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Swaging primer pockets kind of sucks

SanPatHogger

SanPatHogger

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 1, 2020
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So I've FL resized and cleaned a pile of 223/5.56 brass. Some of it has crimped primer pockets.
Right now I'm loading on the Rock Chucker but I want to get another top for my Lee turret press.
I'm using the RCBS primer pocket swager 2. It seems to work well. Primers do seat easier.
But it stinks to have another step in my processing and loading routine. And I cant use the Inline Fabrication brass kicker with it.... I love that thing.

What's eveybody else doing? Any tricks to make it go faster? Should I go be poor somewhere else?:confused:
 
Dillon makes a nice bench top swager. I think Frankfort arsenal makes one. But I bet it’s made over seas.
 
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SanPatHogger said:
So I've FL resized and cleaned a pile of 223/5.56 brass. Some of it has crimped primer pockets.
Right now I'm loading on the Rock Chucker but I want to get another top for my Lee turret press.
I'm using the RCBS primer pocket swager 2. It seems to work well. Primers do seat easier.
But it stinks to have another step in my processing and loading routine. And I cant use the Inline Fabrication brass kicker with it.... I love that thing.

What's eveybody else doing? Any tricks to make it go faster? Should I go be poor somewhere else?:confused:
Click to expand...
I found a trick that makes its just ridiculously easy and super fast! I don't even mind it anymore, I just love the processed brass that I have waiting for me to load it up.......

My secret????

Holler at @Dave__th3__ss and send it to him. He will do as much or as little as you'd like. I send him a piece of brass that's exactly sized where I want it, and he takes my spent brass and swags, cleans, FL sizes with bushing die, and aneals.... then sends it back to me. By FAR the best method I've found!
 
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SanPatHogger said:
What's eveybody else doing? Any tricks to make it go faster? Should I go be poor somewhere else?:confused:
Click to expand...
Variable speed drill set on low RPM in a padded vice with an RCBS primer crimp reamer. 2 seconds per case and drop them in a bucket on the floor. very fast and that RCBS cutter works as well as any swaging unit on the market.
 
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I bought one of the Frankfort Arsenal pocket swagers. I always heard the RCBS swager was a PIA.
 
I use the Dillon super swage and works well for me. I prefer not to remove material from the pocket but do know a few guys who ream them.
 
FLIGHT762 said:
Variable speed drill set on low RPM in a padded vice with an RCBS primer crimp reamer. 2 seconds per case and drop them in a bucket on the floor. very fast and that RCBS cutter works as well as any swaging unit on the market.
Click to expand...
^ this
RPM in a padded vice with an RCBS primer crimp reamer
I use two drills, primers seat perfect each time (especially since they are sooooo expensive now)

  • Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer Cutter Head​

  • K&M Primer Pocket Correction Too​

 
I use the rcbs. I have an FA case prep center, and stuck one of the primer pocket cutters on it, but I like swaging better.
Put some sizing lube on the little swage nub and refresh it every time it gets hard to pop the cases off. Works well for me.
 
rangerlong said:
I use the rcbs. I have an FA case prep center, and stuck one of the primer pocket cutters on it, but I like swaging better.
Put some sizing lube on the little swage nub and refresh it every time it gets hard to pop the cases off. Works well for me.
Click to expand...
That may make the process slightly easier. The brass with the tighter primer pockets does stick more when dropping the ram.
I will lube my little nub and report back
Thank you all for the advice.
 
I have historically used the dillon bench top tool but just ordered the swager from uniquetek to do it on press with the rest of sizing operations.
 
B_w. said:
I have historically used the dillon bench top tool but just ordered the swager from uniquetek to do it on press with the rest of sizing operations.
Click to expand...
If it's a "Swage-it" see if you can get your money back if it's unused. It's garbage.
 
I just ream the crimps out with a tool in a drill for “most” rounds. It’s one of those “do it once” And done things.

I do swage pockets in my “high end” target rounds. I have an RC s bench mount tool, but I broke the swager head and have not been able to get another from RCBS. But I have not tried hard, either.

Primer pocket work sucks… but it saves more time later. Crushing primers on forgotten crimps sucks and is expensive what with primer prices insane!! And it gums up the works big time on progressives.

