rcbs primer swagger

[jballs918]

hey just wondering if anyone out there uses this, and if so are you using it in a non rcbs press. im thinking about getting one not sure if it will work in the lee press

[454PB]

I have one, and it will work in the Lee press. Follow the directions carefully, it's easy to damage if not properly set up.

[Buckshot]

...................What 454PB said. Not that it's a dainty setup, it's just that you only need to swage the primer pocket so much, and anymore stresses the very hard swage rod for no good reason. You develop some impressive pressures with a reloading press.

I used mine to swage pockets in mountains of PMC 30-06 and LC83 223 brass. I managed to bend the LRP swage rod. The call to RCBS went like this:

Thanks for calling RCBS.

I need to get a new LRP swage rod please. I bent mine.

No problem, what's your address?

I supplied it

Okay, we'll get one right out.

Great, you want my CC number?

Nope, that's fine no charge.

Yeah, but I bent it through carelessness. Not your fault.

That's fine, it'll go out tomorrow.

Well, if you say so but I feel bad.

Don't worry about it, thanks for using our products.

Doesn't get any better then that!

.....................Buckshot

[jballs918]

i was looking at one becuase i my start loading 8mm out of 30-06. and im thinking of maybe a lee decapper. the primers are pretty tuff. thanks for the info guys.

[schutzen]

If your wanting to swage a large number of cases, I recomend the Dillion Primer Pocket Swager. The Dillion is more expensive, but having used both the RCBS & the Dillion, it is money well spent. My son & I swaged 3000 .223's last month. It took 4 or 5 evenings. It would have taken all month with the RCBS. Time, Volume, Money it's your call.

[imashooter2]

I use one on an old Pacific Super C. I do not set it up per the instructions. Instead, I set it up deeper than the top of the ram stroke and "bounce" the case against the stop. Works great and I have never bent a stop pin this way.

[quasi]

I started with the RCBS primer pocket swager, it worked not bad, then I tried a C-H pocket swager, much better. Then I tried a friends Dillon swager, it is the best by far!

[jballs918]

does the dillon have to be ran off there press

[versifier]

No, it's a bench-mounted unit. www.dillonprecision.com

[jballs918]

i looked that up and i think that is a bit much for me. im not doing anything that much. good gravy. the thing looks midevil

[Maven]

Jason, Go over to E-Bay and search for "primer pocket swager" (omit the quotation marks). You'll find several listed there and at reasonable prices IF you don't get caught up in a bidding war. Put a few of them on your "watch list" (via E-Bay) until you get a sense of what a Dillon or RCBS sells for. This should take ~1 - 2 weeks, then bid at a price you're comfortable with. Btw, I know some consider the next step wrong ("Sniping" they call it.), placing your bid within the last 3 mins. of the auction in question often works to your advantage.

[rbt50]

years ago i used the rcbs,it is ok but if you can aford it get the dillon it is fast and not a pain to use like the rcbs..

[Ken O]

I have the RCBS swagger, it works but is a pain. I have done several thousand cases with it. One thing that helps, put a little Imperial sizing wax on the swagging button every five or six rounds, its the up stroke that sticks.
I used to buy all once fired .223 LC from the brassmansbrass, now I buy once fired WW its only a buck more a thousand and dont have to mess with the crimp.
I also shoot weekly CMP Garand matches at our club, and the supplied LC M2 needs the crimp removed. I quit doing this and just keep buying the M2, the club charges $10 for the 56 rounds in Garand clips, I cant load it for that.
I'm sure the Dillon is the way to go, but lots more money.

[swheeler]

I used the CH pp swaging tool for years, now I use the lyman reamer chucked in the drill press, fast-fast-fast

[j4570]

The RCBS works just fine, and I think for anything you have a shellholder for.

The Dillon doesn't work well with 8mm I don't think, seems that I tried it.

The Dillon is sweet for 223, 308, 30-06, and 45 ACP though.

