anyone use a countersink?

[tawastom]

Anyone ever use a countersink to remove primer crimps? I seen a youtube video where a guy does this and it seems to remove quite a bit of brass,dont know if thats safe.

[john hayslip]

I've had pretty good luck lately using a Forester type chamfering tool with the end to do the outside and the other end to do the inside of the case. I've been doing a lot of cases lately in almost production mode and bought a little Forester stand with a hand crank from Sinclair that holds their chamfering tool and bolted it to a longish board in order to speed up things. I really like to chamfer the inside of all cases to make sure the bullet seats easily but it works on the primer pocket too. I tried the less expensive Lee the other day and it worked too. Basically they are all doing the same thing as a countersink.

[mdi]

I've got a half dozen countersinks, and been using them for removing primer pocket crimps for several years. There is not enough metal removed from the case head to be dangerous. As a lifelong machinist/mechanic using the countersink was what came to mind first when I got a bunch of .5.56/.223 brass, and have since used one on my 9mm and 45 ACP too. I normall hold one in my hand and twist the case but I usually don't do much more than a couple hundred at a time. When I needed to do more I would chuck the counter sink in my hand drill or drill press and zip them out real quick. Works great for me and not a lot of $$$ for a dedicated "decrimping/swaging/reaming" tool...
http://www.mcmaster.com/#countersinks/=lmb2y0

[DLCTEX]

The Lyman primer pocket reamers are not expensive and work well. If I were doing a thousand of them I would pull the metal reamer out of the handle and chuck it in my cordless drill.

[dragonrider]

I don't like using a c'sink, prefer a pocket swage, either Dillon or RCBS.

[Taylor]

Countersink in a drill works fine.Hold the drill in left hand use thumb on trigger.You can zip right thru a bunch in no time.You don't have to remove a lot of metal to make it work.

[DeanWinchester]

Yup! I use Sevcounter unit flute counter sink. Works fast and easy.

[40Super]

You can get 60degree c'sinks,(standard is 82) they are more pointed so they would remove the crimp quickly without need to take as much material out. If your going that route, that would be the best one to use.

[zuke]

All I've ever used is a countersink.
Done 10's of 1000's of crimp's.

[XWrench3]

my uncle only ever used his pocket knife. it worked fine for the countless years he did it before passing. i did this also until i bought a lot of 500 lake city 5.56mm brass. then i opted for a purpose built tool. sometimes speed an efficiency far outweighs a small outlay of cash. if the pocket reamer had been something ridiculous, i would have kept on with the pocket knife. which i still use on occasion for large pockets.

[FLHTC]

I use a small rotary file. The flutes are so sharp that two twists by hand and the primer pocket is good to go.

[Case Stuffer]

If one uses a center drill of correct size the end can be ground back to act as a stop to controll amount of material removed and also act as a pilot to center the cutting flutes.

A counter bore of correct size also can make a fairly good case length trimmer. Being a Tool & Die maker for many years has its; advantages as does being retired now but I do miss having a complte machine shop for projects.

[40Super]

Something like these work as well, as FLHTC said.
http://metalworking.mscdirect.com/CGI/MWSRCH?ns=1&oldNtt=rotory+burr&oldNtk=Keyword+Search&oldURLVar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scrNtt=deburing+tool&Ntk=Keyword+Search&x=14&y=23

[Wayne Smith]

The Lyman primer pocket reamers are not expensive and work well. If I were doing a thousand of them I would pull the metal reamer out of the handle and chuck it in my cordless drill.

Handle? Mine slips into the chuck of my powder driver. Never put it in the handle.

[Gunor]

I use my Dillon Super Swage then a quick twist with my LE Wilson Chamber tool.

Geoff in Oregon

[victor3ranger]

I use them with a small 5 speed drill press. Turn on the machine and cut crimps out as fast as you can pick up brass.

[sthwestvictoria]

No but I sure do use a wood countersink for the case mouth. Works beautifully and no need to purchase another tool for the already cluttered workspace.

