How much resistance should I feel?

[mao0720]

How much resistance should I feel when seating primers. I am using lapua brass, 308 Win, Br-2 primers and a RCBS universal Hand primer. The brass only has one firing, primer pockets cleaned but not uniformed. Im noticing a lot of variance in the resistance in seating a new primer, from very light to about normal (too me). Im not shooting a particularly hot load either. 46.5gr Varget and 155 gr Palma SMKs. Ive been reload for quite some time, but this is only my second batch of loads on this brass and this rifle. So, I guess my question is, what constitutes a loose primer pocket? Primer falling out?

 

[22BRGUY]

Im sure much more knowledable guys here have more technical things to add but in my own experience, yes, if the primer falls out the pocket it is too loose and that case should probably be discarded. Other than that, it not quite as important about how tightly the pocket holds the primer as it is to feel the primer seat at the bottom of the pocket. I feel for that with my K&M tool and then just add a little more pressure. Of course, if there is a very noticable difference in seating pressure, it says that that case is different from the rest and should perhaps be used as a bore cleaning round or sighter. Hope this helps.

 

[mao0720]

It does thanks. No primers fell out, and I am definately feeling for a fully seated primer. I was just noticeing how little force it took to prime these cases for this rifle compared to my other Savage 308 and its brass. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Shynloco]

mao,
I don't know if you do it or not, but one thing I do is run each casing through a Sinclair Primer Pocket cleaner to help get them as uniform as possible. I use mostly Lapua brass and even with my .308 brass, I feel varying degrees of resistance, yet am able to seat primers using the hand held RCBS primer seater. I'm not pushing a particular brand, but even note some slight differences when I use my adjustable K&M seater on my 6mmbr casings. Unless you have to use a vice to get them the primers seated, I wouldn't get too worried so long as you don't notice any physical alterations to the primers once seated.

Alex

 

[22BRGUY]

Apologize mao...didn't mean to be a wiseguy. One other thing is that sometimes different brands of primers can have slightly different dimensions and may seat harder or softer. I once read on here where a guy was using CCI's, if I remember right, until the pockets got too loose and then switched to Wolf I think, and was able to use the case awhile longer.

 

[mao0720]

22BR,
No offense taken. I didnt think you were being a wise guy at all.

Shynlock, I do use a primer pocket cleaning tool, it is a lyman. No a primer pocket uniforming cutter, just a cleaning tool.

 

[22BRGUY]

Mao...are you using the primer pocket tool by hand or in a drill?

 

[mao0720]

by hand.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Some one told me that Nosler uses Winchester brass but the difference in primer pockets on the Winchesters can be staggering or maybe that is just me. I think you wouldn't need to ask if your casings were trying to spit out the primers though!!

 

[22BRGUY]

The real question then is why the variance isn't it? On the first firing did they seem consistant? First thoughts would be it could be the metallurgy or maybe something causing the pressure to spike, like a little tumbling media left in the case or the inner case capacity is varying somewhat...

 

[mao0720]

Could not be tumbling media in the case because they were once fired and not tumbled before their initial firing. I didnt get any pressure signs through the first firing so I dont think I over stressed the cases. No primers have fallen out, so I think Im ok. Just wanted to check before I loaded them all back up again.

 

[22BRGUY]

Please keep us posted mao....would be interesting what develops. Best Wishes

 

[kelbro]

I am experiencing the same thing with the last batch of Lapua 308 that I bought. About 25% of them. Not loose but they vary. The last couple of thousandths seating feel good. The initial insertion is what seems a little loose. They were all consistent on the first loading.

I did perform some load development with this brass so it's possible that a few pieces saw elevated pressure. I suppose that I would need to run the same load, several times to draw any real conclusion.

 

[CZ550]

I've loosed my fair share of .308 pockets with 155's and stout load of varget.

 

[jlow]

Have you checked the diameter of your primers as both the diameter of the primer and the primer pocket affects how tight the seating would feel? I have done some measurements with my other 223 primers when I acquired some Wolf SRM primers. Here is what I found measuring 20 primers from each lot with a Mito micrometer and GemPro 250 scale:

Weight - Wolf 3.64gr, Rem 3.56gr, CCI400 3.45gr
Weight range - Wolf 0.1gr, Rem 0.1gr, CCI400 0.1gr
Diameter - Wolf 0.1750", Rem 0.1749", CCI400 0.1752"
Diameter range - Wolf 0.0007", Rem 0.0005", CCI400 0.0006"

 

[mao0720]

What do you guys consider a loose pocket? When the primer falls out or do you toss them before that?

 

[22BRGUY]

Just my opinion, but if I seated a primer and then gave it a couple of sharp taps on the edge of the case head on the bench and it either fell out out partially fell out, I would throw the case.

 

[DRNewcomb]

If I had a set of pin gages I'd probably want to gage the primer pockets just to see what the variance is. Otherwise a primer pocket uniformer will fix a lot of problems.