Ornery Brass

[Alstep]

I was given a bucket of Winchester 38+P nickel plated brass a while ago, once fired, off a law enforcement range. Started sizing & decapping it, and a lot of the primers will not punch out. The primer punch punches out the bottom of the primer, leaving the sides of the primer in the pocket. The resulting burr protruding on the cartridge base makes removing the shell almost impossible to remove from the shell holder. I have to use small hammer & a flat punch on the side of the shell to remove it from the shell holder. This happens on probably 20% of the shells. I've never encountered this problem on such a large scale in 60 years of reloading. This stuff would play hell on a progressive press, & really foul it up. No other make of brass has ever given me such grief.
Anybody else encounter this problem?

[Dapaki]

Stoopid question for ya Alstep... are ya' sure the hole under the brass is clear?

[RedHawk357Mag]

When I buy brass from brass resellers and it's been wet tumbled with primers in I get alot of described results. Also recent CCI small pistol have started gripping the depriming stem more often than before. Primer gets pushed out and gets semi reseated when ram goes down. Winchester and Federal haven't followed the trend albeit I haven't punched a large quantity of known Federal. But wet brass with expended primer in case is the devil.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Winger Ed.]

Be sure the decap pin isn't sharp.

For the burrs, use a dremil or something to carve the trench in the shell holder a little deeper
to make room for the burr on the problem children to slide out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

If the primers aren't crimped and/or sealed, then I suspect corrosion. Did they spend anytime on the ground at a outdoor range, being subjected to rain or dew? The only other thing I can think of, is wet tumbling and not being dried out completely in a timely manner.

[GregLaROCHE]

Maybe you can find or make a larger diameter de-priming pin.

[Land Owner]

Dip a few in a few drops of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and penetrating oil - leave overnight - then try depriming.

[Mk42gunner]

I vote for corrosion. As others stated use some penetrating oil and let it sit for a while, then the primers should come out easier.

38+P from a LEO range tells me it is several years old, or at least hints strongly at it.

Robert

[nannyhammer]

Had it happen with brass that had gotten wet. I just pitched them in the recycle bucket since I had plenty of brass.

[lightman]

Had it happen with brass that had gotten wet. I just pitched them in the recycle bucket since I had plenty of brass.

Same thing here. Too much trouble for the rewards. Mine were 9mm. And I suspect moisture was the cause.

[Toymaker]

YES!!!!!! In both brass and nickel plated but ESPECIALLY in the plated. My percentage was a LOT higher than yours. Someone above mentioned wet tumbling and I think that may be the issue because I do wet tumble brass that looks really dirty before running it through the de-priming, sizing, loading process. THAT's the brass I have issues with.

My solution was to stand them up in a shallow pan and put 5 or 6 drops of Kroil in the case. Leave them sit at least overnight and the primers popped right out like they're supposed to.

[Dusty Bannister]

I may have to try that soaking to make the primer removal easier. Perhaps the divider from a box of cartridges, cases base up, a drop of ATF and let set overnight. Wipe, off excess and deprime as normal.

[Drew P]

I bet heating them a little with a torch would help them along too. Couple seconds maybe 150° or so. Can be a drag. This is one of the many reasons I love Dillon dies, the deprime stem is spring loaded and launches that thing out like a howitzer. And gives an audible snap to let you know it means business.

[jdfoxinc]

ladder? Ago I bought a large batch of military .45 acp. Same problem.

[rbuck351]

I stored a box of 38 spl nickle brass where it got water in it. I didn't think it would hurt anything so months later I dried it and loaded some. Quite a few popped the center out of the primer and left the outer edge stuck in the case. They must corrode to the case. I never bothered to try anything to fix the problem, just pitched the ones that stuck.

[Land Owner]

I bet heating them a little...

After half a drop of penetrating oil on cases upended in one of those Mfg's plastic holders, a little hair dryer heat will help get it down into the crack. Heat them, not really very hot, nor for vey long, then deprime a few. The expansion of the two dissimilar metals should loosen the corrosion and the oil will gives it lubricity for the press to push them apart without ripping through the primer.

Not too much heat or the primer pocket will get too loose to hold the new primer. Did that once to 500 pieces of 223 brass over a grill and wasted the lot of them. Just like burning money...live and learn.

I think we waste more oil in its overuse than just a half of a drop, which is all that is needed with a touch of heat.

[Petrol & Powder]

With this opening line from the first post - "I was given a bucket of Winchester 38+P nickel plated brass a while ago....."

I might be inclined to accept a loss rate of 20% rather than expending a significant amount of time trying to save the cases with stuck primers. I don't know how large that bucket is but 80% of a Bucket is likely hundreds of casings. It may sound wasteful to discard 1 in 5 casings into the recycling pile but time is valuable and this brass was free to start with.

[Dusty Bannister]

While I agree that it would generally not be cost effective to process a whole bucket of free brass, it is a good thread in the event that a purchase turns out to be subject to this kind of problem. Seems like the solution is easy enough, if the reward is worth the effort. Perhaps just leave it up to the individual who knows the value of his time.

[lightman]

When I trade or sell brass I deprime it so that this does not happen to the other party.

[gwpercle]

I've encountered it with outdoor range pick up brass , a little moisture from dew or rain and they get a tiny bit of corrosion and the primers stick . I put a drop of penetrating oil on the primer and try again after a few hours (24 - 48 usually does it ).
Being the frugal person I am I always try to salvage any "free" brass .
Gary