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.223 Lake City Brass Primer Problems

sparetime

Two 5 gallon buckets of .223 once fired cases below which over half are Lake City brass. My RCBS primer pocket swager will cause the brass to flow or be pushed forward into the primer pocket unless you remove the crimped area first.

The swager "should" push-move the brass laterally and "NOT" further "into the primer pocket causing a ring. I used a RCBS neck de-burring tool and primer pocket reamers and then use the RCBS "swager" as a depth gauge to see if I have removed enough brass before the "final" press swaging of the primer pocket.

Holding the RCBS swager in your hand and using it as a visual guide or gauge will tell you if you have reamed enough brass from the primer pocket top edges for the final swaging of the case in the press.

Sore fingers, eye strain and boredom may set in and cause you to "rethink" the reaming, swaging operation altogether. Luckily over half these cases below are uncrimped Remington cases that give your finger time to heal when preping them between batches of Lake City cases. ::)

IMGP6526.jpg
 
If you have a lathe or drill press you can take a neck deburring tool and ream out the crimp in the primer pocket. I have done it on 100s' of thousands of LC brass. I like this method better for loading on a progressive press like a Dilllon.
Nat Lambeth
 
ended up using an RCBS model that goes in the press.

I have a drill press, maybe I'll try that on the next batch. How do you hold the case when using the drill press?
 
CMJR said:
Swage 750pcs of mil brass?? Why don't you just get someone to stab you in the eye with a screwdriver, it'll feel about the same. sold them both on Ebay.
+1 ;D

xr650rRider said:
I've used swagers and reamers and the RCBS power station.............CUT YOUR LOSSES and buy new Lake City brass that isn't crimped especially if your loading on a progressive.

I paid nearly 2x what Natchez sells it for and it was absolutely worth it unless you enjoy sore fingers.


http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=FA556UPB&src=tpCtg
And another +1 ;D
 
sparetime said:
How do you hold the case when using the drill press?

Use your drill press to drill a 3/8 hole in a 6" piece of 1x pine or cedar, then cut a slit with a saw along the length in the center of the wood and into the hole.
A 223 will fit in the hole and you can "sqeeze" the cut end like a pliers.
 
I got rid of the Super Swager from Dillon in favor of cutting with the hornady tool. Chuck in a drill and go to town with the TV in the back ground.

I can run brass just as fast as I did with the swager, but without the pains of over and under swaging.

As far as the primer being unsupported after the cut... I've never had any issues in thousands and thousands of rounds.
 
sparetime said:
Which Hornady Tool are you using?

The hornady primer pocket reamer. I bought the kit with the handle, large, and small reamer. But you can buy individual reamers for like $10. The whole kit was like $30 or so.

Picked mine up from MidwayUSA.
 
I had the Hornady one, and found that if chuked in a drill it was too easy to get it in the pocket crooked, I went to the RCBS tool, added a short length of taped rod so I could chuck it in a drill, The RCBS cuts out a taper,,,

As stated by someone else, a counter sink from the hardware or Lumber supply does the same thing for alot less money.
 

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