PPU headstamp 38 Special

[Petrol & Powder]

I ended up with some 38 Special casings that have a "PPU" headstamp. 221340

When resizing and attempting to deprime these, the primer almost never comes out. The decapping pin just bulges the primer but it remains in the case. They are Boxer primed.
They do not appear to have crimped primers and when the primer is eventually removed, it shows no sign of being crimped or sealed.

Who make these and why are they such a PITA?

[Frogfeatures]

Privi Partizan, made in the old Yugoslavia ( Serbia now ? )
Usually excellent quality brass.

[Petrol & Powder]

Maybe I got a bad lot?

At first I thought it might be a problem with the decapping pin but every other casing (Federal, W-W, RP, PMC, Speer, etc. ) sails through without a hiccup. The die and decapping pin are set correctly. I started setting aside the troublesome casings and they turned out to all be PPU casings. The primer would just bulge but remain in the casing. With some effort I got one primer out and it looked perfectly normal except for the now dome shaped cup. No sealant, no crimp or even sign of crimp.
Once I got the primer out, the casing would accept a new primer without a problem.
It has got me fooled.

[jcren]

I have problems with brass that has been wet tumbled then stored with primers still in. Especially brass (not plated) primers. End up corroded into place. Shot of jb blaster and let em sit overnight works wonders.

[osteodoc08]

I’ve reloaded a bunch of PPU brass and it’s as good as any main stream commercial brass I’ve picked up over the years.

[Petrol & Powder]

I have problems with brass that has been wet tumbled then stored with primers still in. Especially brass (not plated) primers. End up corroded into place. Shot of jb blaster and let em sit overnight works wonders.


I don't wet tumble my brass but that doesn't mean this particular brass wasn't wet tumbled by someone else.
Once I get the primers out the brass is fine.

[nagantguy]

That is strange ; ppu is top notch brass a year or so ago I had a lot of 500 once fired Winchester.45 acp brass and and same thing about 50-75 of them would just bulge and not pop out. Same thing when they did come out with a lot of work the brass took a new primer just fine

[lotech]

The only such brass I've used was in 7mm Rem. Mag. Cases are very snug to not fitting at all in a custom priming tool shellholder. Brass weighs almost 15% more than Winchester brass, a very significant difference. Other than that, it works fine. Brass may be more expensive than ever, but is still cheap when one considers normal case life. Anything causing problems that aren't easily remedied should probably go in the scrap pile.

[calico]

I sometimes have problems with CCI primer anvils forming around the decapper rod, not dropping off, then being drawn back into the case on the upstroke. Just enough that it sticks there and the case cannot be removed from the shell holder.
Could this be the issue?

[Gtek]

How about a correct sized punch and tap one clear just to see if/what? I have 38 brass that my father used hard that is my age and older, still good stuff!

[Petrol & Powder]

calico - I know what you are speaking about and I've had that happen but that's not what is occurring in this instance.

Gtek - I got some of the primers out and they are fairly normal in all respects, other than being really hard to remove.

[res45]

I think the issue is the PPU along with some other foreign made brass have tight primer pockets and use soft primer cup material, I've noticed it more in pistol brass not so much in rifles brass. I had a similar issue with some PPU 9mm cases, the primer cup would bulge and in some cases punch right through. If I remember correctly I ended up using a Lee Universal decapper and just going slow, I don't remember setting many case aside and those that I did I just drilled the primer out and reamed the primer pocket out with my tool to remove primer pocket crimps. I just hate throwing away a good piece of brass.

[bruce drake]

PPU has tight primer pockets as res45 has mentioned. That said, its great brass. I usually ream the primer pocket with a countersink and the now-beveled edge eliminates any further issues with removing spent primers in further reloads.

[bedbugbilly]

I've never had an issue with 38 spec. PPU but I have with 9mm. I bought about 3,400 1 X fired of 9mm a couple of years ago that was all mixed head stamps. I experienced pretty much the same as you with some of the PPU casings. I never pictured a primer while de-capping (I use a universal de-capping die) but some were mighty tough to get out. After af ew of them, I tossed the PPU in a separate container to isolate them. I noticed that on some of them, I had a hard time getting the primer in and seated with my hand primer - I figured it was due to extra tight primer pockets. Overall though, the PPU brass I've found to be nice.

I don't have a primer pocket swagger die - it would be interesting to take some of yours and run them through a primer pocket swagger that's used to convert military brass to see if it corrected the problem.

[ShooterAZ]

I've had the same problem with PPU 38 special brass, and S&B 45ACP range pickup brass. I separate them all and throw them in a bucket. Once I get a worthwhile amount I run them through my Dillon 600 Superswage. No more problems after that.

[Petrol & Powder]

Thanks, I don't have that many of them and once I get the primer out, they're fine.

It's a not big deal, just annoying when one interrupts my rhythm on a progressive press. I've culled out most of them.

[robg]

My 45/70 and 223 brass is mostly ppu never had a problem ,yet.

[rintinglen]

My suspicion is that they use an adhesive sealant that in addition to the tight primer pocket makes for a stubborn primer that resists removal. I have only experienced that problem with 9 mm brass.

[Geezer in NH]

Lee depriming die will get rid of it. IMHO have yetto have a primer it will not de-prime.

[Jniedbalski]

I had this problem also. It’s been so long ago I forgot what brand of brass it was with. I thank it was 9 mm.They seemed to be glued in and also had soft primers. My lee decpping die I adjusted a little longer and it took care of it. Also a few where very hard to press loose and I had to run my press down two to three times to get them to come out . I would spin the case in the shell holder a little bit and try again. I thank they use some kind of clear sealer on the primers because the cases and the primers looked normal. Could not see any if it was on them.

[fast ronnie]

I always deprime before cleaning, then tumble with pins. I won't put a dirty case in my dies. Stainless pins clean the primer pocket as well as the inside.Yes, it is an extra step. And yes, I do have a progressive. What is better? Running that junk from the primers thru my progressive or depriming and cleaning before running them in my dies. Just food for thought. By the way, I use a Lee decapper and haven't had one yet that didn't come out, and I've run a lot of PPU's through that decapper.

[Petrol & Powder]

Fortunately I don't have a lot of them. It's not a huge problem but it sure is annoying when one makes it into the progressive press. The primer bulges but doesn't come out of the casing, that locks the casing in the shell plate and locks the shell plate up. The easiest solution at that point is to grab the casing with a pair of pliers and rip it out of the press. If I can catch the offending casings before they make it in the press, I can easily de-prime them off the press and they work fine after that.

The brass is fine once you get that first primer out. I've culled most of them out of the lot.

[Camba]

I am wondering if the web of the case head is slightly thicker that the decaping pin gets stopped before completely pushing through the case with the spent primer. Or perhaps your sizing die is backed out enought that the decaping pin does not complete the job with the stroke.
It is just a thought. I have had similar issues with brass but I don’t recall if that was ppu


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