Removing crimped primers

[Bwell]

Removing crimped primer pockets..... PITA!!

I have a Hornady case prep trio, right now I have a chamfer bit, hornady primer reamer bit, and primer pocket cleaner.

I was just using the hornady reamer bit with the pocket cleaner. It seems to do a good job but its taking forever. The chamfer seems to clean it faster but doesn't leave that reamed edge like the reamer bit. Then I started using all three, reamer, chamfer, and pocket cleaner. Using the reamer for the edge, chamfer for the quick clean, and the pocket cleaner to make it nice and clean in there.

Am I ruining the brass by doing this? Is it possible to ream the primer pocket to much? All the bits I am using are from Hornady.

[seaboltm]

It is very possible to ream primer pockets too much. I use the RCBS swager. Very little chance of damaging cases as the brass is being pushed back where it belongs, not cut out. Plus it goes as fast as you can put in a new case and pull the handle.

[Bwell]

If I spend anymore money on equipment my wife will kick my *** lol, I am trying to use what I have to get by.

[Outpost75]

I use the Lee Universal decapper to remove the crimped primers, then the Dillon swager.

If you are dealing with huge quantities, this seems the best way to go.

[Bwell]

Sounds like I will just use my Hornady reamer, I read that it has a stopper that cant ream to much. I will leave the chamfer out of the mix.

[Bwell]

After this I will only does a few hundred at a time, right now I am doing a little over a thousand rounds, and its getting old quick lol.

[bangerjim]

I use the standard Lee decapping/case forming die for the cal in a single sage press to remove the primer.

Then use an RCBS primer pocket swager to open up the pocket. Works every time and is sure cheaper than that Dillon thing.


No................ you cannot do thousands an hour, but I am NOT a production plant! The above simple equipment provides me with more than enough swaged brass to fulfill my needs.

bangerjim :guntootsmiley:

[bob208]

I use the lee depriming tool. wich is drive them out with a hammer and punch. saves on decapping pins. then I swage the pockets. then give them a little campher just enough to break the edge. I also deburr the flash hole inside.

[mdi]

When I first encountered crimped primer pockets my "life long machinist/mechanic" training kicked in. I merely use a countersink to remove the displaced portion of metal at the mouth of the primer pocket. Common sense tells me not to remove 1/8" of metal as just a few thousandths is good so no "damage" from over cutting the pocket. Just a couple twists and/or a half second if the countersink is chucked into my drill press...

[Bwell]

The good thing about the Hornady case prep trio is it turns slow, so it wont take a bunch off at once. The other thing is the reamer has a stopper on it so it cant take too much off, it just takes forever. Maybe if I win a upcoming fishing tournament I will buy myself a RCSB swagger for my single stage press.

[lancem]

When I first encountered crimped primer pockets my "life long machinist/mechanic" training kicked in. I merely use a countersink to remove the displaced portion of metal at the mouth of the primer pocket. Common sense tells me not to remove 1/8" of metal as just a few thousandths is good so no "damage" from over cutting the pocket. Just a couple twists and/or a half second if the countersink is chucked into my drill press...

^^^^ My method exactly

[Swede44mag]

I use the Lee Universal decapper to remove the crimped primers, then the Dillon swager.

If you are dealing with huge quantities, this seems the best way to go.

Ditto

[Garyshome]

I think I will try RCBS Primer Pocket Swager Combo 2. If I can find one cheap!

[cricco]

I use the Dillon super swage. Best $100 I've spent on reloading.

[country gent]

I have used lyman reamer, rcbs swager set up, A counter sink, deburring tools ( wilson style), and the dillon swager. For me the dillion is by far the most accurate and fastest to use, but it is a dedicated tool, thats what it was made to do and all its meant to do. Mine has done many thousands of cases over the years. The hornady tools are good and will do the job at hand. I perfer the swage tools over reaming cutting as no metal is removed just "Ironed" back into place. When setting up do a case and prime to insure your getting enouch but not to much. Feel will give a good idea.

[shooterg]

Sinclair makes very nice cutters for uniforming primer pockets. I use 'em in the drilldriver , sometimes the odd case may require slight chamfering(rare for me). I also use a flash hole deburrer. This really only needs doing once, for the initial load/reload.

[Big Z]

For cutting tools, I use the reamer for a couple turns then a vld deburrer for half a turn.

[waco]

I use the Dillon super swage. Best $100 I've spent on reloading.

Amen brother!

