Priming Mixed 9mm Luger Brass troubles

[JimB..]

I don’t sort by headstamp, but I do filter out the perfecta, Tula, a-merc, and other brass that I don’t like. Deprime, wet tumble, dry, prime on the progressive. Have never had a high primer issue.

You sure that you don’t have a setup problem? Maybe using the large primer seater with small primers or something?

[DonMountain]

Having reloaded for a very long time (I started priming cases with a mallet; Lee Loader) my conclusions go along with Lyman's, a ram prime is prolly better than most priming methods and I highly recommend one for new reloaders...

I looked at the Lyman Ram Prime units, and they all show the part that screws into the die holder in the press, and the rod that holds one of the two primer punches, but not the piece that fits on the ram like a shell holder but without any hole in it so the primer rod seats on something. Is this part included in this unit or do I have to make one myself?

[gwpercle]

What you are describing is symptomatic of primers not seated fully into the bottom of the pocket. The first blow seats the primer fully into the pocket , then the second blow fires the fully seated primer.
Using mixed brass gives you inconsistent primer feel when seating...some go in easy some hard, that's normal.
I use mixed brass and use a pocket reamer and pocket uniformer on every case....it helps but you will still feel inconsistent seating on some. I stopped priming on my Pacific Super Deluxe "C" and started using a Lee hand priming tool...A hand tool gives much greater feel, you can feel the primer bottom out in the pocket much better. The primers all must bottom out and be seated fully into the pocket, if they are below flush...do not worry about it, all the way into the pocket is where you want them. You can still prime on the press, just be careful , the press linkage has a mechanical advantage and you can crush a primer because you can't feel it hit bottom.
Try a hand priming tool and seat them all the way in....trust me, you will see a big difference in misfires.
I do all my priming with one now and rarely have any primer problems.
Gary

[adam_mac84]

Interesting thread... following.

I have loaded thousands of 9mm as my first caliber ever reloading, starting a few years and many thousand rounds ago. Using CCI and SB primers on my Lee Turret press I have never found a problem priming mixed range brass. My first thought was that reaming the pockets was giving some issue here... I usually inspect for full seating after finishing the round and placing into my empty factory trays upside down. My only FTF have been when not fully in battery when I was fighting the 9mm cast monster

[Big Boomer]

Have a couple of 9mms for which I cast Lee's 125 gr. r.n. boolit and size on a Star at .3585 and it works in both pistols quite well. One place where I depart from the norm is that I de-prime all my brass by hand. It is a hassle but allows the citric acid to clean the primer pockets quite well and no worry about a build-up of carbon. After cleaning I segregate by headstamp: WIN, R-P, FED, SPEER, etc. Lesser known headstamps are segregated if I have a sufficiently large amount. If not, these are loaded and used for casual target shooting. For serious practice, I use only one headstamp of those mentioned and the least amount I have of whichever group. Since I use a Dillon XL-650, primer seating is never a problem. In some of my reloading - mainly rifle - I use a very old Lee hand primer that I obtained around 40 years ago. If you have even moderate strength in your hands, you can easily seat primers with this type primer seater. Big Boomer

[lwknight]

Every time I get a tight primer pocket , it turns out to be S&B brass. I use a 50/50 mix of baby oil and mineral spirits in my media so I think it lubes the pocket a bit so I can use the tight brass anyway but definitely can feel a difference.

The mix mineral spirits and baby oil makes short work of cleaning guns too. Try it someday.

[lotech]

Once-fired 9mm with the same headstamp is very inexpensive. I've used mostly Winchester for about thirty years with no problems, but other brass may work as well.

[mdi]

I looked at the Lyman Ram Prime units, and they all show the part that screws into the die holder in the press, and the rod that holds one of the two primer punches, but not the piece that fits on the ram like a shell holder but without any hole in it so the primer rod seats on something. Is this part included in this unit or do I have to make one myself?

Not familiar with Lyman and I believe they left the part you're talking about out of the pics. Here's a couple; https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...m-priming-unit https://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...prod56297.aspx

https://leeprecision.com/ram-prime.html

I got one with my Lee Hand Press sonetime in the '80s and have primed thousands of cases and still use it occasionally today in my Pacific C press...

[farmerjim]

I have loaded many thousands of 9mm with mixed range brass. I have never sorted the brass. The only problem is that about 1 out of every 1,000 was a Mil crimped primer and will crush the new primer because the primer pocket was not reamed or swaged. I use the RCBS hand priming tool or the RCBS automatic priming tool filling the tube with the FA vibra prime. Both seat the primer to the bottom on a full stroke of the handle. I have never had a 9mm FTF.