Howdy! I yesterday began the fun of getting ~720 rounds of .30-'06 brass ready to be reloaded -- by me. The first operation I do is to decap them, using a Redding universal die in a single stage press. A few require a bit of oomph, but on quite a few the primers came out with less effort than, say, a .45acp primer! ALL brass is military -- mostly Greek, with mixed U S brass -- all, as stated, from the CMP. This brass was all purportedly brand new, from the CMP, and fired only once at a marksmanship clinic.
I've been coveting this brass, annually, for many years, so I've done this rodeo dance quite a few times -- but never with some spent primers -- as I've already commented -- coming out so freely. I had another obligation on day of clinic, so I was not present. My question, initially, is perhaps they no longer 'water-seal' the primers with a varnish? My 2nd operation, after decapping, is a 4-hour bath in the Thumler's rotary tumbler (2 tbsp Armor All Wash & Wax + 1 tblsp Dawn + 1/2 tsp Lemi-Shine per 100 '06 cases in distilled water). Looking for tell-tale signs of a prior loading, I see none.
As my intent is to load and shoot in my U S M1 Garand, I do not wish to risk a primer backing out enough to create a slam-fire environment! I do use CCI #34 primers, purportedly harder than plain-Jane "civilian" ones; and the brass, as said, is all military.
My question is, "Have YOU had similar experience with the primers NOT behaving as if they were "glued" in?" Yes, indeed, times have changed since the WWII vintage ones I have been reloading... I am hoping that others have noted similar; if not, I have to ponder whether someone(s) at the clinic slipped in their reloads...
Thank you in advance for any light you may shed!
geo