the primer. My Dillon 650 deprimes OK, but so did my Lee Pro 1000s. But there's no way to inspect or determine what's in those primer pockets, and although progressive primer seating mechanisms vary, none are completely satisfactory (at least none I've used). There's no way that seating on a progressive press is going to provide the same "feel" for a primer seating correctly that will be obtained with a hand press, or, preferably, a hand priming tool (I use the RCBS).
What I can derive from this thread is that loading on a progressive from primed fired (and cleaned) case is fine for plinking ammo, but that for "real" (match, defense, hunting), it's best to do all the case prep first.

 

[LiveLife]

Correct.

no progressive press on the market really deals with the case problems centered around the primer ... there's no way to inspect or determine what's in those primer pockets

Yes and that's why some of us will mass resize/deprime pistol cases first before reloading in progressive mode - it allows us to inspect the primer pockets and clean as necessary.

If you are using resizing dies that won't fully resize all the way down to case base (especially for bulged 40S&W cases) due to larger radius on the die mouth/carbide resizing insert, separately chamber checking resized cases is a good way to cull bulged cases that will lock up the slide when the round won't go into full battery.

 

[Rico567]

I reload a lot of .40 S&W. The bulged case was a problem until I got a Lee Factory Crimp Die. No problem since, they all drop right into a case gauge, to the point that I no longer employ case gauges.
I am becoming a convert to the "deprime / clean first" philosophy, which is not that big of a deal since I don't reload as much as I used to.

 

[Sam1911]

As I said before, all of my match ammo gets the same prep as my plinking ammo. In fact, I dont bother to HAVE specific match and plinking ammo.

I've never looked at a spent primer in its pocket and said, "hmmm, wonder what's in there?"

 

[LiveLife]

Sam, I am in agreement with you.

My reason for separately depriming is really for pre-resizing the case to cull out overly bulged cases that won't fully chamber after being resized in tighter match barrels - it's that depriming happens to occur at the same time the case is resized.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I appreciate all the information that has been offered. It has certainly given me a different view on the current state of the hobby. I've been looking at reloading since before progressives and before the days of spray on lubes.

This all started because I've finally gone through all my ammo from emerging nations (9mm @ $63/k). I actually had an old RCBS Jr that came as part of a trade...but won't easily mount on the new bench.

My local reloading mentor does the deprime and size on a single stage press, then hand primes. I was thinking about this for my match ammo, as opposed to my practice ammo. But having read Sam1911's experience, I might revert back to my naturally more laid back (so much nicer than saying lazy) inclinations.

I was looking at a simple Lee press ($26) and Decapping die ($12) to deprime before cleaning...plus I can deprime the thousands of cases I've collected over the years; because I was trained to by a brass scrounger

Reading through the Brian Enos reloading pages, I was surprised to learn that he spray lubes his cases, both handgun and pistol, before running them through his carbide sizing die.

 

[LiveLife]

That was before NuFinish.

I clean my brass with walnut and NuFinish liquid car polish. The residual polymer on brass surface helps with resizing (like spray lube) and keeps brass from tarnishing (I got 5-gallon buckets of brass polished with NuFinish years ago and they are still shiny with no tarnishing - it was designed to create a water-tight seal on paint surface).

If you are lazy, squirting some NuFinish in the vibratory tumbler before adding brass can't be any easier.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I was thinking about this for my match ammo, as opposed to my practice ammo. But having read Sam1911's experience, I might revert back to my naturally more laid back (so much nicer than saying lazy) inclinations.

Don't know how wise it is to shoot different ammo during practice than you do during a match. I would think it would be a lot better to use the same.

And Sam, I too have never inspected a primer pocket.
And guess what? I've never had one fail to go boom. Until I do, I'm not wasting time with unnecessary steps.

 

[Nordeste]

Depriming separately makes sense if you plan on cleaning primer pockets, which is something I do... with my match ammo. Otherwise, dry tumbling and depriming/resizing on the press is perfectly functional, most of the times. This said, I have a better feeling priming on a clean primer pocket than on a dirty one, and the only two instances in which I've had my ammo failing to ignite was when the primer pockets had not been cleaned.


When I load ammo meant for use in competition, I wash it (hot water+vinegar/citric acid, then rinse in hot water+baking soda). Once it's dry I deprime and resize and they get cleaned in the ultrasonic, then they get a run in the tumbler to get them shiny. It's not as time consuming as it may appear to be, and I feel the peace of mind of having ammo as close as it's possible to be to factory ammo.

 

[noplay6978]

Its amazing how much brass you can hand prime watching the Olympics. Hand priming gives me the opportunity to check the seating deph of the primer and reinspect my brass one more time, since all my brass are range pickups, shot through every pistol known to man. I can also check for crimped brass while I'm hand priming, before I crush a primer.

 

[joed]

For 30 years I cleaned primer pockets, than I bought a 550. I had a hard time following Dillons advice at first but I see no reason to clean pockets any longer. If you have to deprime on another press why keep the progressive?

 

[Crashbox]

I always de-prime separately, then clean my cases ultrasonically and dry them in a convection oven. Afterwards, I put them on purpose-built screens and usually let them sit out for a few days until I'm ready to reload them.

I just cannot stand the thought of dirty primer pockets or dirty brass in general for that matter, especially through my dies.