Here's what I did this weekend

[Ohio Rusty]

Everything started coming together this weekend to start doing something with all these 38 brass shells I've been depriming, sizing and cleaning. Saturday when I arrived home from work, there was a package from LEE. Remember the issue I had with the wrong shell holder for my autoprime? Lee sent me the correct one, no charge, no shipping. Definitely a +1 for Lee Customer Service !!! Probably 95% of the brass empties I have been getting for free have been once fired military with a primer pocket crimp. I found out I had to remove the crimp because I mangled two primers trying to prime the shells (Surprisingly, they didn't detonate). I know there are two ways to do that ...either remove metal or swage back the brass. I didn't have anything to do either and no extra money to buy more 'stuff'. After thinking about the problem, I needed something with a taper just big enough to fit the primer hole but not go to the bottom of the primer pocket that would swage the brass ..... VOILA !!! (Lightbulb comes on over head)
I ground the pointed tip off of one of my arrow field tips and chucked it in my drill press. I made the perfect swage for swaging the primer pockets !!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v372/OhioRusty/100_0654.jpg

But there was a problem. Not all were swaged the same size. Some still needed the pocket relieved more. I needed a pocket measurement so I could check them as I swaged them. VOILA !! (second lightbulb comes on) I took a drill bit that was a tad bigger that the primer pocket hole and worked down the smooth end until it was a perfect fit in a normal primer pocket.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v372/OhioRusty/100_0655.jpg
Now I had something to check holes. If the shell stuck to the measuring tool, then the hole was still too tight and it needed swaged on the drill press for just another nano-second or two. Consequently, I was able to start working on these shells and they prime perfectly. I know it seems like alot of work, but hey ...it works perfectly and it was free. Besides ... there is nothing better I like doing with my spare time than fiddling around with my boolet stuff and accomplishing something that pleases me.
I've started cleaning the new 38 brass I acquired this weekend, so I'll be busy playing boolet-boy for a while.
Ohio Rusty

[dragonrider]

The drill press is not running when you do this, right??? I'm thinking fingers, sharp edges on cases=pain and blood :(

[monadnock#5]

Every reloading manufacturer makes tools for removing military primer crimps. They range from cheap and not so easy to work with (Lyman hand held), to easy to work with but more expensive (RCBS pocket swager). These are just two of the many choices. If you're processing lots of brass you need something safer and more efficient that what you have.
Also, try priming commercial brass so that you get a feel for the amount of effort it takes to seat a primer. Press until the primer is seated, then press a little more so that the priming wafer is tensioned between the cup and the anvil, but not so much that the cup is deformed in any way. Compare your primed cases to commercial primed. If yours is as pretty as theirs, you did it right.

Ken

[Dale53]

I have used the RCBS primer pocket swager for many, many years and tens of thousands of cases. It does a good job with little effort. I have sort of "lusted" for a Dillon primer pocket swage "back in the day" but got over it:mrgreen:

I don't know what the RCBS unit goes for, today, but it sure is worth looking at for convenience and efficiency. The "case ejector" is worth it's weight in gold... and you are assured that the primer pocket is "to specs".

Dale53

[Freightman]

Just purchsed one on Gunbrokers a RCBS for $10 + $3 shipping.

[tomf52]

Am I missing something here or what? I take the pointed end of a RCBS or similar champher/deburring tool and give a light wipe to the military primer pockets and all works as it's supposed to. Am I alone in this practice? Thanks for any input, Tom

[felix]

No, you are not alone in this practice. ... felix

[Buckshot]

..............Ohio Rusty, that's using your head when you don't have the tools!

.................Buckshot

[georgeld]

Rusty:
One question: how many counter sinks do you have stuck away in the tool
boxes???

I bought one of those miniture drill presses for my loading bench. Sure is handy to have it there. Chuck up the Lee case trimmer, made a handle for the lock stud to hold the brass. Have run over 400 per hour one step at a time.

Just the other day I had a very bad back ache and couldn't do much else. So sat at the drill press and chamfered a two gallon bucket running over full of .223s, all military I'd sized awhile back. While at it, hit the case mouth too since they have a habit of shaving bullet jacket off. That full bucket and then some only took me three hours and a bit over to hit both ends.