[Larry Gibson]

I've the Dill primer pocket swage and have also used the RCBS primer pocket swage. I also have the Lyamn tool for cutting out the crimp. What I use most with milsurp cases is indeed a countersink.

I've been using the same 80 degree countersink for 40 years. It's been sharpened a couple times (easy to do). I slightly ground off the tip so as not to cut any of the flash hole in LR or LP primer pockets. I have used the countersink by hand, in a drill held in a vise and in my lathe. With milsurp brass I FL size and deprime and then clean the lube off. The crimp is then easily cut off, the case turned around and the inside of the neck chamfered. It takes a few cases to get the "feel" for the particular hardness of a specific lot of cases. It goes very fast and easy. I've done many a thousand 7.62, 5.56, '06, 45 and 9 mm without a single problem.

Larry Gibson

[mdi]

So, the majority uses countersinks to remove primer pocket crimps...

[sparky45]

I don't know about the majority, but I do, and it works very well.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Using a countersink is the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to do this job, and where as there are other ways, when you've got to do alot of cases, the number of movements you have to make is multiplied by the number of cases you have to do.

For 100 this is no big deal, for one thousand is is a big deal and for many thousands, it becomes a really big deal.

People would not think that twisting a countersink by hand to remove a primer crimp would be that much work, but when the numbers increase the wear and tear on you hands and wrists starts to show up as PAIN!

Then you start looking for other ways to do the task.

The absolute fastest way to do this type of operation is to set up an electric drill with the cutter pointing UP. I use a old Craftsman drillpress attachment that uses a drill motor for the spindle, but you could wrap a towel around the grip and hold it in a vise as well.

You lock the drill motor ON and let it run continuously, and I even took the table and set it so the cutter was just protruding a 1/2" to use as a hand rest. It is easier to push down on the part than push up on the part, and it is also easier to hit the hole when going down than up as well.

This setup came from a job I did once where I had thousands of pieces of aluminum tubing cut off on a screw machine that had to have the back side of the hole chamfered.

I made 100,000 of these parts for 10 cents a piece. :holysheep It was a good job. Chamfering primer pockets is exactly the same operation except the parts are much easier to hold onto than 1" long pieces of 3/16 aluminum tubing.

Randy

[country gent]

We have used a dillion primer pocket swage for years It works very well and fast removes no metal from the case and is fast. when doing 2000-3000 cases for high power season thats a big thing. I used case deburrs, countersinks, reamers from lynan and home ground, For turning power I used a power screwdriver as it turned slower than my drill and was lighter and easier to control. I believe sears used to sell a 1/4" drill chuck with 1/4" hex shank to fit these. I made mine up at work.

[tom357mag]

Countersink will work but you have to be careful not to remove anything but the crimp. I use RCBS swager and works well.

[1hole]

"..countersink to remove primer crimps?...it seems to remove quite a bit of brass, dont know if thats safe."

Some do it but not me. I'm not comfortable with countersinks, drill bits, chamfer tools; the angles require cutting deeply to remove the entire crimp and that leaves more unsupported primer cup than I like! A proper Lyman crimp reamer is quite reasonable and my safety is greatly enhanced.

[max range]

I too, used a countersink or a primer pocket reaming tool. But the problem is, how do you know when you have cut enough? Or too little? You will know when you try to seat a primer. After many years I bought one of RCBS's swagers. Worked ok but you have to adjust the rod just right or it will bend. It was a better method but tedious. So I bought another RCBS swager so I would have one already adjusted for small pockets and the other for large. No more fiddling with the adjustment.

Last year I sold both of the RCBS swagers and bought a Dillon 600 primer pocket swager after borrowing one from a friend. That tool is a pleasure to use. I can go through 1000 cases in a very short time. It is a snap to adjust and swages to an ideal dimension. So I bought one and screwed it to a short length of varnished 2 x 4 which I chuck into my bench vise to save workbench space.

Now, when I process brass of unknown origin I swage the whole batch. The payoff? I save a bunch of time and sore hands. I save a bunch of frustration and slow downs during the priming process. Each case now primes with a consistant feel. How many times have you been priming away then all of the sudden one case feels like it already has a primer in it? Plus, as mentioned before, you are not removing any metal from the area you need the most strength.

