reloading Wolf Gold .223 question

[Road_Clam]

Hello all, I purchased 1K of Wold Gold .223 about 6 months ago for AR tactical type training exercise and now started reloading the WG brass. I'm experiencing a very difficult time priming the cases. A light chamfer helps a lot and the primers press in much better but still feel a bit tight vs. other brands of brass. The primer pockets appear to be off center but it might just be my hand loading "newbie" eyes. Anyone else hand loading Wolf Gold brass ?

 

[jonbearman]

I have reloaded the same brass in 22-250 and yes the pockets are tight. I use remington primers as they are slightly smaller in diameter than wolf. They still press in tight but they go in without deforming them. One more thing to add,the flashole's were pretty centered and the reloads shot real well.

 

[Witchhunter]

I use a primer pocket uniformer from Sinclair. It makes all primer pockets the same. I hand prime al of my cases, I like to feel the primer seat. Yes, some brands of primers are different sizes, but if the pockets are the same size, it helps.

 

[bigedp51]

The Wolf Gold .223 ammo I have used has crimped primer pockets, which is why your primers are hard to seat. You will need to remove the crimp which is smaller in diameter than the primer pocket and causing your problem.

Below is a photo of Wolf Gold .223 which shows the bullet and primer crimp with sealent.

Since I'm a cheap bastard and enjoy sore fingers I didn't buy the Dillon super swage

The top tool in the photo below is a crimp remover made for the RCBS case prep station. (and dumb people who like sore fingers that were too cheap to buy the Dillon unit)

The RCBS crimp remover pictured above will make your primer pockets look like the Normal Rolled Pocket below.

Pictured below is what your primer pocket will look like if you use a case mouth deburing tool and are heavy handed and like trashing perfectly good brass.

You have 1000 cases to do, now ask yourself if you should spend $100.00 and buy the Dillon Super Swage or use my cheap bastard method and have fingers so sore you can't even pick your own nose.

 

[Road_Clam]

Thanks bigedp51 for the great informative post. I would have not know WG is swaged. I only though the swaging process entailed the 3 indent marks (mill spec swage). That totally explains my issue with priming difficulties.

 

[bubbinator]

As a newbie to feeding an AR (been reloading 223 since '73) with my brass (retired LEO Fire Arms Instructor-shot Agency ammo) we hated Wolf ammo of any kind. Armorer Course for AR and Ruger Mini-14 did not recommend it due to lacquer-coated steel cases. I see Wolf in lacquered steel cases, silver-colored cases (zinc-washed) and gold-colored cases called Wolf Gold, which is brass-washed steel cases that a magnet picks up, same as zinc and dark cases. I was always told steel cases cannot be reloaded. I know the Berdan primed cases cannot but the above posts obviously are about non-Berdan cases. What has changed in the reloading world on this issue?

 

[Mozella]

...... snip............and gold-colored cases called Wolf Gold, which is brass-washed steel cases that a magnet picks up, ........ snip...........

There is all sorts of ammo sold under the Wolf name, but the Wolf Gold the OP is talking about uses cases made from genuine brass. I reload it for plinking ammo, but only after removing the primer crimp.

 

[bubbinator]

There is all sorts of ammo sold under the Wolf name, but the Wolf Gold the OP is talking about uses cases made from genuine brass. I reload it for plinking ammo, but only after removing the primer crimp.

I am enlightened, Thank you. The only reference I had prior was the Sportsmans Guide or Cheaperthandirt catalog that mentioned the"washing" term.

 

[Atesjay]

@bubbinator I believe you are referring to Bear ammunition. They are the Bernal factory ammunition that has steel cased ammo with lacquered cases (brown bear), zinc washed (silver bear), and brass washed (golden bear). Wolf also has the lacquered steel cased junk of course but the also offer a very decent "Wolf Gold" brass cased ammo. As you were saying, the steel cased stuff is not reloadable. All of this you may have already figured out and if so just disregard.

 

[2506]

I just saw that Midway has the RCBS primer pocket swagger on sale for I think around $14.00 . It works very well. In case you don't know most all mil-speck ammo 5.56 has crimped in primers. Some are very hard to remove and will bend or break your depriming pin. I use a Lee sizing die on these cases. Usually it will push the depriming rod up out of the die before it bends or breaks. If I run into cases that are that had to deprime I use the Lee kit that you use the punch and a hammer to deprime cases.

 

[E4TL34D]

I’ve used a few found Wolf cases to make 300 BLK cartridges and it’s fine so far.

I use the super swager to prep my brass, most of which seems to be Lake City ( find it at my range most of the time) that has had crimped primers. I just cleaned about 50 Wolf cases and 50 Norma, all 223, which I found yesterday. I will be able to prep the primer pockets in about 15 minutes using the super swager. To me, it’s worth the money. How long does it take to use a reamer to prep 100 cases?

 

[Hohn]

There is all sorts of ammo sold under the Wolf name, but the Wolf Gold the OP is talking about uses cases made from genuine brass. I reload it for plinking ammo, but only after removing the primer crimp.

Not only is the Wolf Gold real brass ammo, but it's actually very good quality.

I have 1000+ cases of it on hand, and in my recent sample of 24 case weights, the SD was 0.4gr. I think you'll find that's better than many other brands.

It's made in Taiwan. And yes, absolutely the primers are crimped.

 

[garandman]

Crimped primer pockets.

 

[dolek]

I’ve used a few found Wolf cases to make 300 BLK cartridges and it’s fine so far.

I use the super swager to prep my brass, most of which seems to be Lake City ( find it at my range most of the time) that has had crimped primers. I just cleaned about 50 Wolf cases and 50 Norma, all 223, which I found yesterday. I will be able to prep the primer pockets in about 15 minutes using the super swager. To me, it’s worth the money. How long does it take to use a reamer to prep 100 cases?

Do you have to touch them up with a reamer after using the super swager or are they ready for seating a primer . I have only used the RCBS and was not impressed with the results.