I have been having some issues with tight bolt closing on brass I know was resized for my gun and was trying to figure out what was going on. I made 40 rounds last night and all the brass was correctly sized but found almost half are too long for my chamber AFTER seating the primers. What do you do if the primers wont go deeper, ream the pockets? This is Federal .223 brass and using CCI 400 primers.
Primers not seating flush
- Thread starter Lefty Trigger
- Start date
If the primers won't seat because the primer pocket diameter is too small or it is crimped as military brass often is, reaming will fix it.
jepp2
Gold $$ Contributor
Uniform, which is kind of different than reaming. Once you start uniforming them, you will not believe how bad some are.
What rifle are you using, is this an AR type rifle, auto or bolt?
What tool to seat primers?
Are you using Military or Civilian ammo?
Did you buy new brass?
Are you cleaning the primer pockets?
What tool to seat primers?
Are you using Military or Civilian ammo?
Did you buy new brass?
Are you cleaning the primer pockets?
Don't shoot so I don't know. Is Military brass ever head stamped .223?
fatelvis
Silver $$ Contributor
No, if it says .223, it’s commercial.
Albany Mountain
Silver $$ Contributor
Uniforming as shown earlier, recuts the bottom and depth of the pocket and not necessarily the crimp if present. I had some 6xc norma brass that had the same issue. Here's one tool https://www.sinclairintl.com/search/index.htm?k=uniformer&ksubmit=y and another https://www.sinclairintl.com/search/index.htm?k=uniformer&ksubmit=y
Yes it "rocks" some more than others. I'm using the RCBS APS bench mount priming tool so there is plenty of leverage to get them in good, they are bottoming out I suspect.
The brass is not military as it has REM 223 on the case they were all fired once and picked up by me. They were crimped primers but I cut the crimps out. All my brass is wet pin tumbled and a power brush is run in the pockets before cleaning.
You very occasionally get a lot of brass with shallow pockets. I had a couple of hundred Norma 6XC cases some years back that weren't just marginally shallow, but really so. There was no way you could seat the primer flush never mind slightly recessed. Putting the pocket uniforming tool through them cut them to the correct depth.
Federal cases are known for short lived primer pockets. This is due to a thin flash hole web and softer brass than other brands. I have had Federal .223 cases with oversized primer pockets after one or two reloads.
Before you take the time to uniform the primer pockets check to see how thick the flash hole web is.
Use vernier calipers to measure the primer height and the bottom of the calipers to measure primer pocket depth. I have had primers that were taller than the primer pocket, and I prefer the primers to be seated below flush.
Also the CCI 400 primer cups are only .020 thick and the same thickness as their pistol primers. I would use primers with the thicker .025 cup thickness. The thicker primers will withstand higher pressures much better. The CCI 400 and Remington 6 1/2 primers are designed for lower pressure cartridges like the .22 Hornet.
I buy once fired Lake City 5.56 and 7.62 cases and they are more uniform and a higher quality than Remington, Winchester or Federal cases.
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...r-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
Bottom line, I don't bother reloading Federal 223 cases because there are better cases out there that last longer. And Lake City cases are made of harder brass and have thicker flash hole webs and are much cheaper.
Before you take the time to uniform the primer pockets check to see how thick the flash hole web is.
Use vernier calipers to measure the primer height and the bottom of the calipers to measure primer pocket depth. I have had primers that were taller than the primer pocket, and I prefer the primers to be seated below flush.
Also the CCI 400 primer cups are only .020 thick and the same thickness as their pistol primers. I would use primers with the thicker .025 cup thickness. The thicker primers will withstand higher pressures much better. The CCI 400 and Remington 6 1/2 primers are designed for lower pressure cartridges like the .22 Hornet.
I buy once fired Lake City 5.56 and 7.62 cases and they are more uniform and a higher quality than Remington, Winchester or Federal cases.
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...r-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
Bottom line, I don't bother reloading Federal 223 cases because there are better cases out there that last longer. And Lake City cases are made of harder brass and have thicker flash hole webs and are much cheaper.
Liven The Dream
Gold $$ Contributor
K&M Tools to the bench !!!!
I wish everyone a copy of Speer #8 Reloading Manual !
They have the Best Trouble Shooting section .
They have stuff on why and when to use SB Dies ,
I wish everyone a copy of Speer #8 Reloading Manual !
They have the Best Trouble Shooting section .
They have stuff on why and when to use SB Dies ,
Range brass ?
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