removing unshot primers from cases

[blueridgeMTNs]

I recently installed Fed210 on 270W case and loaded H4831 powder but have not load the bullet. There is one thing I am thinking out loud. This brass was shot in the same rifle as previously and I resize this brass on my new Redding Turret and RCBS dies that I have used with same brass. I noticed this brass really is hard to push the ram down (as in moving the brass out of the dies). I mean its really hard on this Redding Turret but not on the other other press I was using on.

I truly think the RCBS scale from my RCBS Supreme kit is off somewhat. I found this out when I ordered the RCBS scale check and found this off. Then I went ahead and ordered the RCBS electronic scale and checked the scale check and found it to be correct but the scale reading is wrong. (I am going to cal RCBS and send this beam scale back eventually...will they take a look at it?)

Now...the brass may have been fired with H4831 that may be 2grams over? So is it ok to remove the powder and remove the primer and reuse the primer? I mean its only 12 loads waiting for bullet seating so I can remove the powder and shoot the primers and throw the brass away? So my question is if I bump out the primer in my dies is it reusable?

Thanks.

 

[jwrowland77]

Yes. Perfectly safe to push primers out and reuse.

Be sure to go nice and slow and to use PPE when doing so.

 

[blueridgeMTNs]

Ok. thought maybe the primer was going to get "very little" out of spec due to the pressure to instal the primer.

So how do you check this 270W brass? The head of the case near the primer hole shows the brass is shiny hear the head and the same thing near but below the shoulder. I took a paper clip with a hook at the end and ran it near the head and it looks like the brass is not rough as in brass going bad. But the brass was hard to work through the die and I am going to try another once fired brass and see if this die is the culprit but dies do not necessarily go bad. So I suspect its the brass. Are brass that were shot with 2g for example hard to get back to spec?

 

[jwrowland77]

Do you have a picture you can post? If they're once fired, then it just may be the previous chamber wasn't a tight one. Sometimes the ring at the bottom is just made from the resizing die. You've done the paperclip test to check for possible bad case. Could you post a pic of brass? Some brass is hard to resize. Just make sure you use the right amount of case lube and maybe put a dab inside the neck to help.

 

[Dentite]

Sounds like you have multiple issues going on.

First, as answered above, it is safe to push a live primer out of the primer pocket and re-use the primer, at least in my experience. I've yet to had one detonate, but as mentioned, eye protection would be a good idea just in case.

Second, when you say 2 grams do you mean 2 grains?

Third as far as the dies go, what type of die are you using? A full length die with an expander "ball" that sizes the neck?

Are the cases adequately lubed outside and also inside the neck?

If the case is difficult to withdraw from the die it could be inadequate lube on the outside of the case. If it is hard to pull down the handle as the expander ball is going through the neck it could be lack of lube inside the neck.

As far as your previous reloads being too hot ie too much powder, did you have signs of over pressure? Typically these signs are identified as heavy bolt life, ejector marks on the brass, difficult extraction, cratered primers, blown primers, etc.

Unless you had signs of significant overpressure, I wouldn't think you'd have trouble resizing the brass.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Okcafe86]

I've punched out primers before and while I had no issues, I'd highly encourage some PPE ie safety glasses.

 

[gamestalker]

I'm certain that when you referred to to your powder charges that you indeed meant grains, not grams? But just for future reference, make sure you get that information properly identified, grams and grains are two completely different worlds of measurements.

Maybe check your scale again, but this time be sure your are correlating grains to grains, as this would certainly explain why you might think that scale is off. When you say the scale is off, by how much? are you certain that you zeroed the scale correctly?

If the brass checks out fine with the paper clip test, no splits or fractures visible, and primer pockets don't feel loose, I would surmise that the brass is good.

How many times has the brass been reloaded?

As others said, make sure the lube is applied to the entire case body, and to the inside and outside the neck.

GS

 

[gonoles_1980]

I just did one, see my thread on the 357 case that was only 1.18" inches. I had to deprime that one. Just wear safety glasses.

 

[blueridgeMTNs]

Sorry for not being clear. I meant 2 grains. Note that I have not measured exactly how much "over" this bean scale it but with a certain check weight (I think it was the 20 grain weight from RCBS check weight) I verified this on my RCBS electronic scale and it was 20 grains. Put this on the beam scale and set the beam up for 20 grains and the scale was over and I did zero the beam scale.

For this load this is what I load with:
IMR4350, 130NBT, 52 - 54grains (Nosler 5th ED shows 51.0 - 55.0)
H4831sc, 130NBT, 55 - 58 grains (Nosler book shows 55 - 59)
IMR7828, 150 Partition, 53.5 - 55.5 (One Book One Caliber shows 53.3 - 57.5)

As you can see, my loads were at least 1 grain below book as I am a fairly new reloader and did not want to push it.

I failed to mention that this die that I resize with it a new X-sizer die. At first I follow the instruction and resize normally (w/o the X-die set up) and when that was done I set up the X-sizer die per instruction. The hard to pull down ram was with this specific X-sizer die. (I have started using the X-sizer die for 243W and it is not hard etc but this 270W brass is after I loaded the above loads.)

And the brass after I shot I checked for over pressure and none indicated that. The primers were not flattened or anything like that. And as far as I can tell the extraction after the shot was not hard. And this brass is on 2nd reload as far as I know as I bought from someone as one time fired and I size on the regular sizer die. This is the first time I have used X-size dies tho.

I still want to know why its so darn hard to resize this brass. These are RP brass. No I did not lube the inside of the necks and I am fairly sure I lube the body but made sure not to put too much on. Is it possible that with new dies it needs a bit more lube? I dented some 223Rem brass when I first started so I know not to put too much lube.

I will get a picture of the resize brass along with the "after shot" brass that has not been sized and post when my wife gets back and shows me how to use the digital camera.

Thanks for all your help...

 

[blueridgeMTNs]

Also I am using the RCBS x-sizer dies. And as stated no I did not lube inside the necks but when it was hard to push down on the ram I decided to brush the inside the neck and it seem to help a little...very little. If I need to lube inside the neck how much probably very little.

Maybe I should ditch the X-sizer dies but like everyone else I hate resizing so I thought I'd try these and see if they work. There are mix results using x-sizer dies across the 'net tho.

When I post pictures this evening you will see that the area above the head and below the shoulder is shiny as if being scraped/worked more than necessary.

 

[blueridgeMTNs]

photos

 

[blueridgeMTNs]

here is the photo. the brass in question is on the left of the picture. the other brass is another brass for reference.

note the left brass in the picture there are ring marks just above the head and just below the shoulder. it is hard to see here and I guess my camera cannot catch the shiny part just above the head and below the shoulder.