primer wall remains in pocket?

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:40 pm

I had several brass cartridges that would not allow me to insert a primer. I took a closer look and it looks as if part of the previous primer stayed in the pocket. There is a shiny brass ring in the pocket so I'm just guessing that the top of the primer broke off of the rest of it and only the tops came out when I de-primed it. Is this the case? If so, should I just toss those cartridges or is there an easy way to pull them out?

The brass may or may not be the same as what I originally bought, I've been collecting range brass for a long time. It may be 5.56 or 223 rem but it is brass. Most of it looks like LC - 07 headstamp. None of the ones I was successful with , so far, had that number.
Some of the good ones did say LC - 06, the others looked like various other brands... Winchester for one.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:52 pm

LC stands for Lake City. Lake City is the military ordnance plant that makes the bulk of the ammunition for the military. What you are seeing is the crimp that holds the primer into the military brass. You need a primer pocket reamer or swaging tool to remove the crimp and make the case usable. The LC-06 brass may have been reloaded previously and have already had the crimp removed.

phddan · Post by **phddan** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:36 am

Dan

BobCat · Post by **BobCat** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:31 am

I believe MoJo is exactly correct.

If you have a countersink bit for your electric drill, you can remove the crimp on a few cases by carfeully chamfering a few thousanths deep - or, if you have a chamfer/deburr hand tool, just use it to cut the crimp. If this works you are in business.

A few years ago River Valley Ordnance (RVO) sold processed, re-primed LC .223 brass for $70 / 1,000 but those days are long gone (sob). It is good brass - I get more than 5 loadings but retire it from match to practice after 5.

Regards,
Andrew

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:49 pm

Thanks, guys. A few turns with the debur tool gave me what I need to insert a primer.

BobCat · Post by **BobCat** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:39 am

Cool! Glad it was not a piece of the primer cup - I have no idea how to remove that.

Now - think about doing that by hand to 1,000 of them...

I have 1,000 "new" once-fired military (L-C) .223 I bought last year. Been tumbling to clean it up - walnut shells to get the worst dirt, will follow up with corncob - and will need to remove the crimp once they are de-primed.

People suggest the primer pocket swaging tool instead of cutting the crimp out, but I don't have any direct experience with that. If anyone here does have experience, it would be real nice if they posted about it.

Regards,
Andrew

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:20 am

BobCat wrote:Cool! Glad it was not a piece of the primer cup - I have no idea how to remove that.

Now - think about doing that by hand to 1,000 of them...

I have 1,000 "new" once-fired military (L-C) .223 I bought last year. Been tumbling to clean it up - walnut shells to get the worst dirt, will follow up with corncob - and will need to remove the crimp once they are de-primed.

People suggest the primer pocket swaging tool instead of cutting the crimp out, but I don't have any direct experience with that. If anyone here does have experience, it would be real nice if they posted about it.

Regards,
Andrew

You are in for some tedium. I did that to many hundreds of LC .30-06 cases and used the following method:

Remove the cutting head from the Lyman crimp removal tool wood handle (get one first!);
Install cutting head in electric drill;
Secure drill in vise and adjust angle for height and comfort;
Put on leather or other heavy gloves;
Fire up drill;
Take one case at a time and push it into the spinning cutting head.

After a few you will get the hang of it. I seem to remember doing them at about a 4 to 5 second pace so it goes
fairly quickly.

The unfinished brass was piled up on the workbench at the same level as the vise.
I placed a bucket just offset from (keeps out the brass shavings) and below the drill to drop the finished brass into.
Putting something (paper towel, etc.) to catch the shavings would be a plus.

I did the 600 that I needed for Thunder Ranch (Old Rifles Course) in just about an hour. Two or three Skelaxin
later and my back recovered nicely.

There may be better ways but this worked out pretty well for me.

Edit: The tools are as follows:
MidwayUsa Lyman Pocket reamer - small 643-126; large 682-934
MidSouthShooters Lyman Pocket reamer - small 015-7777784 ; large 015-7777785

Kind Regards,

Tom

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:01 am

Dillon makes a swaging tool that is supposed to work like a charm.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/conten ... _Swage_600

ShootingStar · Post by **ShootingStar** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:43 pm

I would go with the Dillon tool if you can. It's not cheap, but from what I have heard people say, it's one of the better tools. It's on my list.

You can go cheaper by using the RCBS tool, but it's real easy to bend the rod that goes down into the case if you don't get it adjusted right. Mine is still usable, but I did manage to bend it. Once I get to where I have to swage military brass, then I'll be upgrading to the dillon. The RCBS works if you're careful with it and is much cheaper, but it's not the best out there.

One thing that helps me select tools, besides this forum, is to get on MidwayUSA website and read the User Reviews on the various tools and stuff. It seems like every company makes at least one good tool and at least one bad one. This is a great way to save you from buying something that doesn't work. You won't find reviews on everything and some items have only one person respond with a review, but some will have a lot of reviews and this is what you want to look for. The more opinions, the better.
-ss

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:32 pm

MoJo wrote:Dillon makes a swaging tool that is supposed to work like a charm.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/conten ... _Swage_600

No picture available... $86????
I'll keep on using a debur tool meant for the case mouth until I find something reasonable. I've searched everywhere and found nothing.
The best I've found is the RCBS Trim Mate. A little tabletop electric tool that does all the trimming operations in a simple little station. It has attachments so you have options. It looks like you turn it on and you can length trim, debur,chamfer clean the inside of the neck and even remove military crimps, bang,bang,bang! Some places list it at over $100. Something to look at.

ShootingStar wrote:You can go cheaper by using the RCBS tool, but it's real easy to bend the rod that goes down into the case if you don't get it adjusted right.

Don't know what this tool is... are you talking about flash hole or primer pocket?

drinks · Post by **drinks** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:11 pm

I have had one case where the primer pulled apart and left the ring in place while the cap popped off, that case showed corrosion on the face of the base and I expect the primer was weakened by corrosion and the ring was stuck in place with corrosion.
I make my own primer crimp remover tool, quick exercise if you have a little hobby lathe.

ShootingStar · Post by **ShootingStar** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:58 pm

O6nop wrote:
ShootingStar wrote:You can go cheaper by using the RCBS tool, but it's real easy to bend the rod that goes down into the case if you don't get it adjusted right.
Don't know what this tool is... are you talking about flash hole or primer pocket?

O6nop,

The tool I was referring to is a primer pocket swager made by RCBS. it screws in a press like a die and has a rod that sticks out of the die. As the shell comes up to the die, this rod goes into the mouth and pushes against the casehead from the inside of the case. This pushes the primer pocket down onto the swager that is where the shell holder usually goes.

It works and is cheap, but you gotta make sure it's adjusted just right.
-ss

Vic303 · Post by **Vic303** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:42 am

We use the RCBS tool and have had no problems with it. Works as advertised. Nice thing is, if you should bust something, RCBS has even better customer service than Dillon's vaunted NOBS warranty. And I have had occasion recently to test both warranties.