I am sorry if I sound like a blue cheerleader but be assured the only blue stuff I own is this swager, and one set of 45 acp dies and one set of the magnificient 9 x 25 dies. Well, that and a few dozen blue ammo boxes. Only because they are priced right. YMMV.



Its not the AR-15 its the PG-13.

[lead-1]

I have and use an RCBS swager, Lyman reamers and countersinks, whatever you choose to use, use sparingly.
I have bought brass for folks that use countersinks to prep their brass and it looks like they were going to prime them with drywall screws, they resembled funnels more than primer pockets.
When half the depth of the primer is no longer supported it is a waste of good brass.

[dromia]

I use the Lyman Xpress Case Prep station, does the whole shebang, crimp removal, primer pocket uniforming, inside/outside deburring, cleaning I even fitted my RCBS flashhole deburrer to it. I needed some thing mechanical as my arthritic hands meant that I couldn't get much done with the hand twist tools. The Lyman has revolutionised my case prep. Still my least favourite activity but the Case Prep Station along with the electric case trimmer means that it is no longer a daunting task.

[blikseme300]

I've got a half dozen countersinks, and been using them for removing primer pocket crimps for several years. There is not enough metal removed from the case head to be dangerous. As a lifelong machinist/mechanic using the countersink was what came to mind first when I got a bunch of .5.56/.223 brass, and have since used one on my 9mm and 45 ACP too. I normall hold one in my hand and twist the case but I usually don't do much more than a couple hundred at a time. When I needed to do more I would chuck the counter sink in my hand drill or drill press and zip them out real quick. Works great for me and not a lot of $$$ for a dedicated "decrimping/swaging/reaming" tool...
http://www.mcmaster.com/#countersinks/=lmb2y0

The countersinks at 90* and 1/2" made for brass are what I use for prepping 5.56mm. Using a lithium powered drill I can prep primer pockets without hurt. Get your cadence down and the cuts will be consistent. I own and have used the Dillon and RCBS swage setups
but prefer the countersink use for crimp removal as it is faster and less painful to my hands.

[Larry D.]

I never thought of a countersink....
What a GREAT idea!

[Larry Gibson]

I've used a countersink since '68 to remove the crimp on countless (thousands) of .223, 9mm, .38 SPL, .30 carbine, '06, 7.62 NATO and others. I either use the counter sink in the lathe or in a drill held in a vise and press the primer poket onto it. I also have the Dillon swage and have used the RCBS swager but still use the counter sink as it is much quicker for larger volume of cases that need done.

Never had an issue with safety, never blew a primer or had one fall out because of the countersink removed crimp. Also don't have gas leakage around the primers. The bevel created makes the primers seat w/o hanging up when loaded in a progressive press (550B and SDB). Just remove the crimp with the countersink is all that is needed.

Larry Gibson

[Case Stuffer]

I agree with Larry. I have used a RCBS primer pocket swager,couter sinks,center drills ,etc. and for me a 6 flute deduring tool in a small drill press works best ( easy and fast). Those concerned about removing to much material IMO show take a good look at a caess' construction. Cut one down the middle and look at the different brass thicnesses then look at the thickness of the primer's cup.

If one merely looks at a cut away view of a cartrige such as in many reloading manuals it is clear (atleast to me) that the primer pocket has a lot more wall thickness than the rest of the case area. I would also think that the cases in question matter a great deal. Vey high pressure rifle cases are much more likely to have primer flow into a void area than lower pressure handgun cases.

[pdawg_shooter]

All I've ever used is a countersink.
Done 10's of 1000's of crimp's.

+1 on this...one size fits all

[Fluxed]

Look at the Wilson tool made for this job.
It requires little artistry or skill for a proper job.
In fact, I suspect its impossible to mess up a case using this tool.

[dakota]

I don't like using a c'sink, prefer a pocket swage, either Dillon or RCBS.

me too

[atr]

I have tired the counter sink method but found that this method tended to removed too much material and leave the primer pocket loose
I now use the RCBS swage,,,,,works fine
atr