Federal brass/primer pockets?????

[Willyp]

Is it me,or is it the Fed. brass,but,most of the time,after 2 loadings the primer pocket seem aful loose! Is there a fix for this and what causes it?
I have put a bunch of 30-30 Feds. into my don't use bucket,because of this! These are only once fired brass!

[Hickory]

How hot you loading them?
I have Federal brass I've loaded over 20 times with no problems.

[dragon813gt]

No problem on my end. I have some 45s that are over ten loadings. And some 308s that are on their eighth.

[.30/30 Guy]

I am with Hickory - way over 20 loadings with Federal .30/30 brass.

[jonas302]

I had a batch 270s that loosened up fast 2nd and 3rd loading on some not hot loaded at all and thousands that work just fine

[Outpost75]

Federal rifle brass is softer, because they do not "pre-pocket" the cup to perform extra work hardening in the K and L regions adjacent the primer pocket and extraction groove, as is done with military brass.

Consequently, head hardness is only about 170 Vickers Diamond Pyramid Hardness, vs. 180 min. for LC, WW, etc. It is Ok for pistol brass and low power rifle rounds like. 303 Brit or. 30-30, but not for higher pressure 5.56mm, .270 , etc. If you reload more than once. I save it for the scrap man.

[Willyp]

I had noticed this on the brass before,and didn't mind a few loose . With supplies being hard to find i can't see taking a chance on them.

[bobthenailer]

I use federal brass in about 3 rifle calibers and around 5 handgun calibers for many years and never had any problems.

[Guesser]

I've found it to be a chronic condition in FC 223 cases. Local custom butcher uses 223 for his kill gun, he loads his own and we both have determined that the cases are good for average of 3 loads before the pockets loosen. Both of us shoot bolt guns so we tend to load to the upper power ranges. Good brass, the salvage man pays as good for it as he does any other.

[Bullshop Junior]

I've never had a problem with federal brass.

[Ford SD]

Have you tried different primers ?

[Willyp]

Ford SD,
I have thought about this,but i've only have 2 brands of primers i use. Both of these are loose! Let me describe my "loose". Loose,to me,is when,with a Lee hand primer,you feel like you didn't have a primer on the plunger or barely can feel it being installed into the pocket!
I load my jacketed bullets about mid-range loads? If i go to,say the third loading,they,most of them,seem way to loose . If i take the " felt easy primers" and push them out on my press,you can't even feel them come out of the pocket!
I didn't mean to start anything,here,i was just wondering if it was just me?

[Guesser]

it's not just you. I don't shoot a lot of top end hand loaded rifle with jacketed bullets but I do in 223, that's where I notice it. My Winchester, old and new, and my R-P are good for about 7 loads, then it is a crack or split before I salvage them. FC 223 cases are softer.

[TNsailorman]

I have been known to buy .270, .280, as well as military 30-06 cases to turn into 8x57 brass. Ocassionally I will find an otherwise good case that has a very loose primer in it. I mean one that you can almost push out by hand with a Lee deprime tool and base. I have found them with most every American headstamp; not just Federal. I have concluded that what causes it is high pressure loads but I cannot prove that since I bought other peoples "once fired" brass. I didn't load them. I could of course be wrong but I have never ran into this problem with brass that I reloaded myself from new brass and that's after 6 to 10 firings. I rarely load beyond 80% pressure levels.

[MtGun44]

Loose primer pockets is hard proof of too high pressure.

Bill

[willvabch]

AM bump

[Cmm_3940]

It is a widely reported problem, but only affects some calibers. FC headstamp in .223 seems to be the main culprit; other calibers seem to be just fine.

[Outpost75]

The problem is that the ammunition companies are reducing the number of heading strikes used to form the case and the majority of civilian brass is not "pre-pocketed" to increase head hardness in the K and M regions, and if any college engineering student would mount, section and etch todays cartridge brass,examine the metallography and measure the hardness gradient, comparing it to the militarh standard, the answer is obvious.

Bean counters control manufacturing operations, not the engineers. Make it cheap, let it wear out faster, then they will buy more.

[BruceB]

A thousand-round batch of FC-marked .223s which I had was fine as far as primer pockets were concerned.

Instead, I had VERY early splits in necks and shoulders, to the point that I scrapped the whole batch after only one or two loadings.

[fourarmed]

The old red-and-white box Federal .270 had loose primer pockets after firing the factory loads. I loaded them once, but as someone mentioned, the "feel" on the Lee Auto Prime was practically nonexistent. When I feel a loose one on .223, it is almost always FC headstamp.