Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Crimped primers

I’ve loaded 223 for 30 years or so, but always commercial brass.

What is the process for loading once fired military brass that Has a crimped primer?

Deprime like normal, then swage or ream the crimp out. It can be a PITA.

I just size as normal and run a VLD deburring tool in the primer pocket for a twist or two. Easy peasy one and done.

Chamfer tool has worked fine for me.

I handle them by throwing them in a separate box for my children to pitch when I die.

Actually haven't futzed withh .223, but .308 was a bit tedious by hand. Great brass though, once done.

I have done 30-06, .308, and .223, I chuck my chamfer tool in the drill press and turn the drill pres on slow. Hold the primer pocket up against the chamfer tool a second or two while rotating the brass. Takes little practice but is easy to get it right.

About 50 years ago,I started out cutting the crimp out with an exacto knife

I chuck my chamfer tool up into my drill press and it only takes about 5 seconds per case to cut out the crimp. Easy peasy.

kwg

Chuck one of these in a drill, pretty much impossible to remove too much and takes seconds for each case.

https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-3907...000NOORPW/ref=psdc_4200921_t1_B000NOORPM

You can also find it with a handle for a few dollars more.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, but why spend $8 when you can spend $115 on the Dillon and spend at least twice as much time on the procedure?

When you’re staring at a 30 gal drum full of crimped brass the light will come on.

Hig, a 30 gal drum of brass would be a whole different story, but the OP didn't indicate how many he had to decrimp.

So he might have meant he had a 50 gal drum full of brass?

I'd spend the money on the Dillon even if it were only 1,000 rounds.

Trying to hold .223 into spinning cutters is no fun on anything I'd consider bulk and my fingers and hands agree.

This makes a lot of sense.

I've used the RCBS swager, but it sucks, and I still had to shave some brass. I've also done several hundred cases at a time using the hornady cutter and a drill, and using chamfering tools. It gets tiring on the hands and the fingers, and only makes my arthritis flare badly.

I'll be investing in a Dillon one of these days, as I have several thousand Lake City and Federal crimped 223 brass to prep, eventually.

Thanks for posting that video Higgs...That helped me a lot.

YEP

Here's a tip for anyone handling brass and spinning power tools.
Wear a pair of tight fitting nitrile (blue) gloves. it really helps and you don't have to have an iron grip with your fingers. Latex will work too but I prefer the nitriles.
You can usually find small packs in the paint department at the Home Depot or anywhere paint is sold.

They also work well when picking up bullets from a box or tray when reloading.

Good advice. Thanks.

I'm going to have to start wearing those, I guess. I have blisters on 2 fingers and a thumb from doing case prep by hand. I didn't have that problem before I retired. Guess I'm getting soft!

Bought one of these off Hanco for $50 or so... best $50 I've spent for my reload bench...

I had the Dillon, faster and easier with deburring tool.

I couldn’t remember who I sold it too, glad you are using it.

I use the Wilson. I take knob off, buy adapter, chuck in battery powered drill.


https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....mmer-primer-pocket-reamer-large-point210

Hanco, I couldn't tell from your picture, but does that thing put a round shoulder on the primer pocket?

Just a bit, cuts crimp right out. I leave drill on table, hold brass in left, hit drill trigger with my right hand about a second, done deal.

Here is mine, can only go so deep.

Okay, I think I've seen a cutter like yours. I just use a countersink in a drill press, put a chunk of rubber on the plate and zip zip zip, whacking out a nice bevel. Your toy might work better.

Anyone know if three equiangular dots on the FC 223 Rem brass indicates crimped?

Yes it does.

Yes the multi dotted FC .223 are crimped. All of the Federal .223 that I have seen, dots or not, since at least 2007 are crimped. Most of the Winchester except some of the hunting loads are crimped. I have not seen any Remington or Hornady that was crimped.

Michael

out typed by swifty

Thanks Swifty and mag.
The in unsealed ones don't appear crimped and have the headstamp in larger text.
The sealer makes it hard to see the primer edges of those particularly since the natural light is not so good today and putting under a lamp gets too many reflections..

-OMotS

I have read the some of the older, bold lettered, FC .223 brass is very thin through the head and is not worth loading. I started hand-loading in the mid 80's but came to .223 reloading late enough to miss the bad brass. The few bold letter FC .223 brass I have stumbled upon just went into the scrap bucket.

Hmm.
Wonder if it is pre LC contract...

You mean the web is thin?
Or the walls just ahead of the web?

I suspect the crimped primers and ATK taking over the Lake City plant in 2000 happened about the same time.

The web is thin. One or two loads and the primer pocket expands. I check several that I scrapped and some were ok and some were noticeably thinner. I set up my RCBS press mounted primer pocket swage, which uses a punch though the case mouth to push the shell case down onto the "nipple" that swages the crimp into the head. Set up for a normal case some of the big FC cases were a loose fit. If I had a large number of the big FC cases that is how I would segregate the "thin" from the normal.

Most of the Hornady that I have been picking up are crimped.

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Most of the Hornady that I have been picking up are crimped.
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Well damn. In the end it is all probably going to end up crimped.

Prolly so!

Thanks I was thinking of how to measure the web..
As measuring depth from neck would be meaningless.
A drill press might work. But the stop adjustment isn't nearly as fine as a sizing press.

How long they last depends on how hot you load them too. Less pressure less stretch.
Good for sub Sonics at least.

That sucks. I was at the range yesterday and saw a pile of LC brass. I mean it was all over the place. I left it laying there. Its not worth my time or effort. Strange how the FC brass I picked up a few years ago didn't have crimped primers? I picked up a chidt load of PMC at the same time. All factory loaded stuff, none of it was crimped. I'm still loading that stuff. The primer pockets on the FC were tight, but not crimped. Didn't have to use a swaging tool and have long since cleaned all of it and primed it. Shoots great for free brass... I did run across some winchester brass that was crimped the other day and also found some nice Norma brass that I was excited to find, but when I got it home and broke a decapping pin, it too went into the scrap bin. Wondering why companies have to crimp the primer pockets on their 223 brass now?

To keep blown primers from getting down into the trigger of AR type rifles.

Found/stole a picture of the big vs small FC headstamps.



The one on the bottom with the big FC is the headstamp that can have the issue with primer pockets.

The small FC case on the top is crimped and in my experience is ok, but not as good as the multi-dotted cases. It is the only FC .223 Rem that does not have some type of dot/dots, all of which are crimped.