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Military Brass Crimp Removal

hunter144

Private
Minuteman
May 14, 2009
2
0
72
I am looking to start reloading. I have picked up some non-commercial brass at the range. They have a small circle within the base. Are they regular military cases or Berdan cases. What tool(s) would I need to reload them?
 
Re: Military Brass Crimp Removal

If there is one central flash hole, they are boxer, if there are two or three off center flash holes, they are berdan. Berdan cases are reloadable but not worth the trouble unless it is all you can get. Either type will have a staked primer that will either be a circle stamped around the primer, or three notches to hold the primer in. There are primer pocket swagers to remove the crimp, or just give the primer pocket a few turns with a case mouth deburring tool
 
Re: Military Brass Crimp Removal

Small circle within the base? I am not sure what you mean, but I am assuming that you are referring to the ring around the primer pocket. If so, the primers may have been crimped, and should be swaged after depriming. What caliber is the brass?

Make sure the cases aren't russian steel, like wolf .223 or 7.62x39, as they cannot be reloaded and are berdan primed. You will bust your decapper if you try to deprime a berdan case.
 
Re: Military Brass Crimp Removal

Super_Swage_600_m.jpg


The Dillon Super Swage is fast and easy.

If you are going to do thousands, it is worth the extra $.
 
Re: Military Brass Crimp Removal

I have an old Lee turret press that I no longer use for reloading. I have my Lee decapping die and RCBS primer pocket swager dies mounted on them. I decap all my military brass then clean them then swage the primer pockets to get the crimp out before I do the rest of my prep work. Once you get going the RCBS swager die is pretty quick and comes with adapters for both small and large primer pockets. Pretty cheap too I think I paid less than $20 for the swager die.