So just have to treat it like any other step, hunker down and get it done… while realizing that it is supposed to be fun, right? This is all supposed to be fun.

Sirhr
 
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6.5SH said:
They also void the warranty on your press.
Click to expand...
Yes they do and I understand why. It puts an uncomfortable amount of pressure in the wrong direction on the presses they are made for. I gave it a whirl on one of my 750s and it was regrettable.
 
I'm using a 550 so not sure if there is a difference between 650/750...
 
I used to use an RCBS swaging kit in a rock chucker. Worked ok, but still had frequent issues with pockets being too tight. Then use a Lyman uniforming tool by hand as needed as I found those problem cases.
Now I’m just reaming with a Hornady tool. May give up a little brass life, but the time/suffering savings are worth it to me.
I think in the future I will buy a few hundred quality commercial cases to load anything I want precision out of. The crimped and other range pickup brass will get relegated to plinking and disposable ammo where I don’t care about the potential loss of case life from reaming.
 
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I use the RCBS cutter on my Lyman prep center and it works well for me.
 
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I got the LEE APP press, its by far the best way other then on a dillion 1050. Super fast and once set it works for all brass. It will go as fast as you can pull the handle.
 
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The swagers I have really don't put a nice champher on the pocket like a reamer does. That helps center the primer / case on progressives especially.

Drill moters are big and clunky.
A tv tray, two containers, a short trash can to catch shavings and a cordless screwdriver is my setup.

20210930_102756(0).jpg


Cheap multi purpose tool that doesn't eat bench space.
I can use a trimmer, inside outside champher uniformer reamer and flash hole uniformer.

You can buy or make the 8/32 X hex drive adapter.

One drawback is it came without swag.
 
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I just buy a used RCBS swage kit for press. Do all my cases then sell it back on eBay. Basically it’s your time. The equipment is free cause you’ll get back what you pay for one. Only need it once if you do a few thousand cases. Be awhile before I need to do that again lol
 

Swaging primer pockets kind of sucks​


yes, yes it does! so does every other step about reloading 223. treated myself to new starline brass this go-around and saved a couple of steps.
 
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If you're doing 50 BMG - I have been through every tool they make for it including the Dillon which I sent back b/c it sucks. The ONLY tool that does a good job is the Lyman 50 BMG multitool - it cuts off the crimp and chamfers the PP slightly and it's a beautiful result. It's very similar to the Orange Lyman tools pictured above. You have to remove the right amount of material - I gauge that by seeing if a PP uniformer will fit in the pocket (kinda like a pin gauge). When it does, you're done.
 
kinda of sucks lol no it really sucks especially if you have to do a lot of brass . lol
and the electric versions of the manual type don't really make it better waiting for someone to make a 800 doller primer pocket cleaner .
 
acudaowner said:
kinda of sucks lol no it really sucks especially if you have to do a lot of brass . lol
and the electric versions of the manual type don't really make it better waiting for someone to make a 800 doller primer pocket cleaner .
Click to expand...


it also doubles as a reloading press.

I actually have one in large and small and have done 5gal buckets of 5.56 and 308.
 
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Here’s my low budget solution and it works great. Started with a an old attic fan motor, scrap piece of plywood, and had a machinist friend thread the shaft for a surplus drill chuck. I use the primer pocket crimp remover laying on the wood, and then use Sinclair primer pocket uniformers for large and small pockets. At a 1/2 hp, it has plenty of power. Custom tool head holder on the left side. Notice the simple user instructions on the left! Your hand is the starter capacitor. It rotates either direction but you need to follow the ”instructions” so the cutters go the right direction…. Cheap and effective and been using it for 20+ years.
EFEC5DA7-52C8-4205-88DB-CC77E2469F97.jpeg
 
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240nmc said:
Here’s my low budget solution and it works great. Started with a an old attic fan motor, scrap piece of plywood, and had a machinist friend thread the shaft for a surplus drill chuck. I use the primer pocket crimp remover laying on the wood, and then use Sinclair primer pocket uniformers for large and small pockets. At a 1/2 hp, it has plenty of power. Custom tool head holder on the left side. Notice the simple user instructions on the left! Your hand is the starter capacitor. It rotates either direction but you need to follow the ”instructions” so the cutters go the right direction…. Cheap and effective and been using it for 20+ years.View attachment 7834210
Click to expand...
Dude
Thats my style right there
 
2aBaCa said:


it also doubles as a reloading press.

