primers stuck after decapping/resizing?

[xsquidgator]

I have some once-fired Winchester 7.62x39 brass that disturbingly holds on to the old primers. Out of 30 or so of these cases when I resized and decapped them, in about 7 of these the top of the primer came off, but left the outer wall-rim of the primer still in the primer pocket.

How do you all clear out the primer pocket? (Can you/do you?) I've been thinking of buying a reamer or end-mill of the appropriate diameter and gently cutting out the excess material with an electric hand-drill. When this happens with say 9mm cases I just throw them away, but my 7.62x39 brass is precious enough I don't want to throw it away if I can salvage it.

 

[fatelk]

That's a pretty high percentage. Are they old and tarnished? I have had that happen on old crimped military brass, but almost never on good commercial stuff.

What I have done is get a good sharp drill bit slightly smaller than the primer diameter, chuck it up in the drill press, and drill down into the remains of the primer in the primer pocket. Be careful not to drill too deep and hit the flash hole, or the sides of the pocket as the case will be scrap. Done properly, a thin ring will remain. I then take a piece of metal like a nail or screw and grind it so it has a slight hook that I can just reach in and pry the thin ring out with. It's almost more trouble than it's worth, but it does work.

 

[xsquidgator]

Fatelk,
Thanks for sharing your solution.
Naw, these aren't in bad shape or anything, just some WWB brass I found at the range an hour or two after whoever shot it left it there. I tumbled it beforehand and it cleaned up nicely, no idea why it's holding on to the primers so stubbornly. I had 20 brass Winchester casings of my own I'd had kept and reloaded, and none of them exhibited this behavior.

I had noticed that one type of 9mm brass consistently does the same thing, not sure if I recall correctly but "W C" on the headstamp? Like a lot of the brass I have, I've scavenged it from one or two ranges and am not sure of its pedigree.

I think I'll try the drilling operation. Even if I screw it up I'm not any worse off than before, since the brass is certainly unuseable the way it is now.

 

[Sunray]

"...found at the range..." Pitch 'em. The primers are either rusted in or have a sealer. 7.62 x 39 brass isn't that difficult to come by. You'd be spending time and money to muck about with 7 cases.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yes Sunray. Yer right, but just think of all the knowedge he will gain by trying to get them out...