SPP in 7.62 LC 87 brass

[Texas by God]

Why? During reforming LC 87 7.62 NATO I found 3 out of 150 cases have small primer pockets. Obviously mixed lots but why use spp for military ammo?

[2wheelDuke]

Are you certain that you don't have "ringers"? Sometimes when decapping crimped primers, the decapping pin will push out the bottom of the old primer leaving the walls of the primer cup in the pocket. These can be mistaken for small primers at a casual glance.

PB

I'd have to agree. Although with the "lead free" ammo that some companies are making these days, it's not impossible to happen I suppose. They make .45acp with small primers because of this. The case heads are pretty similar between .45 and .308, so it wouldn't be that hard of a changeover at the plant.

I'd like to see some pictures.

[country gent]

Several have tested 308,243, and 22-250 with primer pockets sleeved down to Small rifle size. I have some 243 long range brass that's sleeved to SR size for 1000 yds. It gave better SDs and ESs.

[Soundguy]

Ps, I've seen faked LC headstamps too.

Would love to see pics of these srp LC.

[runfiverun]

I'd be more inclined to go with the primer left the ring behind thing too.
I have seen both 7.62's and 5.56 stuff do it before.

now there has been some SR cases made in the past on the 308 family.
but I don't recall ever hearing of any military type brass having it.

[Texas by God]

Thanks guys. One primer did pop a top and left the sidewalls in the case. That was the clue I missed. Better light and readers will probably solve this. I thought it weird being they were military. I'm reforming them to .358 Win.

[Mk42gunner]

Soak the rest of that lot of brass with the penetrating oil of your choice for a day or two before decapping the rest, it really will help.

I had a bunch of 7.62 that had gotten wet and sat for a few years before I got around to working with it and I had some of the primers separate like yours. Even the ones that came out whole were kind of tough to do with a Lee decapping die in the old Rockchucker; after soaking in PB Blaster a while it was easy enough to push the primers out with a Lyman 310 tong tool. Big difference in effort required, I did run the cases through the tumbler with walnut media to remove the oil.

Robert

[mold maker]

I recently processed 1.5K 556x45 with the LC HS and over 1% were lost to the "pop a top" primers.
They were really frozen in place. I know that isn't a big deal but any suggestion to reclaim them would be appreciated. These were probably range pickups I bought.

[Texas by God]

Thanks mk42- will do. I've only processed 5.56 LC before and had no problem. Of course they weren't 30 years old either. For giggles I'll try to pry the three "ringers" out with a jewelers screwdriver.

[country gent]

If you can find a appropriate sized bottom tap you might be able to pull the rings with it. Tap down thru and use the tsp to push it out as you turn it

[tygar]

??? I've processed untold thousands of 7.62/5.56 LC & can't hardly remember leaving the ring in the pocket, I mean a small handfull, at most.

[Texas by God]

I'll soak the remainder of the brass in PB blast. Of the three it happened to, I tried unsucessfully for 10 min. to remove the ring on one. Then I scrapped them.

[308Jeff]

The only time I've had this happen was with PMJ 7.62 brass, and it was probably because I wet cleaned it without depriming first. Lesson learned for me.

[376Steyr]

I generally have a few "ringers" (nice descriptive term) in every lot of US military 7.62 brass I get. I figure its a combination of corrosion from getting wet while waiting to be picked up on the range and/or wet cleaning. To date I haven't been able to pry any rings out. I now toss mine in the scrap bucket, as I find the time spent unsuccessfully fiddling with them could better be used processing the cases that are cooperating.

[fatelk]

I've had those rings left in primer pockets off and on for decades. Somewhere along the line I made a little tool out of a broken firing pin that fits in the rings and pries them out quickly and easily, very slick and only takes a couple seconds. It worked so well I made another one for large primers. It has to be shaped just right, hardened and tempered or it will bend or break.

[mold maker]

It's just hard for me to toss brass with such a minor defect and remember that I paid for them. It's not like a serious dent or a creased mouth.
Dad taught me to salvage anything usable. He said todays plastic junk was built with disposal in mind.
Old habits are hard to break.

[Texas by God]

Thanks to Phineas Buster for nailing it for me. I have upgraded my lighting and will wear those reading glasses when reloading from now on.
Mold Maker- they are in my scrap brass container(not thrown away yet) I may salvage them later(unless you want them haha).
Best, Thomas.

[Texas by God]

Thomas,

About the time I hit my late fifties, I started to notice that my arms weren't long enough to focus on the smaller items any longer. I have to keep a pair of readers on hand for more than a few chores.

PB

Yes sir, I have them everywhere. I just forget to use them sometimes! I'm 58.

[mold maker]

I've worn coke bottle bottoms since I was 5. Since having cataract surgery, I only really need them for close work.
I first found the ringed brass when a primer only partly tore and I couldn't remove it from the SH. I found the rest while removing the PP crimp.
The primer rim was really stuck, and nothing seems to loosen or remove them. I tried several penetrating oils and heat, to no avail. Drilling them with the next size smaller bit was futile.
I decided they weren't worth the effort, but they're still not scrapped.
Apparently they were in the weather for quite some time before being collected, and corroded in the mated surface. The seller had walnut tumbled them to improve the appearance.

[Mk42gunner]

From what I've seen, it doesn't take much corrosion of the primer to cause problems removing them. I think the inside of the cup gets corroded between the anvil and cup, weakening it until it won't stay together while you are trying to push it out. I don't think I ever had a primer lose its top after it started moving, so I really don't think the crimp has much to do with it.

The lot of brass I was using (WRA 64 or 67 IIRC) had very tight primer pockets anyway, even running uniformer in didn't really help.

I have never been able to get the remaining ring out and still have a useable piece of brass. Since all they cost me was a bit of effort loading them into my truck I don't sweat loosing a few pieces.

Robert

[fatelk]

I'm telling you guys, if you make a little tool of the right shape and hardness, popping these little rings out is simple, only takes a second and doesn't damage the brass. I've done dozens over the years.

Here's the tool I made out of a broken .22 firing pin. It fits perfectly inside the ring and pries it out easily.
193921

[fatelk]

For curiosity's sake, I went out to the garage and dug out a couple pieces of scrap brass, drilled though the top of the primers to leave the ring, and took a couple photos. I need to revise my statements a little; it takes more than a couple seconds each, up to 15 or 20 seconds on a stubborn one. It also leaves a couple little dings on the outside of the primer pocket, but it's cosmetic only. Please excuse the really grungy brass. It was in the scrap bucket.

193923193924

[Mk42gunner]

I'll try to remember to make one of those tools the next time I am messing with some of that lot of brass. No guarantees, but thanks for the picture anyway.

Robert

[fatelk]

Sorry, didn't mean that to come across pushy as it might have seemed; just wanted to share a little trick I figured out.

As to practicality, the value of all the brass I've saved with it over the last decade or so probably wouldn't come close to the value of the time it would take to make the tool. Then again I think that a lot of the tinkering that many of us do with this kind of think isn't very cost-effective. :)

[Mk42gunner]

Practicality? This is a hobby for me, it doesn't have to be practical. As far as cost effectiveness goes-- if we were to do that, we would all be shooting generic 9mm and 5.56mm ball.

I kind of look at it like this: if the fishing rod or gun puts meat on the table, it is paid for. A 6.5-06 98 Mauser once paid for itself with a grey squirrel; a bit off the wall, but he was being annoying all afternoon while I was sitting on a coal dump waiting for a deer to walk by.

Robert