Culling for tight Primer Pockets?

[Kracken McGraw]

Last night I was prepping some once fired factory Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass. After cleaning the pockets up with a pocket uniformer, I always use this no go-go tool to check for primer fit.https://www.brownells.com/reloading...swage-gage-primer-pocket-gauge-prod71030.aspx
To my surprise I couldn’t get the go-end to fit into two of the cases, I’m talking it would have to of been hammered-in tight. Anyway I culled these two pieces of brass since I went to the trouble of finding them and didn’t want to distort a primer that bad. But of course I realize their was a primer put in there for the original load too. Any thoughts or experience with this?

 

[mikeinct]

I've experienced trouble seating primers into Mil Spec, crimped in, then reamed by me pockets. Some of those just defied my efforts. Commercial stuff I can't recall overly tight pockets. What we are paying these days for reloadable brass, That is not cool. mike in ct

 

[Homerange]

Ha, shooter here today was complaining about tight primers in Hornady 308 brass too and had switched to Federal just because new primers were easier to install.
I asked him how hard was he intending to push his loads for which he said fairly as he wanted to take deer at moderate ranges with 165's.
I suggested the tight primer pocket Hornady brass might be better suited to his needs.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

With that tool I get a snap in in kind of fit with the go-end on Lapua brass and like that fit, but this is the first time I’ve seen one that refuses it.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Id ream or swage them

 

[ebb]

Load em warm about 2 or 3 times and presto they will not be tight anymore.

 

[Walt Krafft]

I am with Dusty. Run a swaging tool into them.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Load em warm about 2 or 3 times and presto they will not be tight anymore.

Probably, but I was trying to avoid the square peg in the round hole deal.

 

[jepp2]

Any thoughts or experience with this?

You do realize the tool is only checking the minor diameter, not the major diameter. And the primer will easily conform to the actual pocket during seating. I would keep them separate, prime the rest, then prime those 2 cases. My bet is you will not be able to tell the difference.

I've only encountered overly small factory primer pockets once. It was on some new Win 22-250 brass. I was priming them with the bench mounted RCBS priming tool. It was actually bending the rim of the case in the shell holder when installing primers. After the first firing (not a hot load) they were fine.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

You do realize the tool is only checking the minor diameter, not the major diameter. And the primer will easily conform to the actual pocket during seating. I would keep them separate, prime the rest, then prime those 2 cases. My bet is you will not be able to tell the difference.

I've only encountered overly small factory primer pockets once. It was on some new Win 22-250 brass. I was priming them with the bench mounted RCBS priming tool. It was actually bending the rim of the case in the shell holder when installing primers. After the first firing (not a hot load) they were fine.

I thought with the no go end and the go end on the tool it was actually checking both.

 

[jepp2]

I thought with the no go end and the go end on the tool it was actually checking both.

Assuming the tool ends are cylindrical, it can only check the "tightest" dimension of the opening. It can't measure the "largest" dimension of an opening that isn't a perfect cylinder. I used to use pin gauges to check my primer pockets for looseness (didn't have your tool). I found for me, it was a waste of my time and just wasn't a definitive test.

Background - I bought 2K of some LC 5.56 once fired brass. Approximately 30% had to be culled due to:
- oversize primer pockets
- case head flow into the ejector opening in the bolt face
So I tried many different ways to determine which to cull. Read a lot of techniques. What I finally settled on since I hand prime everything, was a feel for if the primer seats too easily. I just set those aside and remove the primers for reuse. It was important to me since I was getting some random primer failures at the rounded edge of the Remington 7 1/2 primers. And if I didn't shoot them in brass with a loose pocket, the failure didn't occur.

On your tool, if the No-Go gauge enters the pocket, which means as a minimum the smallest diameter is too large, it would fail and that case should be culled.

My use of the terms minor and major diameter may have been misleading.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Assuming the tool ends are cylindrical, it can only check the "tightest" dimension of the opening. It can't measure the "largest" dimension of an opening that isn't a perfect cylinder. I used to use pin gauges to check my primer pockets for looseness (didn't have your tool). I found for me, it was a waste of my time and just wasn't a definitive test.

Background - I bought 2K of some LC 5.56 once fired brass. Approximately 30% had to be culled due to:
- oversize primer pockets
- case head flow into the ejector opening in the bolt face
So I tried many different ways to determine which to cull. Read a lot of techniques. What I finally settled on since I hand prime everything, was a feel for if the primer seats too easily. I just set those aside and remove the primers for reuse. It was important to me since I was getting some random primer failures at the rounded edge of the Remington 7 1/2 primers. And if I didn't shoot them in brass with a loose pocket, the failure didn't occur.

On your tool, if the No-Go gauge enters the pocket, which means as a minimum the smallest diameter is too large, it would fail and that case should be culled.

My use of the terms minor and major diameter may have been misleading.

Thanks, Great information!
I like to go by feel while priming too. I was loading some ADI 308 brass a while back and the primers felt a little to easy going in but had passed the no go test. It will be interesting to see if these give any problems.
On these too tight primer pockets, there will be so few of them they can just go to the trash and be done with the worry.

 

[Bill K]

Remember Hornady and Lapua leave the heads somewhat harder than a lot of the brass and some just have tighter primer pockets.
So as a couple have said Swage the pockets and you should solve your issue.