Odd Use for GI Primer Pocket Swager.

[NVcurmudgeon]

While loading a small experimental lot of .30 Remington cases, one case was reluctant to accept a primer. Deburring didn't help, so I measured the pocket. It was .201". I dug into the box of never-gonna-need again reloading tools and found the C-H GI primer pocket punch and base set, which solved the problem handily. That tool had been idle for thirty years! Anybody else ever run into an undersize primer and pocket in a CIVILIAN case?

[StarMetal]

Bill,

Whatya doin loading them 30 Rem cases? Secret project? I'm thinking about getting a 6.8 Rem upper Bill. The 6.5 Grendel is too hard to get and too expensive. Your mention of the 30 Rem case made me think about telling you about the 6.8 Rem upper.

Joe

[NVcurmudgeon]

Not a secret at all, Joe. See my "30 Remington M141 Pumpgun" in Cast boolits.

[swheeler]

Yes I ran into quite afew of them recently in Graf 6.5x52 Carcano brass, and a couple in their 7.5x55 brass some time back. My c-h pocket swager was retired years ago when working over the primer pockets on surplus military, the Lyman reamers do a better job for me, and chucked in a drill press are faster, especially if doing larger lots. Scot

[NVcurmudgeon]

Scoooter, I started with a Lyman reamer and went to the C-H because it did a neater job for me. "You pays yer money and ya takes yer choice."

[JDL]

Had the same thing happen a month ago when loading some .44 Mag. with old W-W cases that were in a white box with a big red W. Couldn't seat the primer flush for ham gravy and had to ream all the pockets. Glad it was just a one-time procedure! -JDL

[swheeler]

Bill; what I ran into with the C-H was that if I set it up to remove all the crimp on mil-surp, some would bend the "rim" that is pull down on two sides of the extractor groove, deforming the case head. I didn't seem to have the problem with 5.56 or 7.62, but when ever I did 30/06 I would have quite afew. I know it was a setup problem, and could avoid it setting swage "lighter" then swage-rotate- and swage again. A couple years ago I discovered the Lee trimmers and also bought the Lyman kit with reamers, I use them in the drill press, always spinning the tool and holding the brass. Now I can trim, inside chamfer, outside chamfer, remove crimp from 500 30/06 in about 2 hours, I still flashole de-burr by hand, but that could be done on the drill press too, maybe even p pocket depth reamed(but the handle on that tool is larger than the chuck on my drill press) and that has been reserved so far for 308 only. My RCBS trimmer and all pilots sets collecting dust, but still has to be used for calibers that Lee doesn't make trimmers(lock stud-case lenght gauges) for, like 450 Watts Ack Imp, and the 7.62x38 Nagant. One of these days I will clean out the cabinet and have a sale, should be dies from calibers I haven't owned for years-decades! I will keep the C-H swager for those outm of spec commercial cases one run into in a blue moon.
Scooter