How many of you clean your primer pockets?
I clean them on the serious stuff, but not on the high volume stuff.
I clean them on the serious stuff, but not on the high volume stuff.
^^^^^
This, exactly.
I clean them on the serious stuff, but not on the high volume stuff.
^^^^^
This, exactly.
Me too.
Cleaning every primer pocket, every time, since 1962.
Cleaning every primer pocket, every time, since 1962.
Same here. I uniform them before the first loading too. Use a K&M uniformer.
I will never load a round without cleaning the primer pocket first
Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of rounds loaded and never cleaned a single primer pocket with no issues...
For those that don't, do you just throw fired cases into tumbler for cleanup with old primer still in? Then on to deprime and sizing die?
I reload then throw the loaded rounds into the vibrator and clean them loaded...
Sounds like a way to process cases needing only neck size, but for cases being used in semi-auto that require FL sizing shouldn't the case clean-up via tumbling come first? I don't care so much about sparkling clean loads as I do smooth & easy reloading.
The cartridges are clean and the fired cases are clean. Still no issues with full length sizing. If there were problems, I would do something different...
I'm anal......I generally clean them even though I know it isn't necessary. Just me.
Decap and tumble in stainless steel before sizing. Primer pockets get cleaned but not by me. I like shiny cases even though I recognize there likely isn't any real advantage.
Rifle rounds yes, handgun no. The difference is that after lubing and sizing, I toss the rifle cases in the tumbler to remove the lube. After tumbling, I check the flashole for media and it's easy enough to use a small straight blade screwdriver and do a quick twist in the pocket to get the crud out.
No lube on the handgun rounds so no tumbling and no pocket cleaning.
Dale
Never used a tumbler and stopped cleaning pockets a looooooong time ago.
Travis
Action: I do, every time I reload a case!
Just takes a sec.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
I clean my rifle pr. pockets, but not handgun..
I kept hearing about how you have to clean your brass to save your dies from being worn and scratched. Kept reading about how you have to clean primer pockets to get the finest accuracy and have your primers go bang.
Since I'm apparently a natural skeptic, I decided to test both claims. Have down been using several sets of dies for well over a decade to size unpolished brass, and the dies keep working fine. Have never found any difference in accuracy between cleaned and uncleaned primer pockets, even in some smaller-bore rifles that average 5 shots in less than 1/2" at 100 yards (including a couple that average under 1/4"), and several big game rifles that group three shots into less than two inches at 300 yards.
So I quit doing both, allowing me to get more handloading done.
I kept hearing about how you have to clean your brass to save your dies from being worn and scratched. Kept reading about how you have to clean primer pockets to get the finest accuracy and have your primers go bang.
Since I'm apparently a natural skeptic, I decided to test both claims. Have down been using several sets of dies for well over a decade to size unpolished brass, and the dies keep working fine. Have never found any difference in accuracy between cleaned and uncleaned primer pockets, even in some smaller-bore rifles that average 5 shots in less than 1/2" at 100 yards (including a couple that average under 1/4"), and several big game rifles that group three shots into less than two inches at 300 yards.
So I quit doing both, allowing me to get more handloading done.
Same here. Although I'm sure my testing was far less scientific than yours.
Thinking about this now my .17 Remington dies were bought 23 years ago and have never seen a tumbled round. And I bought 'em used.
Travis
Rifle rounds yes, handgun no. The difference is that after lubing and sizing, I toss the rifle cases in the tumbler to remove the lube. After tumbling, I check the flashole for media and it's easy enough to use a small straight blade screwdriver and do a quick twist in the pocket to get the crud out.
No lube on the handgun rounds so no tumbling and no pocket cleaning.
Dale
I do this exact thing. I like pretty ammo. The boom is more harmonic.
"The boom is more harmonic." Nice phrase!
Thanks, John! Quite a compliment from a highly accomplished phrase-turner.
That WAS really good. Thankfully, I'd swallowed my coffee already. Harmonic boom. Geeze.
Cleaning is a "feel good" sort of deal. If it bothers you, do it. If not, don't.
I'd decided the only time I'll clean pockets is if they are getting too gross, (like once every five years) and what I do there is mix up a wet batch with first some kind of industrial solvent and some fine steel shot I got somewhere a long time ago.
The decapped cases go in the soup for a couple hours. Then I pour off the solvent and go for a couple of spins in hot Dawn for about an hour a pop. One more hot rinse spin and then the cases go in the warm oven, and finally, a dry tumble in media. I pour out the liquids through a screen coffee filter at each point, that captures the vast majority of the shot for use later. It's about two cupfuls, and I've not lost much, if any.
That's less of a pain than hand-cleaning the pockets, but it's such a pain, I only do it on certain big batches of brass I shoot quite a lot.
It also doesn't hurt to tumble unsized cases, then size and decap them, and tumble again. That seems to do a pretty good job of keeping the pocket gunk under control.
You're supposed to clean them?
That WAS really good. Thankfully, I'd swallowed my coffee already. Harmonic boom. Geeze.
Cleaning is a "feel good" sort of deal. If it bothers you, do it. If not, don't.
I'd decided the only time I'll clean pockets is if they are getting too gross, (like once every five years) and what I do there is mix up a wet batch with first some kind of industrial solvent and some fine steel shot I got somewhere a long time ago.
The decapped cases go in the soup for a couple hours. Then I pour off the solvent and go for a couple of spins in hot Dawn for about an hour a pop. One more hot rinse spin and then the cases go in the warm oven, and finally, a dry tumble in media. I pour out the liquids through a screen coffee filter at each point, that captures the vast majority of the shot for use later. It's about two cupfuls, and I've not lost much, if any.
That's less of a pain than hand-cleaning the pockets, but it's such a pain, I only do it on certain big batches of brass I shoot quite a lot.
I clean a primer pocket with a twist of a carbide cutter. No big fuss.
Well, if it makes your booms more harmonic, it's all good.