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swage vs chamfer primer pocket

HairyDemon

HairyDemon

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 10, 2013
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San Antonio, TX
I am building a MATEN in 308 and I have a 5 gallon bucket of LC once fired along with about 1.5x that much of 5.56 brass. I have an RCBS swage tool that is set for my 5.56 brass and I am debating buying another or just chamber the primer pocket like I used to before a friend told me that was not good for accuracy. I cant put my finger on why, the bullet would seat in the chamber the same way and I am reading about stretching out primer pocket from swaging so I am asking the question.

SWAGE or CHAMFER?
 
I ream the pockets. I have used a borrowed Dillon swager and it takes more time and I was not going to pay the bucks for it. I chuck my $3 reamer into my drill press and use a glove to hold the case and ream it out. Change hands frequently because you get tired and will eventually get carpal tunnel like me. :rolleyes:

Accuracy difference? Not really. Primer pocket stretching? Maybe when you get to 5+ loadings. LC is tough stuff.
 
I swage for rifle. I've reamed a lot of .45 ACP. I don't know if there is an accuracy difference to sell one method over the other. Either way once and you're done. I'd just switch the pin in the swager and run the brass.
 
I chamfer.

When done properly (not excessively) the chamfer is no bigger than the radius on the bottom of a primer, so there is no loss of support and retention of the primer. The chamfer makes it a little easier to get primers started into the pockets, too. It's also takes far less time to chamfer and you probably already have the tool to do it... I use the case mouth chamfering tool.

That's my experience.
 
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I chamfer as well. RCBS case prep center, but running a decrimp bit in a drill would be cheaper
both are hard on the hands
 
I chamfer, I had the Dillon super swager, and like has already been said, takes too long. Just don't over do it. Accuracy is the same. Whoever told you that it will hurt accuracy must be a benchrest shooter. I shoot a semi 7.62 AR and it flat out shoots. But then again, it has never been shot off of a bench in it's life. J
 
I use the Dillon. I can do a piece of brass in 3 or 4 seconds with it. I tried a chamfer bit in a drill press. It took me longer and killed my fingers. I just swaged 2500 9mm last night.
 
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Swage, your thumb and index finger will thank you. I started a 5 gal bucket chamfering and wound up finishing the last 2/3 with my Dillion. Only way to go.
 
swage

I've got a RCBS powered case prep and can cut the crimps, but my hands get too sore after not that many cases.

I came into 25,000 308 Mil LC cases and I sure wasn't going to that by hand so I got a dillon 1050. I also had > 10,000 556's sitting on the shelf because I didn't want to hand cut them either.

have noticed no difference between swaged and cut pockets for life/accuracy. You can over cut, or over swage and over doing it will be bad for pocket life.
 
I had the Dillon swager but sold it. It didn't matter how you set it, there were always a few that didn't completely swage and I would have to chamfer those. Just started chamfering all of them.

Midway sells a chamfer tool holder that chucks up in a drill. I clamp my drill on the bench and go after it, doesn't seem to take that long to go thru 1K rounds. Way quicker than the Dillon in my opinon.
 
Swage, I use the RCBS die that mounts to your press. It's fast and I never had a problem with it not removing thr crimp but all I have swaged has been .308 & .30-06. It's cheap too at $40....
 
swage, your fingers will thank you greatly. I used to chamfer, but my hands paid the price. Dillon Super Swage is awesome.
 
Swaging is the way to go. You're not removing material and the process of reaming is hard on the hands.

For you guys that think the SS600 is too slow I found this is a pretty efficient way to use them.

Mount it in a vice like this so you can let gravity work for you:



Then put the cases in a container and shuffle them until the are mostly mouth up and grab a hand full like this:



To swage, put the case on the rod with your right hand and tap it shut with your thumb, operate the handle with the left hand, tip the rod open with the bottom of your right hand, remove the case with your left hand insert new case with your right hand and repeat the cycle. It goes fast. I hate swaging. A lot. That's why I got a S1050. Now I just keep the SS600 for the occasional 9mm that I run into while loading on my 650.

 
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I use a Dillon. I've got an RCBS but it just sits on the shelf.

I've found brass at the range the range that's been "reamed"....Most looks pretty good but I've seen a lot that has had about 1/3 of the primer pocket cut out.

I'll stick with my Dillon.
 
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1time said:
I use the Dillon. I can do a piece of brass in 3 or 4 seconds with it. I tried a chamfer bit in a drill press. It took me longer and killed my fingers. I just swaged 2500 9mm last night.
Click to expand...

17874 said:
Swage, your thumb and index finger will thank you. I started a 5 gal bucket chamfering and wound up finishing the last 2/3 with my Dillion. Only way to go.
Click to expand...

In my opinion the only way to go is to swage the crimped primer pockets. Reaming or chamfering removes metal. Swaging merely puts it back where it belongs AND----

Swaging also restores the primer pocket itself to it's original shape and dimensions. The Crimping or Staking process can deform the primer pocket walls, making them "hourglass shaped" if the crimp is deep enough. Staking, where the crimp consists of 3-4 punch marks, can actually deform the primer pocket more.

If one thinks that the Dillon tool takes too long then they probably didn't read the instructions and set the case index block that lines it up with the punch.

If you want the tool to be even faster just check out the You tube videos that show how to add some string and rubber bands to automatically raise the case after it's swaged.

I swage brass with my super swage mounted on a lap board. One big bowl of brass on one side, the swaging tool in my lap, and a bowl of finished brass on the other side. I swage while watching TV at night with my wife and occasionally she'll tell me to stop dropping the finished cases so loudly in the large Stainless Bowl :) :)

I have a whole bin of brass I've picked up at the range that was ruined by someone with a reamer. Almost half the primer wall is unsupported because they reamed too deep.
 
Have any of you guys tried the spring / rubberband / string gizmos? I never had much lock with them as they take a lot of fiddling around and frequent adjustment to work. that's why I started using the above method.
 
I got a dilon that i proly used 2x within 5 yrs.. i hate it when primer pock dont line up with the swager it damage cases..
 
Bjay, it sounds like the flat block is not adjusted properly. Out of the thousands of .223 cases I did on my SS600, I don't ever remember damaging a case due to the primer pocket not being correctly aligned.
 
bjay said:
I got a dilon that i proly used 2x within 5 yrs.. i hate it when primer pock dont line up with the swager it damage cases..
Click to expand...

Henny said:
Bjay, it sounds like the flat block is not adjusted properly. Out of the thousands of .223 cases I did on my SS600, I don't ever remember damaging a case due to the primer pocket not being correctly aligned.
Click to expand...

This block may not be high enough for .223 brass. Here's a neat accessory that solves this problem

Centering inserts for the Dillon SuperSwage & RCBS swage unit. | Inline Fabrication

Keeps the case centered and at the right height for the punch. Speeds up the whole operation as well as eliminating damaged case heads.
 
Henny said:
Bjay, it sounds like the flat block is not adjusted properly. Out of the thousands of .223 cases I did on my SS600, I don't ever remember damaging a case due to the primer pocket not being correctly aligned.
Click to expand...

I have never damaged a casing either.

My wife offered to help swage cases and managed to damage a few. I have a milled Delrin block I got some someone that precisely aligns the case to the swager, both height and side to side. I have one for .223 and one for .308.

These - Centering inserts for the Dillon SuperSwage & RCBS swage unit. | Inline Fabrication

Pretty slick.
 
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