DIY primer pocket swager?

[gloob]

Looks promising, but I'll have to actually use up a sleeve of primers to know for sure.



The swage button is ground into the end on an allen wrench. The anvil is just a nail for now. I added a plastic bushing so the case doesn't wiggle around. If it doesn't hold up, I'll have to use up some nicer stock.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/hfGYrv9.jpg)

The swage die also works as a gauge. Here's how far it slips into a commercial pocket.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/6FEhrWI.jpg)

Here's the most extreme crimp I have found, a 4 line staked crimp.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/36SwsQM.jpg)

Here is the same case after a few taps with the swaging die. I didn't try to take a picture of it, but you can see the pocket is left shiny in primarily 4 spots towards the mouth, plus a tiny ring of shine all the way around the rim.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/B0wIboO.jpg)

I've found the normal crimps vary a lot. Sometimes the pocket appears to be perfectly fine without doing anything. Sometimes it needs some work. It's pretty easy to tell just by gauging it.


I'm not going to recommend this, yet, but I'll post a followup if I find out anything more, good or bad.

[rancher1913]

interesting idea in a pinch

[imashooter2]

The RCBS swage pin has a radius to provide a nice entry mouth for the primer. Yours looks like it is just straight. Not sure if this will be a problem with some crimp styles or not. Just saying. Also, the RCBS unit takes some significant force to strip the brass off the punch. How do you get your punch out?

Nice drilling hammer.

[gloob]

I measured my SRP at 116 thous tall, and 174.5-175 thous diameter. I made the button 110 thous tall. The tip starts at 173, and it doesn't reach 174.5 until about halfway up. It gets to about 179ish, in a fairly linear taper. Then there's a bit of radius at the very shoulder. I have yet to hammer one hard enough to get all the way flush, but I have found a couple cases so loose it went all the way in. After I prime more of them, I'll figure out if I want to adjust the button or to give a bigger tap.

It comes free pretty easy just with a little wiggling. If I were trying to pull it straight out, it would take some force!

Oh, and the normal ring crimps seem to be more consistent than I initially thought. I looked at all the ones that seemed to be big enough, as is, and they were all LC08 and LC09. Maybe a previous owner swaged them, already. All my LC 12 and later cases show a pretty consistent amount of crimp, per my gauging.

4 lb sledge! Sometimes you need a hard swing with a small hammer. I think this requires a light tap with a big one!

[imashooter2]

I keep a 3 pound drilling hammer behind the vise on my utility bench. It’s the one I use more than any other. Would you like measurements from the RCBS swage pin just for giggles?

[gloob]

I keep a 3 pound drilling hammer behind the vise on my utility bench. It’s the one I use more than any other. Would you like measurements from the RCBS swage pin just for giggles?

For sure.

I just remeasured mine, more accurately.

110-111 height
169-170 at the tip behind the slight rounding of the edge.
175 at a bit more than halfway from the tip
178-178.5 at the top right before the tiny radius that so far hasn't been put to work.

[45_Colt]

From the SAAMI spec's, this may be helpful:



45_Colt

[gloob]

This drawing tells me that S&B small pocket brass and the old Wolf/Tulammo SP's are both perfectly in spec, and that there's a bit of quality assurance left to the end user. 1765 primer into a 1730 hole!

I suppose this does tell me that one swage die isn't enough for a discerning reloader. Either I leave my die slightly large and leave that last smack for larger primers. Or I finish it just right for my current primers but may need to make a new one if I ever acquire a batch of larger primers.

[Three44s]

With my RCBS Swagger I can create loose pockets if I get carried away.

I use it judiciously.

My next pass is on a Wilson case trimmer, for length and then a finish chamfer of the primer pocket. I like a nice subtle bevel to aid in primer seating.

Three44s

[gloob]

I set out a series of cases, so I could prime them back to back.


I used my Breechlock Challenger press to prime, after carefully setting the lever to my preferred length for priming.

First I primed 3 commercial cases of different stamps. I don't think the names matter, since I don't know how many times they've been fired, but they were each quite different in tightness.

Then I primed 3 crimped and 3 staked-crimp cases that were swaged to about this deep, with a few taps of the hammer.



Then I primed 2 more of each, which I had tapped on until the punch stopped going deeper. Then 1 more of each which I pounded on so hard I hoped to leave a mark on the casehead. This is how deep these went.




And... I'd say all of the swaged cases I primed felt more or less the same. Slightly looser than the tightest of the commercial pockets. The staked crimp felt different from the ring crimped. Some sort of roughness. But they were all consistent in seating, too. It seems pretty forgiving to get a good swage, at least for one brand of primers.



And BTW, I failed to leave a mark on the caseheads.

[gloob]

It may need a tweak down the road, but I think it will work fine. I cleaned the anvil up and engraved the bit.





I think these are the first pics of the tip. The hex bar is 7/32", for size reference. Finished with 400 grit sandpaper. 110 tall, 170 tip, 178.5 base before the minimal radius.

[schutzen-jager]

thanks for sharing - will try it in both primer sizes + use hardened punches turned to size rather than an allen wrench -

[gloob]

The hex key is hardened chrome vanadium steel. Hard enough to hold a decent cutting edge. Ironically, most of time I use a punch, I make it from one of these.

To make the radius at the shoulder tight as I wanted, I sharpened the cutting disc against a diamond plate a couple times in the final grinding. Magnifier visor might be helpful for this. I'm near-sighted. So I just have to put on a face shield and peer over my glasses.

Final shaping/finishing with folded over sandpaper against a piece of steel plate to back it, to really get into the shoulder.

[William Yanda]

The RCBS swage pin has a radius to provide a nice entry mouth for the primer. Yours looks like it is just straight. Not sure if this will be a problem with some crimp styles or not. Just saying. Also, the RCBS unit takes some significant force to strip the brass off the punch. How do you get your punch out?

Nice drilling hammer.

Estwing?

[gloob]

Ha, I wish!

I have at least half a dozen hammers in various sizes and shapes, but I have scant few tools that are very nice.

I had to google "drilling hammer." I thought imashooter might have got a glimpse of my hammer drill (slash lathe) in one of those pics, and maybe that was the cool way to say it. That's one of my actual nicer and pricier tools. Virtually no runout. That's how I can turn small things fairly precisely.

[imashooter2]

The one on the right is a 3 pound Stanley and rides my bench behind the vise. The one on the left fell out of a Bell Telephone Repair truck many years ago when they were throwing everything away after the government required break up.

[imashooter2]

My RCBS small pocket swage pin is .173 diameter, straight wall with a .032 radius top and bottom. When I swage, set up per the instructions on segregated head stamps, the top radius puts a nice smooth entry on the case mouths. I never had the tool make an oversized pocket.

[scattershot]

I use a 45 degree chamfer bit in an electric drill. Works like a champ.

[gloob]

Yeah, power chamfer is easy to do and easy to control and it's basically completely free.

My RCBS small pocket swage pin is .173 diameter, straight wall with a .032 radius top and bottom. When I swage, set up per the instructions on segregated head stamps, the top radius puts a nice smooth entry on the case mouths. I never had the tool make an oversized pocket.

Interesting, thanks. Primers are starting into the pocket smooth for me, too. But I use a single stage to prime, and maybe that makes it easier.

Just having fun now. I've never seen a crimped 308 case, but I do reload them after sizing them to 7mm.