Marlin Firearms Forum banner

Removing the primer pocket crimp on military brass

7K views 16 replies 17 participants last post by  dragon813gt 
#1 ·
I got about 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket of 223/5.56 brass and wondered what is the easiest/best/cheapest way to remove the primer pocket crimp on the military cases? I know that there is a tool in the Blue Press magazine from Dillon but wondered if there was a way to do this on a single stage press. I was thinking of something that was like a shell holder but screwed into the place you normally had the die and something that snapped in the place of the shell holder with a rod that would swage the primer crimp out as the two came together. Any ideas? Any Solutions? Thanks.
Goat
 
#2 · (Edited)
Goat...I bought my Swage combo kit from C-H Tool & Die, Part # is 419000, price $31.58, just looked on there web site. It's an easy tool to use, and removes the crimped pocket very easy. They are in Mt Vernon, Oh, phone # 740-397-7214 or 740-397-6600. Hope this will help you out.
Phil

And I use a Lee single stage press.
 
#9 ·
+1, I've been using the Dillon for 20 years now.
 
#4 ·
Hey Goat!

Back in the late 70's, my older cousin brought me 4 large coffee cans (3lb size) of mil-surp 308's - "got a bargain" at a yard sale for his 308Win. I worked on the brass for him and then loaded them. He said, Oh, I should have called you. I swapped the 308W pump for a 30-06 autoloader, and I got this bucket of mil-surp 30-06's to boot! Yeah, I told him what he could do with the brass!! LOL! The saving grace for me, since I'm not pre-disposed with bucks to spend on tools I may only use once, and I am blessed with a bit of Irish ingenuity - I took an allen wrench (appropriately sized) and cut the straight shank off, and chucked it in my electric drill. Held the brass in a welder's glove and the project went fast. I don't recall what size allen wrench, but I took a set of them and went with the largest one that would fit in a commercial primer pocket, the next smaller was an "easy fit" and the next larger was a "no-go". Alternative to the welder's glove would be a pair of slip-joint pliers, held tight enough not to slip on the brass and loose enough not to "mark the brass" - don't want to raise a burr on the brass. Good Luck!! You will benefit from the experience!

Jeff
NRA Life
 
#5 ·
Goat,

Easiest and cheapest is the Lyman crimp removal tool that you twist into the pocket. One at a time. Its probably best to do this while watching American Idol, or some other drivel on TV. I think the tool was $6 at BassPro - last 3 lifetimes.


stewbud
 
#6 ·
Easiest method is a plain 60 degree countersink tool. Available at most hardware stores. Hold the offending case in one hand, and the countersink in the other. Insert the countersink into the primer pocket. Turn a few times. Primer crimp now gone. If you have a lot of brass, chuck the countersink in a drill, either a drill press or hand held drill.
 
#10 ·
We did about 600 rounds with the counter sink.
Works great ! not one problem.
Fits large and small rifle primer pockets
Also and pistol rounds you might find
Used a drill on low speed ..
Shot over 100 rounds and no primers fell out.
 
#12 ·
  • Like
Reactions: Darkker
#13 ·
Reaming (chamfering) vs swaging is a debated subject. Reaming seams easier. Swaging returns the primer pocket as closely as possible to original dimensions without removing metal. When a primer is crimped the metal around the primer pocked is upset to form a 'retention ring' around the primer. This process can induce stresses into the case head and if done improperly by the arsenal can result in failure of the case upon firing. Hatcher discusses this problem in his notebook, A slightly off center arsenal swage of the primer resulted in case failures where a wedge of brass blew out extending from the primer pocket to the edge of the brass and in to the chamber resulting in blown up guns. My shooting partner in the position to my left was shooting 7.62 NATO reloads when a strange violent report came from his Steyr SSG. The magazine blew out the bottom, scope turret blown off the side of the scope and blood from my partner's face around his safety glasses was flowing. An overload was my first guess, however he was using a powder that made that scenario doubtful. A post mortum showed that many of his Viet-Nam era brass once fired (probably M60 fired) had off center primer crimps described exactly as Hatcher noted. What was left of the errant casing displayed off center arsenal crimps as well. I now inspect all my casings for an off center crimp and swage them back into conformance prior to seating primers. I fortunately have not experienced what my partner went through and have become more enlightened to the imperfections of man and what he builds. AC
 
#14 ·
Lot of that automatic weapon fired brass around here I do not reload them, .223 is not that expensive and the potential for troubles keep me away from useing them. If I was going to reload military brass the best tools for the job be the route to go and a careful workup of the brass and load used. Can never be to safe with ammunition and firearms the margin for error is small.
 
#15 ·
I use an RCBS Chamfer and Deburring tool.

A couple quick turns of the tool remove all traces of the crimp that might interfere with primer seating, but it doesn't remove excess metal like some of the reamers available.

I'm not a fan of work-hardening case heads any more than they are when they leave the factory. Even though primer pocket swaging tools work the brass as little as possible, it's still another step toward failure.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top