[skeet028]

I use a Dillon PP Swager I got at a gun show NIB for 35 bucks. Also got 5 different cal conversions for 10 bucks each. Then I had to buy a 550B loader. The easiest one I ever used. A friend has the RCBS and while it does a good job..it is harder to use.. I used to use the RCBS PP swager that looks somewhat like a reloading die..works but slow

[Bwell]

I screwed up and put a large primer reamer in instead of a small… Did I just screw up all the brass I just did? I didn't ream it all the way just put lip on there.

[myg30]

I screwed up and put a large primer reamer in instead of a small… Did I just screw up all the brass I just did? I didn't ream it all the way just put lip on there.

I think if the primers seat, and not loose you be good to go. If they are very loose you might want to put the brass aside. there is a fix for it.
Some guys complain that some primers are "over sized" and very hard to seat. I don't remember if it was Tula [Russia brand] or something else. So that's one option. The other fix is a primer water proofing sealant that will hold it in like glue. I wish I could remember the name of it. Someone might chime in here with the name.
Don't trash the brass. Try a few pieces. NEVER BE IN A RUSH when reloading or doing prep work. Missing fingers, eye damage or complete loss of one or both and least of them a blown up firearm is not worth the few minutes you think you saved.

Be safe and welcome to the site, its a great place with tons of info and great folks. There is always help here when you need it and no question is stupid except the one you didn't ask ! Read as much as you can. The stickies in each section at the top of the page has ALL the answers to 99% of your questions but again don't be afraid to ask again to be sure your understanding.

Mike

[Bonz]

I think I will try RCBS Primer Pocket Swager Combo 2. If I can find one cheap!

I bought one and it works great. Wasted my money on the CH swager first :-(

[M Hicks]

I've used the RCBS and the Dillon. For me the Dillon is much better. Also more costly.

[Love Life]

The Super 1050 is the best way for depriming and swaging primer pockets....

Use the reamer lightly and you'll be fine.

[Shiloh]

Swaging is the best way to go. If you have to ream, remove the CRIMP ONLY!! Many times I have seen brass that was done on a drill press or a power crimper, with way to much primer pocket removed.

Shiloh

[Iowa Fox]

I use the standard Lee decapping/case forming die for the cal in a single sage press to remove the primer.

Then use an RCBS primer pocket swager to open up the pocket. Works every time and is sure cheaper than that Dillon thing.


No................ you cannot do thousands an hour, but I am NOT a production plant! The above simple equipment provides me with more than enough swaged brass to fulfill my needs.

bangerjim :guntootsmiley:


:arge or small primers this is what I have been doing for the last 35 years. I use the Lee base and decapping pin under a arbor press instead of using a hammer

[nicholst55]

I use the Dillon super swage. Best $100 I've spent on reloading.

I fully agree. I've used an RCBS Primer Pocket Swager for decades, and finally decided that there must be a better way. I recently bought a Dillon Super Swage 600 to process 2000+ rounds of .223 brass, and I asked myself why I ever waited so long! Yes, it's rather expensive at a bit over $100, but it's money well spent. if I had to, I'd save my beer/cigarette/Starbucks money for a month or two and buy one. You won't regret it.

[OKSaddletramp]

I bought one and it works great. Wasted my money on the CH swager first :-(

Used my new CH swager for the first time this afternoon. It was a little finicky setting up, but once there, it's great!! Swages my 5.56 as fast as my Lee hand prime primes. At $28 + shipping, I love it.

[Defcon-One]

I also use the RCBS primer pocket swager right in my press. As fast and easy as sizing the brass. Can do a couple hundred an hour easy. It rolls back the crimp and does not remove any brass at all. It is adjustable to get exactly what you need. It is also inexpensive and worth every penny.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/235832/rcbs-primer-pocket-swager-combo-2

[dragon813gt]

Used my new CH swager for the first time this afternoon. It was a little finicky setting up, but once there, it's great!! Swages my 5.56 as fast as my Lee hand prime primes. At $28 + shipping, I love it.

I thought the same thing. And then I ran into some LC 308 brass that didn't want to swage properly. Ended up cracking some case heads because I had to run the ram up to high to remove the crimp entirely. Bought a Dillon Super Swage and haven't looked back. I touted the CH4D swager for a long time and swaged thousands of pieces w/ it and am kicking myself for not buying the Dillon earlier.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I use the Lee Universal decapper to remove the crimped primers, then the Dillon swager.

If you are dealing with huge quantities, this seems the best way to go.

Me too! It's kind of rare now, but I used to shoot a lot of surplus M2 Ball. Had 2x6 with a hole that fit the base of the Lee decapper. I could sit with that 2x6 resting on the floor between my knees, using a ball-peen hammer, and decap a couple of hundred cases while carrying on a conversation with friends and family.

