Lapua 7.62x39 brass question...

[AviatorTroy]

Well I ordered some of this fancy dancy brass because I wanted to load up some decent ammo for my Mini 30 and see if it would actually shoot, with something other than Woolf crapola... Anyway, the conundrum is thus...

I went to prime the cases with my Lee Auto Prime hand tool, which I love because it gives me great control and feel of the seating of the primer. Only problem is, I couldn't even begin to seat a single primer! Felt like a LRP is too big, or something. Tried several cases, and CCI LR, and they flat out didn't want to go in! I didn't want to force anything, so I stopped what I was doing and thought Id throw this out there. Does anyone have a similar experience with this?

[Johnch]

I have been using Lapua 7.62x39 brass I got from Midway years ago
I never had a problem priming it

Great stuff
I find EVERY case I shoot

John

[mike in co]

check to see if the case is set up for a crimp on the primer. i have seen 7.62x45r this way.

so deburr the pocket...

mike in co

[Lloyd Smale]

Some 762x39 brass has small rifle primers rather then lg. I usually toss it when i go though range brass as it just a pain in the but to deal with unless you stick only to small.

[bruce drake]

considering the scarcity of good boxer-primed 7.62x39 brass, I take whatever I can find. My ammo boxes have a mix of R-P. Win, Lapua and Olympic. I sort them by headstamp and by primer size so that when I'm reloading I'm pretty much doing one size primer at a time.

Some of my Lapua and Olympic brass had very tight primer pockets in the beginning. A quick trip to the twist drill and the primer pockets had a beveled opening that let the primers fit right in afterwards.

Bruce

[c.robertson]

Check for a crimp on the Lapua 7.62X39 cases. Some are crimped, Lapua also made this round in Berdan primed cases.
I have loaded 600 rounds + of 7.62X39 of mostly Lapua, all large primers. Just over 100 rounds of Winchester, all large primers. And almost 100 rounds of RP, all small primers. There is no reason at all to discard the RP cases just because they have small primers, they shoot just fine. Been shooting it in an Arsenal AK, Polytech Legend, Chinese SKS, and a Remington 799.
I got lucky at a couple gun shows back in 2002 or so and picked up about 50 boxes of 30 Lapua 7.62X39 for $4.00 a box.

[AviatorTroy]

OK, I thought Id ask before forcing a primer in, Id rather not blow one up. I don't have a primer pocket reamer, as Ive never needed one. Im thinking maybe ONE turn with a chamfer tool would bevel the pocket entrance just enough to ease the primer in, but Id hate to ruin these cases as they are kind of a work of art.

[bruce drake]

a sharp 3/8 drill bit will work as well to remove a primer crimp ring. zip in the drill and its done. You just need to kiss the edge of the primer pocket with your hand drill. Don't auger it in...

[blaster]

I just got some fiocchi 7.62x39 brass and found it to have tight primer pockets as well. Not as tight as yours, but it takes some flattening to get them in there.

[mike in co]

for the record there are three types of rem-peters(r-p) 7.62x39 ammo on the market.
they only sell large primer brass but sell ammo from what appears to be three plants. two are large primer and one is small....the small is marked 7.62x39mm...the others do not include the "mm" on the end.

mike in co

[c.robertson]

Mike, good information on RP cases. In double checking there were large primed RP cases in with the Winchester & Lapua brass. Thanks.

[Cherokee]

My Lapua cases from many years ago never gave me a priming problem but they were tight when new, not as much now they have been reloaded a number of times. Lightly deburr one pocket and give it a try. BTW, I always hand prime with Lee tool.

[Willbird]

IN my experience CCI primers are bigger than the other brands, sometimes this will make you mad, other times it will make you very happy (if you have some nice brass with pockets on the big side).

Bill