How do you tell if you have military 223 brass that needs swaging

[Mikelindsey]

Or not

[copecowboy22]

I deprime 223 on a single stage with a Lee universal decapping die. I can tell by the feel when decapping. but I've also done alot.

[usmc90]

Sometimes you can see the "glue" around the primer where it was used to help keep moisture out, but not always the best indicator

[razorfish]

Look for the NATO Cross on the head stamp of the case. The NATO Cross is a circle with a cross in the middle. Basically all brass with NATO stamp needs to be swaged.

[Youngeyes]

I deprime and use this gauge. It works great. It will also tell you if you've swaged the brass enough. Saves lots of time and aggrevation. All my repriming of brass goes smoothly now. No more crushed primers because of a crimped pocket or brass that wasn't swaged enough.

http://ballistictools.com/articles/swage-gage-instructions.php

[jmorris]

If it looks like the one on the right you need to swage it so it looks like the one on the left.

Edited December 11, 2014 by jmorris

[RiggerJJ]

The NATO stamp is a for sure indicator, but some (federal and others) are swaged and don't have the NATO stamp. You can see the swage ring stamped into the brass around the primer as well. If not sure, the best indicator is probably the gauge that Youngeyes links to.

jj

Edited December 11, 2014 by RiggerJJ

[Tom Freeman]

A few commercial brass headstamps with crimped in primers.

[D.Hayden]

I deprime and use this gauge. It works great. It will also tell you if you've swaged the brass enough. Saves lots of time and aggrevation. All my repriming of brass goes smoothly now. No more crushed primers because of a crimped pocket or brass that wasn't swaged enough.

http://ballistictools.com/articles/swage-gage-instructions.php

Thanks for this tip.. just ordered one, will make it easier to adjust my 1050 now

[NuJudge]

I do have a lot of Lake City brass, that does have the Circle/Cross NATO symbol, but does not have a primer crimp. I bought it new, never loaded.

In short, you should be able to see the crimp.

[Mikelindsey]

D. Hayden. Does the tool your using have to be hooked up to a drill?

[glynnm45]

http://squibloads.wordpress.com/reloading/get-the-crimp-out/

Read this article, it'll give you the info you need. Personally I use a 45 degree countersink bit in my hand drill while kicked back listening to NPR.

[anm2_man]

Before I got the gage from Ballistic, since I was burn't many times trying to stuff a primer into a non-swaged pocket, I would just swage every piece. If it was a rifle cartridge, I swaged it.

That gage is the key. Great tool

[D.Hayden]

D. Hayden. Does the tool your using have to be hooked up to a drill?

I just got mine, you just use it to press into the primer pocket by hand to check if the pocket is corrected

I only plan to use it to adjust the 1050