Primer prep questions

[sydandpaigesdad]

Ive been reading and reading and reading some more and Ive come across another topic that has me a little perplexed. In my catalogs and such I have found three different tools I think I need clarification as to their function

1- primer pocket cleaner

2- primer pocket uniformer

3- flash hole deburrer

Not exactly sure what the major differences are in these so if anyone could clear it up for me Id appreciate it.Thanks in advance.God Bless.

 

[cdrt]

Primer pocket cleaner cleans it out after you deprime the case.

Uniformer makes the primer pocket equally round

Flash hole deburrer is used to clean the flash hole from the inside of the case to make sure it's round and uniform.

 

[ants]

Depending upon my needs...

... I usually don't use any of those tools. For rifle ammo, I only inspect the pocket to make sure nothing is wrong. For pistol ammo I don't even do that. Most progressive presses don't allow you to stop after decapping to visually inspect a case before priming. You go through all 4 or 5 steps revolving around the shellplate (or turret) without stopping. If someone tells you they prep and clean and inspect every pocket, they surely aren't using a progressive press.

... Unless I'm going for a 600-yard rifle shot, trying to make the smallest tiniest group I can get. Then I prep the whole case until it's clean and perfect, including the pocket, and all cases match one another perfectly. Those are always loaded on a single station press for maximum consistency.

So it depends upon my ammunition needs.

Best advice: Eventually collect all the hand tools. You'll use them eventually, even if you don't use them every time. And those are generally the cheapest tools on the list. If you're starting out with common pistol ammo, you probably don't need extensive primer pocket prep anyway.

 

[sydandpaigesdad]

But to recieve them as say Christmas presents wouldnt be a bad idea to have for someday? Id say not to bad of an idea.

 

[MrBorland]

Here's an article that goes into a bit of case prep using primer pocket and flash hole uniformers. If you have a copy of "The ABCs of Reloading", it's essentially the same piece as the "Slamming Steel" chapter.

http://www.lasc.us/RangingShotFreedomArms357CastBulletPT2.htm

In the ABCs, the author notes that very few revolvers are made with tolerances tight enough that the shooter would notice a difference with this level of case prep. But in an inherently accurate revolver, such as one made by Freedom Arms, it can make a difference when shooting a steel ram at 200 yards.

I personally have been wondering if there's anything else, such as a S&W K-38 Target Masterpiece, that's up to that level of precision right from the factory.

 

[ants]

But to recieve them as say Christmas presents wouldnt be a bad idea to have for someday? Id say not to bad of an idea.

Now, that is a superior idea!

 

[NavajoNPaleFace]

I'm with ants on this one.

I no longer use any of those tools.

When I first started serious reloading in the early 1990s I used to concern myself with the promer pocket tool.

Like ant, I just inspect them now and for the past fifteen years I have never had a failure to fire because of the primer pocket being crudy.

 

[Zeede]

I use a cleaner on my .30-06 cases for the M1 Garand, but that's to keep the potential for slam fires to a minimum. The seating depth is really important in service rifles like that.

Cameron