Hart Primer Pocket Swaging Tool

[Farmall 1066]

Anyone use one of these to tighten loose primer pockets? With the cost of replacing brass, and the work involved in prepping it, these look like a good investment.

I shoot alot of 220 Swift and have problems with the primer pockets, especially on W-W brass being very loose after 1-2 firings. My loads are safe and not at max. IMHO, these primer pockets are too loose to begin with!



Just wondering who has used them, and if they were satisfied?

Andy

[anachronism]

I have one. It's okay, if you have all the time in the world. I bought mine for 223 brass. It does tighten up the primer pockets, but I have probably a thousand or so Federal (go figger) cases needing swaging, and this get old really fast. Use a really light plastic hammer if you don't want to mushroom the stand, which is dead soft for some totally stupid reason.

[rob45]

+1 on everything anachronism just said.

I also have one and it does indeed work.

The swage head is actually a two-tiered design that takes a minute amount of brass from the top of the pocket and swages it towards the bottom; in essence, it gives you a primer pocket that is now slightly larger at the top and tighter at the bottom.

Due to the work-hardening nature of brass, a side benefit to doing this is the fact that not only are you making (part of) the pocket tighter, you are also making it harder. The end result is brass good to go for more reloading until it thins out to the point of becoming unusable, which can be a while if you're only neck sizing. If your gun has a tight chamber, brass life is extended even further.

Anachronism also made a very good point about speed. If you're doing a bunch of these by the "hammer method", this process is slow.
One day I was looking at 300 cases that I wanted to tighten up. After hammering and then twisting/wiggling the swage head out of 20 cases (some are tighter than others to begin with), I began to wonder if it was even worth it.
So I got to thinking (a very dangerous process :)) about how I could speed things up. Using a press seemed the most feasible method of applying the needed force without hammering, but I still needed a way to easily remove the swage head from the pocket. The RCBS primer pocket swager that I use to remove the crimp on military brass was already the ideal setup with the exception of the dimensions on the swage button.
So I took both kits (the RCBS crimp remover and the Hart "brass saver") to my machinist and explained what I was trying to do. I returned the next day to discover that he had made me a custom swaging button for the RCBS die, using the dimensions from the head on the brass saver. Ten dollars and a beer was all it cost to make a process that surely would have taken all day into something I did in under an hour!

So, yes, the "brass saver" swage does work, and if you have a huge bunch of brass that need it, the alternate method I use is very quick and works very well.

[anachronism]

You cheated.

[rob45]

You cheated.

Guilty as charged! :bigsmyl2: Sometimes that's the only way to win.

[Farmall 1066]

Thanks guys. For the price of new Swift brass, this thing would pay for itself quickly.
Rob45, this sounds like a great idea to me. Like tractorpulling, if you ain't cheating, you ain't winning!!!! YOur idea sounds like a winner to me!!!

Andy