I actually have one in large and small and have done 5gal buckets of 5.56 and 308.
Click to expand...

Just watched the video. Looks sweet. I don't havea Hornady press, and I dont have that many pockets to swage. Yet
 
Another vote for the dillon.

If you mount it on a section of 2x4 it is portable and you can swage while watching TV, etc.
 
The Hornady tool for the progressive is shit, unless you're only swaging a single brand of brass and even then half the time the brass gets stuck on the button.

Get the RCBS crimp cutter and put it on a drill or a motor tool it's way better and doesn't fuck up your pockets if the wrong brass sneaks into the bin.
 
LawnMM said:
The Hornady tool for the progressive is shit, unless you're only swaging a single brand of brass and even then half the time the brass gets stuck on the button.

Get the RCBS crimp cutter and put it on a drill or a motor tool it's way better and doesn't fuck up your pockets if the wrong brass sneaks into the bin.
Click to expand...
I beg to differ, I've done buckets of mixed range brass with it. only ones that were ever an issue were a few with the 4 crimps, some of those had to be cut out. they were crimped pretty aggressively.
 
The Lee App once set up isn’t sexy but it works. Would suggest watching F Class John and his review of the App. He uses an Area 419 for reloading but then primes with the Lee ACP.
 
So I used a Lee classic cast turret press with RCBS swager for 7.62x51. Swaged about 3000 cases. I have a primer pocket go-no go gauge I use to make sure primers would go in. Then I sold it.

Easy way to do it, get a piece of PVC 1” coupler at lowes, the cap should fit tightly into it and cut the other half of it just a over the middle. This will fit right over the 3/4” stem and when handle goes up, it pulls case off from it. Get some oil. And put some oil on the swager button every 4-5 cases. Once done. Pack it up. Put it back on eBay. I’ve done this twice and swayed my cases for free besides the time it took to swage which is about 150-200 cases an hr
 
MK20 said:
Another vote for the dillon.

If you mount it on a section of 2x4 it is portable and you can swage while watching TV, etc.
Click to expand...

Also, if you Google the Dillon SuperSwage 600 rubber band/string trick, you can get the rod to snap up/down with every pull of the handle, thereby eliminating some movement.

It works.

Chris
 
Mudflap621 said:
I use the Dillon super swage and works well for me. I prefer not to remove material from the pocket but do know a few guys who ream them.
Click to expand...
I got myself a 1/4" countersink bit from the hardware store and take the edge off. Seems OK so far

M
 
Reloading For The AR-15: Swaging Primer Pocket Crimps



dillon_super_swage_003-1833452.jpg




In order to reload brass cases that have crimped primer pockets, the crimp must first be removed before a new primer can be seated. There are two basic methods used to achieve this; reaming or swaging.

With reaming, you’re removing material from the case head. With swaging, you’re simply pressing material back into its original position. Of the two methods, my personal preference is for swaging with the Dillon Super Swage 600. The Dillon Super Swage returns the primer pocket more closely to its original condition than any of the other stand-alone tools that I’ve seen used to remove the primer pocket crimp.

The pic below, with a cut-out 223 Remington case in the Super Swage, shows the swaging rod and the case positioning rod to give you an idea of just how the Super Swage works.



sillon_super_swage_cutaway_02-1833453.jpg







The next pic shows the case head of a factory-loaded round that has a crimped primer.


factory_loaded_round_01-1833461.jpg






Now, a deprimed case . . .


deprimed_case_01-1833460.jpg







The case from the above pic that has had the primer pocket swaged with the Super Swage . . .


super_swaged_02-1833464.jpg




And a pic with the same case reprimed . . .


reprimed_case_01-1833466.jpg








This last pic shows the factory-loaded round next to the reprimed case for easy comparison.


side_by_side_01-1833468.jpg



…
 
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