Primer Pocket Swagger ?

[IcerUSA]

Are they worth the money ? Which is the better one ?

Keith

[dromia]

I've only used the RCBS and it works fine, use it mainly on HXP brass that has the military crimp. Primer seat just nice after primer pocket swaging.

I find this easier than removing the crimp with a hand held case deburring tool.

[shotman]

I dont care for them If you want one have old herters that you can have cheap. I cut the crimps out . The swagger tends to let the new primer hang sometimes and get them cocked.

[Lloyd Smale]

there a nessisary evil when loading military .223 or 308 brass. It is probably along with trimming brass my most hated job in reloading. I use a dillon swadger it works and is pretty easy but just tedious!

[nicholst55]

The Dillon Super Swage is the Cadillac of primer pocket swagers and priced accordingly. The RCBS and others of that sort are utilitarian, but work just fine. There is a learning curve associated with any of them, and they all need to be adjusted when switching headstamps or calibers of brass.

And I agree with Lloyd; swaging primer pockets is tedious, but a necessary evil. The good thing about it is that it only needs to be done once!

[finishman2000]

i also use a dillon, works great but when doing a thousand or so it does get old. But it has to done.

[mike in co]

well i think i have used most of them....and they all suck.
the dillon tool is great but it is designed to be set up and used on a single lot of brass. when there are multiple lots( lake city 03,04,05 etc) the results vary as does the work.
i have not found an answer for large primer pockets, but have for small rifle pockets.
it is the lyman VLD inside neck chamfer tool. this is mounted in a small wood handle.
the end of the cutter does no cutting. when used on a small rifle primer pocket it removes a small amount of brass and stops cutting when the end of the cutter hits the bottom of the primer pocket. unlike most "cutters" it only removes a minor amount of brass, and the angle is shallow, but perfect for seating a primer.
it can be used by hand, the cutter can be unscrewed and put in a drill motor ot small electric screwdriver( with a internal threaded hex) mounted in a drill press, or as i currently do, with my lathe.
in use i use 6" slip joint plyers with a single layer of duct tape on the jaws. grap a case in the large opening, get a firm grip with my left hand, and guide with my right hand. cutting time is aprox 2-3 sec's per case.....

mike in co

[kywoodwrkr]

I've used the old Herter's and the RCBS both.
Both move the brass from the edge as they are supposed to.
However I find they often as not leave a small lip just indide the primer pocket opening.
I use a Lyman primer pocket reamer to clean this mall ridge up.
In my past, the primers then fit well, and easily.
The last part is TV time work in my life style.
FWIW

[mold maker]

I've never found a problem with the RCBS that I've used for over 20 yr. It works with both large and small pockets. For what ever reason, I/'not seen the problem mentioned above with a ridge being left.

[IcerUSA]

Thanks for the info . Another question then would be , do they work to tighten up loose pockets ? The reason I ask is the Hornet seems to be enlarging the primer pockets , the rifle is an older H&R Partner and probably has an abundant chamber , not probably , does , as I did try to FL size one case and the sizer die rolled some brass in the head area , so that one went into the scrape box . :)

Keith

[MtGun44]

Enlarged primer pockets is a sign of excessive pressure. You probably need to back
off your loads a bit with the Hornet.

Bill

[IcerUSA]

MtGun44 , I think it's a chamber problem on this one as some new Pervi ammo I bought had 3 or 4 loose pockets when I tried to reload them and the six or so that are loose are also the Pervi's , the Winchester and Remingtons are fine so far .

Keith

[ronterry]

Not to toot my own horn, but I made an RCBS swagger clone from some roundbar I had laying around, and it works dandy and most importantly it was free. To be honest, you can pull off essentially the same thing, by using a bevel cutter, or even the deburring tool you use on the neck. However some mil pockets are so tight you have to swage with traditional methods.

Here's mine, or you can anti up 30 bucks for an RCBS. I Think ANeat got a wicked deal for the Dillion on Gun Broker...Mine are cut at .210 & .175, but technically you want a slight angle for alignment, and the very end to swage. Been meaning to go back machine Version II :) Maybe a Dillion Clone...
http://www.ronterry.com/arms/images/RRT-Swager-01.jpg
If your interested it's hardened 4130, and it's swagged 800 rounds so far with no problems :)

[zxcvbob]

The Dillon Super Swage is the Cadillac of primer pocket swagers and priced accordingly. That's first thing on my shopping list when my 03-FFL gets here (nice discount from Grafs prices the Cadillac down to, say, a Buick) I have bunches of S&B brass -- mostly .38 Special, but also .357 Magnum and .30 Carbine. The pockets are undersized just enough to make them unsafe to prime. I've tried a couple of hand reamers and a countersink bit but nothing works.

I also have lots of .30-06 milsurp ammo that will need to be swaged someday.

[Sprue]

I bought an RCBS not too long ago. RCBS P/N9495. don't remember how much it cost but I don't think it was near $30 range, I could be wrong though.

As far as owning one, its one of those things that you need lying around the bench. Sooner or later you're going to need one. I put it in the same class as de-burring by hand or, trimming. Swaging primer pockets is not one of my favorite things to do, but if you are working on say, 100 cases, you can't wait to git it over with. Working on 1000 cases....... O'dear. [smilie=l:

[jar-wv]

How hard is it to see if primer pockets need swaged or cut? I'm loading some LC brass and having a hard time getting primer in some of them. I really couldn't see or feel any kind of rim around primer pocket causing this. I've never tried to load any mil brass before so I'm guessing I need to swage or cut. Should I run inside neck deburr tool through all of them?

jar

[Bob J]

Lake city brass is a PITA....:mad:

Dealing with it depends a lot on how many you have..... If just a few then you can remove the crimp with a box cutter..... All you need to do is trim the lip on the pocket...

If you have a significant amount of brass you may want to invest in one of these....;- )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhw6Yf-vbdk

[Leadforbrains]

I use the RCBS swager. It works fine for me.

[highscore]

Lake city brass is a PITA....:mad:

Dealing with it depends a lot on how many you have..... If just a few then you can remove the crimp with a box cutter..... All you need to do is trim the lip on the pocket...

If you have a significant amount of brass you may want to invest in one of these....;- )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhw6Yf-vbdk


Yes, Lake CIty takes a lot of prep the first time but is very good brass. I've always used it for my 600 yard loads!
Bob

[dhenry132]

Dillon super 1050

[shotman]

The worst brass I ever got was the DEN in the 40s. Many the pin would punch through the primer.
ronterry how much did the set cost? incluideing the equipment

[Lloyd Smale]

now that is the absolute best way!!!
Dillon super 1050


http://pages.suddenlink.net/brassprocessing/index.htm

[zxcvbob]

The worst brass I ever got was the DEN in the 40s. Many the pin would punch through the primer.I've got about a half a dozen Garand clips of that stuff, recovered from a mudslide. I've cleaned it up but haven't tried it yet (the commercial ammo, which of course don't have the bullets and primers glued in place, all shot just fine) I haven't shot it yet because I'm sure it's probably corrosive. So I'll wait until I'm gonna clean my rifle anyway :coffee: