Fixing loose primer pockets!

[jackieschmidt]

This is not new, shooters have been coming up with primer pocket “repair” as long as I can remember.
In Short Range Group Shooting, where shooters shoot the 6PPC at really high pressures, loose primer pockets are something you just live with.

I have had them loose to the point where there was zero effort putting them in. The target did not know the difference.
At the end of the second day of a Two Gun Event, you just tossed them in the trash can.

 

[Will Henry]

Loose primer pockets are indeed a sign of excessive pressure. Since brass varies, what is excessive in one type of brass may not be in another. Norma brass is known to be on the soft side. Same with Federal.
Rocky Gibbs worked up loads for his cartridges in the hardest brass he could find. He warned customers that the loads were not safe in any other brass. It seemed that a lot of his customers were a little short on IQ and ignored that part. Blown primers were common. WH

 

[Down South]

Buy good brass that is known for tough pockets and use a reasonable load. Problem solved, it will last you a long time with many firings. I went through the run em smoking hot phase for competition, all it did was cost me $$$$$$ replacing brass after a few firings as my scores weren't any better. Just my .02

 

[tommeboy]

Norma brass nowadays is not soft. Exactly the opposite

 

[searcher]

This is not new, shooters have been coming up with primer pocket “repair” as long as I can remember.
In Short Range Group Shooting, where shooters shoot the 6PPC at really high pressures, loose primer pockets are something you just live with.

I have had them loose to the point where there was zero effort putting them in. The target did not know the difference.
At the end of the second day of a Two Gun Event, you just tossed them in the trash can.

When learning to reload and before I really got into precision shooting, I really marred the bolt face of one of my varmint rifles due to warm loads and the eventual loose primers leaking on the perimeter. After getting into shooting PPC's and other larger target calibers, I tossed my brass at the first sign of looseness so as not to allow my bolt faces to get marred as I allowed to happen to that one varmint rifle. So - I'm wondering how much damage you and other PPC/target shooters have incurred on bolt faces when running your brass till the primers are that loose. Do you just accept pitting and let it roll - or do you eventually bush your bolt? Just curious what you folks do.

 

[dc.fireman]

Easy fix would be to try some Ginex primers. They are very tight in new unused brass and may fit just fine in a well used brass with a little loose primer pocket.

A now deceased friend of mine was a BR shooter "back in the day' - before I was even an 'idea' to my parents. He told me that an old trick of his was to use Winchester primers, until the pockets got loose. Then, he would switch to Fedral primers, because they were slightly larger in diameter than the other brands. He would get 2-3 more loadings out of the brass, then toss it in the scrap pile.

I'd be curious to see if/how this would affect a load like I have in my 6BR? I use Lapua brass, but it's a little hard to come by lately - if I can get another load or two out of it, I wonder what it might do?

 

[BHP9]

Norma brass nowadays is not soft. Exactly the opposite

That's all I use for my 0.308's.

 

[ELR LVR]

Federal brass skips a strike in the forming and drawing so the heads are a little soft. It is a cost cutting production thing to increase production and lower cost. One less step to set up. One less station means more $ is saved during manufacturing.

More $$ is saved
but then again
No reloader wants their brass, so they loose MAJOR $$$$$$ there
Do they not see the Market for people like Lapua, Peterson, Alpha and the fact we pay good coin for THAT brass?
They're idiots for skipping ONE WHOLE STEP
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I have been able to reload 308 Federal though more than once
It's the .223 that wont last more than 1 firing, I don't know why they even use brass for .223 if it's not reuseable