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Crimped Military Brass

carbinemike

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I picked up a bag of 500 5.56 shells at a gun show today that all have crimped primers. What's the best way to remove the material used for the crimp? Can I use a 90 degree counter sink tool? I assume I want to be careful to not remove to much material and weaken that corner.
 
I am not actually sure of the most proper way but I just run them through like the rest. They are notably tougher but I haven't bent a decaper yet.....might just be lucky and I really haven't done a crap load of them. I also notice not all crimps are the same
 
Well, there is this RCBS swaging die to get the crimp by using the tool on your press
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/235832/rcbs-primer-pocket-swager-combo-2?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Pretty expensive but a wonderful bench mounted swaging tool
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/319662/rcbs-bench-mounted-primer-pocket-swager?cm_vc=ProductFinding

This works by hand twisting and slightly cutting the primer crimp but doesn't remove too much
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/501588/hornady-primer-pocket-reamer-tool-small
These also work by hand twistng and you need one of these for the case mouth anyway
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/36...ng-tool-17-to-45-caliber?cm_vc=ProductFinding
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/46...ng-tool-17-to-60-caliber?cm_vc=ProductFinding
This twists but either by hand or on a powered drill
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/28...ng-tool-22-to-45-caliber?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Some folks use a drill bit in a press and just let the bit barely kiss the primer pocket opening to cut the crimp
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I had looked for something like the blog but hadn't come up with anything that good. I did see the one tool on Midway and that's what made think about using a 90 degree counter sink machine tool. In looking closer at the tools, they look more like a 60 degree tapered cutting edge which I think would be less likely to remove to much material. I'll probably get one that can be used by hand drill press.

I did pretty good getting the primers out and didn't damage the decapper. I did break one on my first go around with .223/5.56. One of the ones I found at the range had about 1/4" of dirt in the bottom that was dried up like a rock and I didn't see it. The decapper nut was to tight and it snapped it. For the price I picked up an extra decapper for each caliber I have a tool set for.
 
I picked up a bag of 500 5.56 shells at a gun show today that all have crimped primers. What's the best way to remove the material used for the crimp? Can I use a 90 degree counter sink tool? I assume I want to be careful to not remove to much material and weaken that corner.

Rcbs makes the slickest pocket swager. Reasonable priced and no material is removed, so no guessing. It screws into a press like a die and has other parts that go along with the tool. One thing you need in order to make it work easy is a piece of copper tube. Check out the process on you tube:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rcbs+primer+pocket+swager+combo+2
 
110% agreed. I like it much better than reams.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

It is just like resizing...one yank of the handle. The hand reamer wears out your hand and is a ticket to carpal tunnel. I have the Lyman prep machine with 6-7 stations. It wears you out too because you have to grip the case tightly so it does not spin in the hand. I use it to trim the flash hole inside. I also ream sometimes, uniform depth and diameter of primer pockets.. It also has bits to chamfer inside and outside of case necks so the bullet aligns without catching.

But the RCBS Swage tool does that job faster and easier than any other method I have tried. 5 thumbs
 
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