Lake City crimp removal (.308)...how can I tell when the crimp is removed?

[Jasper1573]

Good morning all,

I know this subject has come up many times, and I have read several of the threads on it. I am using a Lyman primer pocket reamer (large rifle) to remove the crimp, and I put it on my cordless drill because doing it by hand is incredibly slow and tiring as well as not too effective. But here is my question...how can I tell when the crimp is removed?

Some of the past threads suggest that the visible crimp ring should be gone after reaming, and others say it will still be there. When I ream them, the visible crimp ring is still there even though I have reamed the cases using electric power. All of the brass is from '07, '08, and '09, so it isn't really old, and it certainly isn't match grade or LR.

Thanks for any advice,

Jasper

 

[USSR]

Jasper,

Here is what I would do. Get yourself a primer pocket uniformer (nice tool to have to clean up and square the bottom of your pockets), and if the uniformer enters the pocket ok, then you are GTG.

Don

 

[Jasper1573]

Thanks for the info, Don. I will see if I can find one in town next time I go. One other question...what is the difference between a the Lyman primer pocket reamer and a primer pocket uniformer?

Jasper

 

[GURU1911]

Mr. Jasper

Contact "sinclair international" & request one of their free reloading supply catalogs. A primer pocket uniformer ($24.95) is not the correct tool for the application you are concerned about. Yes it will do a great job to "uniform the pocket" as well as clean it. Here is the correct tool for the job:

Sinclair international--#wr210--large primer pocket reamer---$34.95
cat #2010-b, page 15, lower right corner.

Guru1911---reloader for almost 40 years !!!!!

 

[Jasper1573]

Lyman primer pocket reamer

I have a Lyman primer pocket reamer (large)...will this do the trick, or do I need something more substantial, like the one from Sinclair?

 

[W.E.G.]

What happens if you don't do anything to the crimp?

Except for some very stubborn 9mm brass, I've always been able to seat primers without bothering with removing the pre-existing crimp.

 

[GURU1911]

Primer pocket reamer

In the sinclair catalog on the same page & i quote--"lyman primer pocket reamer to remove the military primer pocket crimp"

sounds to me like you are ready to rock & roll on those primer pocket crimps--if the lyman tool works, then don't spend the additional $$$$, but get the sinclair catalog anyway !!!!!

Happy to help you with your question.

 

[Jasper1573]

"What happens if you don't do anything to the crimp?"

To answer W.E.G.'s question above...when I first got the LC brass, I primed some of the brass without removing the crimp. About 80 out of 100 primed, but not smoothly, and thee other 20 flattened and pancaked the primer. Out of these first 100, 99 of the rounds fired, with one misfire due to the primer being damaged during priming. However, the priming process took about 4 times as long as it should, maybe longer. I can usually prime 100 cases in about 15 or 20 minutes, but on these 100 LC cases it took me well over and hour, and the hand primer kept jamming up and I had to take it apart and remove the primer at least 5 times...very frustrating.

Jasper

 

[W.E.G.]

What primer-seating tool are you using?

 

[rodregier]

Dillon Super Swage 600 is the Cadillac solution if you have any quantity of pockets to process.

Giraud case trimmer is the cadillac solution if you have any quantity of bottleneck cases to be trimmed and chamfered.

 

[243winxb]

how can I tell when the crimp is removed?

The new primer will seat normal. A Lyman primer pocket reamer (large rifle) will work. There will be a light bevel at the pocket mouth. (if like my old reamer) Here is crimped brass on top, regular on the bottom.

 

[Jasper1573]

Yes, that bottom picture is what mine look like, except, I may not be getting the entire crimp, as mine don't look quite as uniform. I will run them through with the reaming tool one more time. I suppose I have been concerned that I might remove too much material and leave the primer pocket too loose.

To answer the question from W.E.G., I am using the RCBS universal hand primer. I was using the standard RCBS hand primer, but the priming pin fell out as I was carrying it back out to my shed, and I lost it. This is a short fall of the standard hand primer, the pin isn't connected. With the universal RCBS hand primer, the priming pin is screwed in.

Jasper

 

[W.E.G.]

Might be worthwhile to just go ahead and process all your cases.

The Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer Cutter Head should make short work of the job.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=617234

All you need is the cutter head chucked in an electric drill.

 

[Jasper1573]

That Hornady reamer looks pretty much like the Lyman reamer I have. I mounted the Lyman in my drill press and that seems to work pretty well, though it takes more effort than I would expect, but I can see it shaving off the brass from the crimp. I have about 300 cases cleaned and deprimed so I will work on those and move on to the next few hundred.

I am trying to decide if these LC cases are worth the effort. They are cheap, less than 20 cents each, seem to shoot better than my commercial brass, and will likely last much longer, but the amount of work to process them (cleaning takes 3x as long, resizing is more difficult, and then removing the crimp) is a lot more than commercial brass.

Any opinions?

Jasper

 

[MrOldLude]

LC brass is my brass of choice. I only have to decrimp once, or I pay just a little bit extra to buy cleaned and processed once-fired. No one but you can decide what your time is worth.

My time is cheap, and it doesn't bother me.

 

[snuffy]

Jasper, I think you're mistaking just what the primer crimp is. The ring you see is where the punch hits the case head after the primer was seated at the ammo factory. What that ring does is displace some of the material on the edge of the primer pocket in towards the center and over the side of the primer so it can't back out. They do this because, most military ammo can be used in machine guns, the feeding cycle can be very rough and sudden causing the primer to back out.

Your crimp reamer will NOT remove that ring on the end of the case head. It WILL remove that brass that has been displaced by that ring into the primer pocket. Get a 10X magnifier, look at an unprocessed case. You should be able to see that ring before it's reamed, then see it has been removed afterwards.

 

[ranger335v]

Snuffy has it on the crimp remover, it isn't made to cut the pocket sides or bottoms.

A pocket uniformer cuts the bottom and walls to consistant dimension so your primers will always seat the same way in each case.

Note that the gaps between the cutter flutes on both tools are close. Brass ships may clog and slow or stop the cutters from doing any more until the chips are cleaned out.

 

[Jasper1573]

Okay Snuffy,

I understand the ring vs. the actual material that has been crimped into the pocket, but even when I use the pocket reamer tool from Lyman twice on each case, the doesn't seat smoothly, as if I haven't removed the entire amount of crimped material. Right now I am working with 30 LC cases and have reamed them twice with my Lyman tool and once with my chamfer/deburring tool. I put both of them on my drill press. The chamfer/deburring tool is much more aggressive while the Lyman tool takes a lot of effort even when it is on a drill press.

I like the LC brass because of its durability and it gives me about 100 fps more velocity for the same powder load than commercial brass. I suppose if I persevere I will get this figured out...if there are so many people that are willing to use it, I probably should too for the above reasons.

 

[sig2009]

I use the Dillon Super Swage. I swage the pocket till the primer goes in with just a little resistance. You dont want to over swage the pocket or the primers will be too lose.

 

[243winxb]

drill press.

These tools are to be used by hand. Could putting to much pressure on the cutter to fast, push the brass into the pocket,instead of removing it? What happens in you don't use the drill press? I know the cutter head on a lyman case trimmer, when dull, just pushes the brass to the sides, without cutting it off.