Reducing primer pocket dia

[dtknowles]

Yeah, that is one of them unicorns right there... Good luck. I'd probably try the ball bearing method. But on a case that big it might not work well... You might have to ream and using a bushing...

I have around 100 cases and only two seem to have loose primer pockets. Almost half of my cases are Berdan primed and I have a couple hundred Berdan primers so I kind of don't use those much. The right size Berdan primers are hard to come by.

If I was to use a bushing I would not ream the pockets I would make a bushing that would let me use Small Magnum primers.

I have another possible solution. I make my own primers so I could just make primers that fit the loose pockets. When I reform the primer cups to take out the indent, I could punch them out to a slightly larger diameter.

For right now I have marked the cases and am monitoring them. I am using them as is to see if it causes any adverse effects. None so far but only one firing since the pockets were determined to be loose.

I did some other experiments, I have a few 7.62 x 25 brass that I converted from Berdan to Boxer. Some of the primer pockets on that brass are loose with small pistol primers so I tried the ball bearing trick on them and test fired them with a reduced load. The primers stayed in the pocket but one looked like it might have leaked, a smug around the primer. The homemade primer thing would work on these cases too.

I also modified one to take a large pistol primer. Probably a better approach but with my equipment it is more trouble. I used my drill press like a mill to open up the pocket. With the right size reamer, it would be a piece of cake, but I don't have such a thing.

Tim

[country gent]

There you could possibly find brass tubing that would only require cutting to length, pressing in and a light swage to size.

[country gent]

There you could possibly find brass tubing that would only require cutting to length, pressing in and a light swage to size.

[Tripplebeards]

I think I watched a YouTube video of a few guys sticking a bolt through whatever brass you wanted to downsize the primer pocket through the neck to keep it flush with the base of the inside of the primer pocket. If I remember right, they used to tap that was just bigger in diameter than the primer pocket holes and gave it a couple of taps to squish down the edges to tighten up the pockets would assume it would just tighten the top primer pocket edges and not the whole pocket. Basically the same as using the ball bearing method as I clicked on the link above, but you’re just using a punch instead of a ball bearing I would assume if you used a punch with the pointed head, it would push the edges in around the primer pocket pretty easy so you have something to grab. I would assume it’s not gonna be consistent all the way down but just enough to hold a primer in place.

[Reg]

A lot of really good ideas are being presented here and all of the reply’s are greatly appreciated. As time goes on for some older brass this subject will become more important. My fall work will soon be caught up and I will be diving into it but I think one more bit of information is important. The cases I am working with are 22 caliber. The use of heat is out and since we are talking a high pressure round I question any kind of sleeve or liner. Compression forming might be a thought and it would be more work but reforming and reloading fired primers might be an alternative as well.
Any thoughts and experiences are appreciated. It’s going to be an interesting winter.

[Tripplebeards]

I have to say when I’ve had primers that just slide right in I normally just ignore them and shoot them anyways. I’ve also painted on either primer sealer or nail polish, which in my opinion is gonna lock them in place regardless. I probably should’ve pulled some of them and tried to peen them tighter. Yes I’ve never had an issue that I’m aware of because of a loose primer. I know I’ve had a few primers that have not been there after shooting with loads that were nowhere near high-pressure and I’m guessing they probably blew out because they were too loose when firing. I know when using 209 primers in cheddite hulls I use to cut a plastic straw up in the little segments and slide them in over the primers. They would seat nice and tight and not come out. Now I just paint the sides of the primers with primer sealer and they glue in place without issue. I would assume you probably could just paint primer sealer on the sides of the primer that are loose fitting in your rifle cases and they will stay snug and tight when dry as well. Nail polish from the dollar store is basically the same thing.

[fiatdad]

I use old spent primers, drill them out and use a pocket swedge to open the pocket to the right size.
I do this when I have Berdan primers in obsolete cases.