I broke a Lyman universal decap die after many thousand rounds, sometimes punching a hole into berdan 223 that I missed. I now have an RCBS and it seems to work just as well for decapping military brass. I usually use a Univ Decap die when depriming Mil Brass initially.

Jason

[Ross]

"The RCBS works just fine, and I think for anything you have a shellholder for."

My RCBS does not use a shellholder, only the two buttons that are sized for the large or small pockets.
Is yours an older (or maybe a newer) style?
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross

[Scrounger]

Just for the record, 'swager' has only one 'g' in it. Guess I paid too much attention in school...

[omgb]

I have an RCBS swager and it works OK. Presently, I use a lyman reemer. It seems faster and I get very consistant results. That brings me to another pet peeve. The Korean '06 I shoot comes in two types, KA headstamp and P something or other. The KA deprimes fairly well using a Lee universal decapper. The P something stuff has broken four of them. Two were the die and press type and two were the "smack 'em with a hammer" primative Pete type. That dang brass has some really permanently seated primers.

[versifier]

Just for the record, 'swager' has only one 'g' in it. Guess I paid too much attention in school...
"Swagger" is what you do when your cast load hits MOA!

[lovedogs]

I told you guys that Versifier is pretty sharp! I have the RCBS and get along fine with it. And, yes, their warranty is the best in the industry IMHO.

[j4570]

The RCBS my dad has now. I'll have to check next time I am visiting.

How does it hold the case in order to swage the pocket if there is not a shellholder used, I can't remember now.

[imashooter2]

The swage goes on the ram along with the stripper attachment. You place the case over the pin in the die and run the swage up into the primer pocket. The case will stick to the swage due to the interference fit and then you bring the ram down to strip the case off.

[boogerred]

good info-imashooter. i just got one off e-bay for $19 total. no instructions with it. i figured out all the parts except the cup.ive only got about 5-600 cases to do and your info should put a little more speed to it.

[imashooter2]

good info-imashooter. i just got one off e-bay for $19 total. no instructions with it. i figured out all the parts except the cup.ive only got about 5-600 cases to do and your info should put a little more speed to it.

Adjustment is critical or you WILL bend the stop pin if used by taking the ram to top of stroke. If you like, I can scan my directions and email them to you... A letter or email to RCBS will get you a hard copy in the mail.

Cup goes over the top of the swage to strip the case.

[Larry Gibson]

hey just wondering if anyone out there uses this, and if so are you using it in a non rcbs press. im thinking about getting one not sure if it will work in the lee press

Years ago I had an RCBS and it was more trouble trying not to damage it than it was worth. I suggest you go to the local hardware store and get an 80 degree countersink. They don't cost much.

Grind the sharp point off just enough that it doesn't hit the bottom of the primer pocket. Put it in your hand drill held horizontally in a vise. Take a deprimed 5.56, .30 carbine, 7.62, '06 or any other case with a crimped primer and push the case lightly over the countersink. The crimp will be quickly reamed off. It does not take much and you can do cases just about as fast as you can pick them out of one box, touch on the countersink and drop them into another box. You can also quickly reverse the case and another light touch on the counter sink of the case mouth will quickly chamfer it.

I did that for years on thousands of 5.56, 30 carbine, .45 ACP and 7.62 cases until I was convinced by the doom and gloomers that I would blow my guns up that way. I got a Dillon and have swaged many cases with it but you know what? I have gone back to the countersink. It is actually quicker than the Dillon and it leaves a nice little bevel for the primers to seat easier and straighter into the primer pockets. I haven't come close to blowing any of my guns up from reaming the primer pockets.

Larry Gibson

For the doom and gloomers who say "but you are only a trigger pull away from blowing up your guns." I say; but aren't we all!

[StarMetal]

Larry's right. I've been using a countersink ever since I talked to the fellow that ran Denver Bullets when they were in business. He said that's the fastest way to clean off the crimps on military primer pockets and he's right. Me and my friend use to sell reloaded 223 ammo for military type rifles. Loaded with the 55 gr FMJ. We ordered 5000 cases and bullets at a time. Didn't take long to ream those cases using my drill press.

Joe