Primer Pocket Cleaning Questions

[salemsm]

Some of my newbie questions that hopefully the learned reloading community can help me with.

Are some spent primers "cleaner" than others?

What is the vote on de-prime first then clean? Does media get stuck?

Saw a U-Tube video of a guy using a screwdriver to clean. Comments?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMpiYtjo7pM%22%5dwww.youtube.com/watch?v=lMpiYtjo7pM

What about primer pocket cleaners (hand-held Lee, wire brush drill “bit”)? How good do they work and how long do they last?

I am hoping I can eliminate some steps and clean spent/de-primed cases but want to get everyone’s thoughts on this first.

[GrumpyOne]

Pistols rounds don't bother cleaning. Tumble and reload.

[Steve RA]

The relatively new non toxic primers seem to leave the primer pockets a lot cleaner. Worst seem to be WW factory ammo, although, using WW primers to reload don't seem to be as dirty.

[Poppa Bear]

If it is for pistol you tumble and then reload. For precision rifle where you are trying to make a 1" group at 1,000 yards you clean, measure, and perform all functions to the closest 1/1,000,000th of a degree. We all fall in middle of those two extremes at some point. I am much more careful at how I reload my hunting rounds than I am at reloading my USPSA loads, but I do not engage targets at 400 yards while shooting USPSA.

[Koppi]

How much time do you have? If you like to have clean primer holes you can buy the really small corncob add Dillion case prep and get them clean. But, I would run them though the de-caper again.

Good Luck!

[chirpy]

Any media that gets stuck in the flash hole gets punched out with the primer after tumbling.

Richard

[Steve RA]

Or it can look like this:

[tunaman]

That's some purty brass!!!

[Powder Finger]

for rifle use this:

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/case-preparation/primer-pocket-tools/handles/sinclair-primer-pocket-uniformers-prod34720.aspx

the brush deals no work so good.

[Lofty]

For hand gun use.....did try cleaning hole......I am a pensioner so I do have the time...

however it made no difference to the ammo ....or accuracy....so use the time to load more

[Twoyellowlabs]

I think RCBS has a nice primer cleaner. Basically several size brushes that rotate on a small platform. I'm with the others. Pistol don't bother. There are small hand held cheap tools out there as well.

[chuckols]

Steve RA

Mighty pretty brass. UltraSonic cleaned or with media?

Thanks Chuck

[chuckols]

I ran into some really dirty, cruddy Military Range 9mm so I cleaned and deprimed it and found it OK on the looks inside and out side but many half the primer pockets ( were pretty dirty at the primer set surface. I used a screwdriver tip that was slightly undersized to the pocket and on a Porter Cable hand power driver just a quick light insert of the driver nose, touch the trigger for a split second and voila-beautifully clean primer pockets.

In retrospect I ask was it worth the effort? I suppose for rifle ammo but this was 9mm hand gun brass.

Anyway, its a possible way to easily and quickly clean primer pockets. With a light touch and a power screw driver it seems an easy task. Once I got the rhythm it was ~20 pockets a minute.

Chuck

[Steve RA]

Deprimed, stainless pinned, tumbled in fine walnut hull (fine grade doesn't stick in primer hole) with Nu-Finish car polish.

[chuckols]

Thanks. Great formula.

[Wagonburner]

Pistols just shoot em then shoot em some more.

[dmd6x]

For pistol, just tumble with spent primers still in (to keep the media out of the primer pocket) and reload.

For rifle, if you're using military brass that has to be swaged, you can tumble, deprime, swage, tumble again, and the decapping pin will knock out any media stuck in the primer pocket...but that's a pain, and overkill.