S&B Primer Pockets

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rikman

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I just loaded a box of 38Spl on my new Dillon 550B. I noticed that with the S&B brass the primers were not seating;the pockets were tight. I tried nudging them in with my RCBS primer tool but that just kind of squished them.

Do most of you chuck S&B cases in the trash or is it worth getting something like the Sinclair primer Pocket Uniformer? (not sure if this is the correct tool to fix them?)


THanks
 
S&B primer pockets are very tight. Winchester primers take a little bit more effort to seat fully (.004" below flush) in my Lee XR hand primer. Tight, but very doable.

Larger diameter Tula/Wolf primers will flatten flush instead of seating fully (.004" below flush). Primer seating effort? It's a "Ooooomph" two handed exercise of will with a battle cry of "Holy Moly!" :fire:

I have a separate box that I am keeping them in along with military crimped cases for me to ream out the primer pocket later.:D
 
rikman, what brand of primers were you using?

Even though S&B primer pockets are tight, Winchester Brass/Bronze primers will seat fully (.004" below flush) with a little bit more effort in my hand primer. On the press, it requires a firmer push to seat the primer.

S&B primer pocket and Tula/Wolf primers is an exercise in futility. :D
 
I really like the S&B .38 Special brass, and consider a slightly snug primer pocket a plus, since they last a little longer. I do my priming with a Ram Prime, so there's no problem seating primers in S&B brass, or for that matter, any brass with tight primer pockets.

And don't trash any brass, recycle it. The current price for scrap brass in my area is $2.25 a pound.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
I'll take all the S&B brass anyone wants to throw away. Good stuff. The only thing to watch out for is the steel copper washed 9MM S&B cases. I use a big magnet to check for them in range pickups.

Yep, sell any brass that is bad or used up for scrap. Go green, it pays. :)
 
Using a primer pocket reamer (small rifle primer pockets and small pistol primer pockets are the same size) on the S&B brass works wonders to make the primers seat easier without being loose. it is kinda labor intensive, but .38 Special brass lasts just about forever.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
I have primed S&B .38 Special brass with an RCBS hand primer without flattening the primers. Theay are tight but seems to be good brass to me.
 
since you are shooting a revolver and won't lose the brass as fast as with an auto, a pocket uniformer would probably be worth your time. If you do decide you don't want to load it, recycle it. Brass is worth serious $$$ these days!
 
All S&B and Amerc brass goes straight to the recycle bin. They are not worth the trouble to reload.
 
I've never noticed an issue with it myself. I may just be lucky, but the S&B brass I've used in the past has primed just as easily as anything else.

As a matter of fact the ONLY brass cases that have ever given me issues were rifle cases by a company called Igman. The flash holes were a little too small and it was causing my decapping pin to consistently back out of my die on my Lee dies. I was using Lyman dies for another cartridge and broke several decapping pins on them before giving up.
 
So the answer to the OP's question "is it worth getting something like the Sinclair primer Pocket Uniformer? (not sure if this is the correct tool to fix them?)" is "yes"?

I have some S&B brass (9mm and 30 carbine) with which I have also had difficulty (CCI small pistol/small rifle primers). I have started to set this brass aside.

I prime on the Lee 4-turret. I want to maximize both cost efficiency and time efficiency in my reloading - I don't want to put in the extra effort and time (and occasional crushed primers) to prime the S&B brass the way they are now.

LeonCarr (and others) - do I have it right that reaming out (enlarging) the primer pockets should make the S&B brass as easy to prime as the rest? As noted, especially for 38sp or other revolver brass for which there is essentially 100% recovery at the range, it would be quite efficient to ream the brass once and then reload it many many times.

Finally, is this the sort of tool I'm looking for?

http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/764406/redding-primer-pocket-uniformer-tool-small

I am assuming this and the Sinclair reamer mentioned earlier are hand tools. For 9mm, it might not be worth the effort (I probably have around 500-700 pieces of S&B 9mm brass) - but if there were an option to chuck the reamer in a hand power drill, the equation might change.
 
I have found that using a Lee primer pocket cleaning tool on once fired S&B brass will open the pocket that micro bit enough to make primer seating much easier. The tool isn't designed as a primer pocket uniformer and only works the side of the pocket very slightly. For about $2 its worth having just for S&B brass.

467111.jpg
 
Steve C, I have that tool and found that while it helped seat primers in the 30 carbine (the pockets just seemed especially dirty in all the different kinds of brass), I haven't found it does anything to make the S&B pockets easier to prime. Maybe I have to try a few test cases again. But I would still prefer to actually ream them out a bit with the reamer tool, if that works.
 
Hey 16in50calNavalRifle,

The tool I am referring to is the Lyman Primer Pocket Reamer, the exact same tool used to remove the primer pocket crimp from 5.56/.223 military brass.

Works like gangbusters on small primered S&B brass.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
Leon, thanks. Guess I'll pick up a reamer and learn through trial and error. Might come in handy for other individual pieces of brass with troublesome primer pockets, too, so will more than pay for itself over years of reloading.
 
S&B is tight, but I don't recall ever not getting the primer to seat in .45ACP, .38/.357 or 9mm.

I got a pocket reamer for NATO 9mm so now give the S&B a once over just because. ;)
 
I got a ton of S&B brass a while ago. The local range was selling S&B as "range ammo" so there was lots of it left behind. When I noticed that the Primer Pockets seemed "tight" I just ran it through my Dillon Super Swage and treated it just like crimped military brass. The result was a bunch of free brass that with just a little effort gave me ammo that my pistol eats just like all the rest. Only took one evening or two, while watching TV, to swage all the S&B brass I picked up and just moved on.
 
If you are having problems starting the primers into the pocket take a 1/2" twist drill bit and chamfer the leading edge of the pocket by hand (no drill motor). OR...Send me all your S & B cases as I have no problem seating primers using my Lee press mounted priming die.
 
S&B nice snug fit. I use Winchester's primers for small and large pistol and large rifle.
Use a primer pocket uniforming tool? Would that help with the Wolf primers?
 
I haven't had any trouble with S&B, using Winchester and CCI primers. My only experience is reloading S&B .45 cases, so perhaps the large pistol primer pockets are less sensitive to being a bit on the tight side? Using both Lee hand prime and RCBS press mounted primer.

For military crimped rifle cartridges and super tight pistol primer pockets I use the RCBS Military Crimp remover hooked up on my Trim Mate. Makes short work of military crimps and in uncrimped cases puts a slight bevel on the primer pocket which aids seating. Also having the primer pocket clean helps.
 
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