davsco Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 new to reloading. having pretty much zero issues loading handgun. used brass, tumble it, then straight to redding turret press or dillon 750 to size and deprime and punch in a new small pistol primer etc. never mess with the primer pocket and no issues seating new primers. same process with .223. used brass, tumble, resize and deprime. i do have a small primer pocket reamer that i spin in the primer pocket (don't do this step for handgun brass and have had no seating issues). still it seems like 10% of the time, the new small rifle primers don't seat properly if at all. what am i not doing, or doing wrong? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 try not to think you are doing something wrong... Go with you may want to add a step. And pistol brass will benefit if you add the step to that. The thing I see is a combo, if rifle brass primer pockets are a little tighter... it seems to me... and on the press if the case leans for any reason, the primer will snag a corner. maybe the rifle primers have sharper edges. all three issues are solved by swaging the rifle brass the first time you reload it. it seems to be required. miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stick Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Different brass will have different primer pockets if that make sense? I usually swage the brass and use a reamer. Also on my 650, I'm not worried about speed when priming 223 brass. If I feel the primer getting stuck, I usually pull the case and ream it a little more...put it back and continue on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Hi stick, the details are different and the process is much the same I have a swage thing in a red press nearby. I go slower than pistol and any 223 brass that snags gets a re-visit to the swage press. miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davsco Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 ok i still don't know what 'swaging' is, but i saw a dillon 600 tool that apparently does that. do i still use the pocket uniformer on the outside or does the swager tool do both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 If at all possible I would deflect you from the swage-it tool for the 650. the forces involved are high and that way of swaging is... problematic. ok.. swaging is the term for pressing a, usually metal, part to a given shape. similar to drop forging at lower temps and softer metals Most common may be soft lead blanks are swaged into copper jackets to make jacket bullets. In this case, the primer pocket of rifle brass. Often pressing a primer pocket shaped button (or pin) into the primer pocket. the idea being that the mouth of the primer pocket needs to be rounded a little and the best way to get even and smooth is to swage the brass. As a single operation It is close to the effort of a full sizing of a 223 case. A lot less stroke is involved, however, the weight on the arm is similar. once done... you have to get the danged tool out of the brass. this is another high effort step. sometimes. a lot of people ream instead. I have not decided one is better in terms of result... other than my RCBS swage tool is quicker. miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davsco Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 34 minutes ago, Miranda said: If at all possible I would deflect you from the swage-it tool for the 650. the forces involved are high and that way of swaging is... problematic. I have not decided one is better in terms of result... other than my RCBS swage tool is quicker. i was referring to the dillon 600, which is a bench-mounted tool that looks pretty similar to the rcbs swage tool you're referencing. i guess it doesn't really matter if it works, but just curious - are these punching into the primer pocket, or more like drilling into the primer pocket, or something else? thanks for everyone's help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherokeewind Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Some military brass has cases crimped around primer pocket after primer is seated. Look closely and you may see a light ring around the primer pocket.......of so, that is the crimp. Some foreign cases have crimps that resemble small triangles around the pocket. The crimp is there to make sure the primer doesn't become "unseated" during full automatic fire. Crimped Primer pockets can be swaged or reamed (tools available for both operations), if that's the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davsco Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 ok i did see those 'rings.' are the dillon 600 and rcbs bench mounted swage tools the way to go or are there better options (and what makes them better)? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper21773 Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 I went with the Dillon 600, great tool, no regrets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 2 hours ago, davsco said: i was referring to the dillon 600, which is a bench-mounted tool that looks pretty similar to the rcbs swage tool you're referencing. i guess it doesn't really matter if it works, but just curious - are these punching into the primer pocket, or more like drilling into the primer pocket, or something else? thanks for everyone's help! inn't that funny... I know about the dillon super swage thing. Somehow the 600 part never stuck in my mind as a descriptor. for the oversite on my part and the following misunderstanding... my apologies. the RCBS item is not the same. (god I hate being a part of advertising for such things) google for this-- > rcbs pocket swager combo 2 Graf's has a good price. I have it in a lee turret press.... miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesedTech Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) 223/5.56 brass, yes it has different challenges. Even using a 1050 with a properly adjusted swager the pockets will occasionally snag the primer because of the “crimp” and what seems like a harder alloy. I process the brass first, decap, size, swage, trim, and then load. Because I’m a bit of a perfectionist about my loads running in my guns I now sort the head stamps of 223/5.56 and use a RCBS decrimping reamer on the offending ones. The primers all seat perfectly. BTW, there are some 9mm with the very same style crimp. Typically about 1% of the range brass I collect. And if someone doesn’t start stocking small rifle primers it will all be mute very soon. Edited February 13, 2021 by HesedTech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 read this... https://squibloads.wordpress.com/reloading/get-the-crimp-out miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ming the Merciless Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Get one of these Ballistic Tools Swage Gauges and you won't be having to stop to re-swage any cases. They also make one for large primers if you're going to reload large primers. https://ballistictools.com/store/swage-gage-small-primer-pocket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 as above, the go-no go gauges are worth the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davsco Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 11:50 PM, Miranda said: read this... https://squibloads.wordpress.com/reloading/get-the-crimp-out miranda i did, thanks! i'm giving that dillon 600 bench-mounted swager i try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stick Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 5:26 PM, Miranda said: Hi stick, the details are different and the process is much the same I have a swage thing in a red press nearby. I go slower than pistol and any 223 brass that snags gets a re-visit to the swage press. miranda If I'm processing brass and not loading it, I put in a swage it on station 2 once I remove the priming pin. On 2/12/2021 at 7:36 PM, davsco said: ok i still don't know what 'swaging' is, but i saw a dillon 600 tool that apparently does that. do i still use the pocket uniformer on the outside or does the swager tool do both? I use both one in the press when I'm strictly processing 223 brass. Universal decapping die in station 1, Swage it tool in station 2, Rt1500 full length size and trimmer in station 4. When I'm reloading 223, I go slow and reload mostly by feel. If I feel a primer getting stuck or not wanting to prime smooth, I remove the brass and use a reamer to ream it out. I then re-insert the primer into station 2, then insert the brass and try again. I'm cheap and hate ruining primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now