Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Tell me about loading military 223 with crimped primers

Good point. You hear about guys having issues with loose primer pockets in the FC 223 brass, where I have never seen it. Wondering if those guys reamed the pockets, where I swage them???

I've had loose primer pockets in Federal 223 brass from factory loaded ammunition, no primer crimp or removal involved.

I've also reamed the crimps out of quite a large number of LC 223/5.56 cases and never had a loose primer pocket in those.

No broken pin yet with Lee. Use reamer and works good.

Take a look at the Hornady reamer it is designed so that it will not ream to deeply or allow too much reaming, the bottom of the reamer will hit the bottom of the primer pocket and from that point it will not ream more.

A case of the simple and inexpensive solution.

drover

It's what I use also.

I de-capp on an old RCBS RockChucker using an RCBS Universal Decapping Die. Then I clean with SS Pins by wet tumbling. After drying in a re-purposed dyhydrator I check all the pockets with a gauge, serte the loose pockets (discard them) and the crimped. When I get enough I run the crimped pockets through the Dillon swager.

Regular RCBS dies, Wilson primer pocket reamer and an adapter chucked in a drill clamped in my bench vise. I have it turning slow, can ream crimp out as fast as I can pick them up. I sold my swaging tool when I discovered this. I think I sold it to Seafire.

I swage with the RCBS set up. It works fine for my purposes.

You will break decapping pins with some brass cases with small primer holes. Out of the 1000 mixed range brass I bought I had 7 or 8 of these. Sorry, can't remember the head stamp. I found this out the hard way. If you don't want your operation to be stopped in its tracks, buy some extra pins to have on hand.

I use LC, toss the rest, decap and light swage to remove the crimp, then prep all the brass with a case prep center including a pocket uniform currer and a Pro Trim, 3 way cutter. But I do not use Mil for my match brass, ever, commercial only and all preped.

I just cut out the primer crimp with a chamfer tool you should already own if you reload rifle brass.

[quote=hanco]Regular RCBS dies, Wilson primer pocket reamer and an adapter chucked in a drill clamped in my bench vise. I have it turning slow, can ream crimp out as fast as I can pick them up. I sold my swaging tool when I discovered this. I think I sold it to Seafire.

Yup ya did! It sits on my reload bench in a convenient spot. Best $50 I've ever spent.

I bring home anywhere from 500 to 1000 pieces of brass a month to every 6 weeks, from range pick up brass. Most of it 223. That little Dillion Swager sure has seen a lot of action here in Oregon, since it left Texas.

Haven't even managed to wear it out yet. Tough and simple little item.

Thanks again for the Swager Hanco!

I use a 5/16” counter sink chucked into a drill. Run it to the count of one, and the crimp is gone,

I’m glad it is working for you!

Old post, but yeah Hanco, I consider it one of my useful tools on the Reload Bench...certainly well worth the cost I bought it from you for...

thanks again Buddy!

I use RCBS dies, not so fast in case you have a tough primer, Rcbs will send you free stems if you break one. Awesome service!
I use a cordless drill & a bit about 5/16 or a little bigger & just a second to touch the case & done.
Swaging is to slow & I want the crimp removed not balled up somewhere else. Remember a slight taper at the edge of the
pocket, if you only have a few cases just use yer hand with a bit. Get rid of the edge thats it, don't go too far.

I don't remember the stamp either but the primer is sealed with pink sealer. They are easy to spot.

kwg

lot of good advice here for you. when you remove the crimp you can either cut it or swag it . if you swag it I especially recommend getting a primer pocket go and no go gauges. you can over swag primer pockets, as well as not swagging them enough. it sucks to have to reduce stuff.. and the gauges are also a good help for some types of cutters.

Several years back, WalMart sold 100 round value packs of 55 gr fmj 223. It was wonderfully accurate, but the brass had loose primer pockets. That’s the only 223/556 brass I ever saw with loose primer pockets.

I have had some Federal ammo and range brass with the loose primer pockets. But, it's been several years in the past. It appears that Federal has heard about the complaints and has fixed the problem.

kwg

I picked up a used RCBS swagging set for $10. It seems to work just fine for me.

^^^ This ^^^

I use a different brand de-capping tool (Wilson), but that's not important. I punched the primers out. I swaged the primer pockets. Some people prefer reaming/drilling.