The Dillon pocket swager made short order of ironing out the crimps.

dale in Louisiana

[bangerjim]

I am sorry................but "drill press" and "primer pockets" should NOT even be used in the same sentence. Or ever meet up in your shop!

Swaging is the ONLY accurate, safe, and easy method to use. Cobbling around with a darned drill press and a drill bit or reamer is just asking for inaccuracies and trouble. You don't need to remove ANY brass, just push it aside a nudge!

bangerjim

[joelitespeed]

I was doing by hand for a long time until I bought a dillon...Now its alnost enjoyable!

[Char-Gar]

I have used a L.E. Wilson punch and base to knock out GI crimped in primers for many years. It works fine, but it is slow.

In the early 60's I bought a CH primer pocket swaged. It has a metal rod on a cast iron base over which you slide the case. There is a steel punch with a swage tip that is inserted into the primer pocket (which is supported by the metal rod on the cast iron base) and you smack it with a hammer. I still use it, again it is slow but it works.

[GabbyM]

The big box of five thousand 5.56 x 45 cases I bought back in the seventies has very stubborn primer pockets.
Couple weeks ago I cleaned up a few hundred late production Fed LC brass from civilian sales M-193 that was given to me. All I had to do was run a Hornady pocket chamfer reamer on them . With the old 1960's brass I chamfer with a cutter then use an RCBS swag tool and they are still tight. So now I realize what people are speaking of when they say they just run a neck chamfer tool in the pocket.

[Ubet]

I also use the Dillon primer swage tool. It works great for taking the crimp out of primer pockets.

[DavZee]

Used my new CH swager for the first time this afternoon. It was a little finicky setting up, but once there, it's great!! Swages my 5.56 as fast as my Lee hand prime primes. At $28 + shipping, I love it.

I must be doing something wrong because I bent rims and cracked case heads trying to use the CH4D swagger. I found it difficult and frustrating to use.

[GabbyM]

I must be doing something wrong because I bent rims and cracked case heads trying to use the CH4D swagger. I found it difficult and frustrating to use.

May be back to the issue where all mil surp brass is not the same.

I was running some military brass through my 222 Rem die a few weeks back. Forming to 222 from 5.56mm. When I'd run into a PMC it would stop the lever. Brass was from the same lot of new LC but I had a few cases from old M-193 PMC from back in the 1970's. I tried annealing it then forming just for kicks but it still didn't go. Just hard alloy. Yes it's a SOB to de crimp too. I just toss it in the scrap five gallon bucket.

[dragon813gt]

I must be doing something wrong because I bent rims and cracked case heads trying to use the CH4D swagger. I found it difficult and frustrating to use.

No, you're not. I used the CH4D tool successfully for a few years. Then no matter what I did I started cracking case heads. And even then the pockets weren't swaged. I'm kicking myself for not buying the Dillon sooner.

[knobster]

I also use the RCBS primer pocket swager. My only complaint is when I'm swaging 223 brass. The small primer rod barely fits through the case.

[Bonz]

For crimped primers, I use the recapping rod from a Lee .223 sizer/decapper die and then use the RCBS Primer Pocket Swager Combo 2 to swage the primer pocket. I wasted money buying the CH primer pocket swage tool, it tears up the rim of the brass.

[kaskillo]

I process lots of military 556 brass and convert to 300BLK
ON my 1050 Lee universal decaper station #2 swager Station #3

On my 650 Lee universal decaper station Then I swage with Dillon Super swage. The best tool for the job IMHO

[typz2slo]

I use the RCBS swager and so far I have the occasional trouble with wolf/tula primers. Once in a while one is really tight when seating them in my Lee Classic Turret.

[enfieldphile]

I'll go against the current on this one.

I use the C&H Primer Pocket Swager. It works in your press. But, the case is placed on top of the die station as The pocket is swaged. It works very fast!

I remove crimped-in primers w/ a Lee depriming die. I also use this die if the cases need extended cleaning in the tumbler.

[sirgknight]

When I first encountered crimped primer pockets my "life long machinist/mechanic" training kicked in. I merely use a countersink to remove the displaced portion of metal at the mouth of the primer pocket. Common sense tells me not to remove 1/8" of metal as just a few thousandths is good so no "damage" from over cutting the pocket. Just a couple twists and/or a half second if the countersink is chucked into my drill press...

+1 I have this set up in my drill press. It takes a good feel as to when enough is enough and experience will teach that.