Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lee ram swage primer pocket die

I'll put this up here where more people will see it.

Manufacturers have developed all kinds of gadgets to take the crimp out of military rifle cases,...mostly 5.56 and 7.62 NATO cases. Most are fairly fidgety and cost a bit over $100.

Lee has come up with a die and a ram gadget that does it quick and easy for $40.

The die has a cone shaped entrance that guides the case up into the die. The die itself is just a hardened steel dowel that slips down into the case and rests atop the primer pocket area.

The base that fits on the ram of the press is the real trick. It has the swaging head set inside a collar that's under spring tension. After you push the case up into the die and swage the primer crimp out, the spring loaded collar pushes the case up off of the swaging punch. It's as simple and fast as seating a bullet.

It's a very trick set-up. There's going to sell a boat load of these. It's the best way anybody has come up with for removing the crimp from primer pockets,...and it only costs $40

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023263950

I have the RCBS version of this style of crimp swager. I gave up on it as it's very slow.

I instead bought the RCBS bench mounted swager. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012924654?pid=319662 I mounted it to a board and simply clamp it to my work bench and swage away at a much faster pace. Spending the extra money for the bench mounted swager was worth it because of the number of cases I need to swage. If you are only doing a few cases this may be the way to go. It does look to be about 40% higher price than the RCBS press mounted swager.

Hope fully you will get 40% more performance and speed. I would not recommend the RCBS press mounted swager if you are doing a lot of cases and I recommend RCBS for about everything for reloading.

Use it for a while Bristoe and let us know how well you like it.
kwg

That RCBS one seemed to be a finger pinchin' MFer too.

I've got the RCBS too. The Lee is much better. The spring loaded swaging punch and the funneled entrance to the die makes all the difference.

The RCBS has neither.

I have used the RCBS press mounted version for about fifteen years.

I occasionally shoot up a bit of DCM 30-06 and need to adjust the primer pockets.

I like it very well, but my use is light and occasional.

It beats the heck out of trimming out the crimp with a deburring tool. I have done that with about 1000 cases once upon a time.

The RCBS is pretty basic. Bare bones. It sounds like the Lee one is worth the money.

kwg

After trying the RCBS press mounted swager I bought a Dillon bench mounted swager and it works great.

After trying the RCBS press mounted swager I bought a Dillon bench mounted swager and it works great.

Why anyone wastes time with any primer pocket swager is beyond me. Get a Hornady or RCBS (or whatever brand you prefer) primer crimp reamer, and do things the easy way. They are considerably cheaper, require no set up or adjustment, are faster, and last damn near forever...I've done literally thousands upon thousands of 5.56 and 7.62x51 on an RCBS trim mate.

I had a Dillon, complete waste of money versus a simple primer crimp reamer.

I stick the pointy end of my chamfer tool into the primer pocket and give er a twist.

No problems so far.

Only the crimp needs to be removed, it can be done by hand with with a reamer or chucked in a cordless drill running at low RPM
40 years ago I bought a RCBS primer pocket swager thousands of cases later I decided to try a reamer, no problemo, just use caution about depth.

https://outdoors.com.tw/catalog/best-sellers/pysun-dcr-04-inner-reamer-countersink-drill-bit/

I used to mount my chamfer tool in my drill press and ream the pockets. I found that some brass is deformed inside of the primer pockets and if you don't really ream out the pocket you don't get that deformation out. I bought the RCBS primer pocket swager to mount to the bench and that fixes that deformation. I don't always get the outside of the pocket formed perfectly so there is a sharp edge that doesn't allow the primer to slide into the pocket hole.

If I have the external portion of the pocket that isn't curved, I then use the pocket reamer like Jason280 suggests. It takes off just a sliver at the sharp edge. This helps the primers to slide in a bit nicer.

kwg
my swager


My pocket reamer

Swaging work hardens the PP and leaves all the material there for primer support.

Does cutting out the crimp work OK? Yes, but swaging is better.

I've chamfered the crimp out of a bazillion 5.56 cases with this whirligig thing I made. But I wanted a quicker way to go about it.

I have a Dillon bench top. It's quick and works great properly set up. A Super 1050 with swage is nice.
I know the OP I talking cheap but I like getting it done and moving on to something else.

I use an RCBS swager die. I don't do a lot of cases, but when I have more than a few, I'll use it. If I only have a few cases with the crimp, I'll use a hand tool.

I'm not talking cheap. My interest is fast and simple. The fact that it doesn't cost much is just a bonus.

With the Dillon bench top decrimping tool, you insert a case, pull the handle, then remove the case.

With the Lee decrimping tool, you insert a case pull the handle, then remove the case.

Amazon has the Dillon bench top for $163.

The Lee decrimping die and base costs $40.

You can use a rubber band on the backup post and the bench top Dillon with self eject into a box behind it. Load case pull handle repeat.

If you have a lot of cases to prep its hard to beat Dillon presses with swage built in. Size, swage and trim in one pass with case feeder. Just pull the handle. Or automate it.
Purchased mine around 1992.
Careful of mixed headstamps with backup rod swage tools. Some case webs are much thicker than others.


Not beating up the Lee, don't have one.

Got this one myself... best money I've spent on the RL Bench...Got it used for $50.00...
simple to use... I had the RCBS one, pain in the ass to use in my opinion... gave it away to someone on the campfire for free...

Anyone ever try the Frankfort Arsenal swaging tool ?