Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Loose primer pockets

I am starting to get a good number of brass that has loose primer pockets. After all the love and care given to this brass, I don't want to recycle it. Is there a way to tighten the pockets, even if it is just for 1 or 2 more firings?

Send it to the scrap yard.

A different make of primer may have a larger diameter and be worth trying. I have a few hundred Lapua .308 cases that I put back into rotation after trying Unis Ginex SRPs.

I've used clear nail polish to " GLUE" the primers in. Works OK as long as the load is not super hot!

Hip

Easy button is larger primer diameter. a few primers are larger in diameter in my experience.(small rifle)

Another option is to peen the mouth of the pocket in with a ball bearing. Can be done.

How many firings on that brass. Generally when the primer pockets let go, it is the brass saying, I'M DONE!!!! If you don't have a lot of firings on the brass, I'd say you are loading too hot, and may want to back your charge weight's down a bit. If you have 20 firings on it, just let it go. It's time.. Putting in a slightly bigger diameter primer (if you can even find any), is only a bandaid. As you know, finding primers right now is a little harder to do than it once was. Plus the cost, of trying different primers right now, is not real conducive or economical right now.

3 firings, FC brass, 45 and 43gr of 4064 with 150/165 bullets. Similar results with FC 30-06 brass and various 38 Super brass. The 38 Super has 5 firings.
Replacement primers are Win LR non nickel and RWS SP nickel plated or Alcan SP nickel plated

I'm assuming what I've highlighted refers to 308 loads. While not excessive according to Sierra's data I have for loads in FC brass, they are upper end. If not Sierras, the bullets you're using may produce more pressure. Sierra's data was developed with the Fed 210M, while the WLR has generally been thought of as the "hottest" of the standard LR primers, so maybe more pressure there. To frost the cake, I've found the non nickel WLR primers to be "easy seaters" in a variety of brass ever since Winchester dropped the plating and the boxes changed from white to blue.

Easy seating, I figured was due to no nickel plating. When primers fall out via gravity, I think there is another issue.
Yes on the upper end but not overcharged. If I wanted to shoot something on the lower end I would reach for a 300 Savage

What bullets were used?

150 Sierra 165 Hornady

FC brass probably has some of the weakest primer pockets of any brass I’ve used. I’ve had factory FC 270 WSM brass that I reloaded and only got 2-3 firings on. I had two I couldn’t seat a primer in after firing it as factory ammo, the pockets were so loose. I have also used it in .308 Win, .300 WM and .223. I have a couple of .223 brass I only got 3-4 firings on, and some .308 that’s starting to loosen up after 3-4 firings. For some reason, my .300 WM brass is still good, with most on 4 firings.

Send it to me, I made a primer staking or peening too whatever you want to call it, I can use the brass

I think it was Hart that used to make a tool, contact them

Hart's tool was soft and had durability issues. I found a Cannuck that makes a tool.
25 years ago I went away from FC brass because of loose pockets. Guess some things never change.

I don't experience that, but then again, I have learned that Federal brass has thicker walls than most other brass.

I don't load it with max loads, that are just fine in other brass...

Considering those two points, I get longer brass life out of Federal, than I do a lot of other cases, and I probably push my brass life much longer than most folks do...

An example is a 223 case with RL 7, and 40 grain V Maxes or Ballistic Tips. This is over book max, but the brass never seems to mind. It will yield 4000 fps MV .

I can load 28 grains of RL 7 in other commonly used 223 brass with no issues of durability.

HOWEVER...

A Federal 223 case can take a max load of 26 grains of RL 7 with a 40 grain Hornady or Nosler., hit 4000 fps MV.
, and not suffer a loose primer pocket. Anything over that charge it will.

I rarely, if ever try to push a round with the max load from a reload manual. Too many variations, unless I've tested it frequently and have had it survive at the primer pocket for multiple firings.

Back off how much powder you put in a Federal Case, and you'll find the primer pockets surviving much longer. The issue is heavier case walls, than other manufacturers use.... Just like they say to load less powder in military cases than civilian cases. Case wall thickness is the reason why.

If primer pockets are getting loose that quickly, you may have pressure you don't realize.

You can take a ball bearing, chuck it up in a vice, and use a bolt inside the case, whack it with a hammer and it may tighten up your primer pockets. Measure, you don't want to overdo it. Also, you may want to put some tape around where the case mouth is so to not damage the neck.

WoW! This is going up and beyond the call of duty..... but I like it.

I use CCI BR 400 in small rifle for a .351 WSL. Brass is almost non existent, but I found some a few years back that was new, and had loose primer pockets. After a bit of research, I found that the BR400 were slightly larger diameter than others available, and they solved the issue.

Best,

Chris
Alabama

When I saw the thread title I had to look and see if it was FC brass. I don't hotrod my loads and with FC brass I have loose primer pockets after a couple of firings. Never had a loose one yet on the other brands of brass.