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What am I doing wrong?

lazy21

Gunny Sergeant
Commercial Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 16, 2007
3,184
12
40
Houston, Tx.
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, primers are hard to go in and this is what they look like after. I'm using the rcbs hand primer, federal primers, and black hills match brass(Winchester)

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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Not only is black hills crimped - they do a gnarly job of it!

Dude, you need to get a primer pocket swaging tool!

The rcbs one is ~$25 and works nice...its used like a die in your press. The dillon unit is a stand alone tool and costs $100.

Sorry for your frustration...thats some nice carnage! It gets easier!
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

I dont see a problem, they look fine to me



























my first guess would be primer pockets. But I dont know whether or not your brass has crimped pockets. If its not a crimp, make sure you arent trying to put 50 cal primers in there! I guess that would do it also.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

My first guess is crimped primer pockets. That's a typical problem with military surplus but I was unaware that civilian stuff had crimped primer pockets. You can get a primer pocket swage kit for both large and small primers for not too many $. Good luck!
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not only is black hills crimped - they do a gnarly job of it!

Dude, you need to get a primer pocket swaging tool!

The rcbs one is ~$25 and works nice...its used like a die in your press. The dillon unit is a stand alone tool and costs $100.

Sorry for your frustration...thats some nice carnage! It gets easier! </div></div>
+1
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Military (and some commercial) primers are crimped in place. The 'crimp' is a bit of extra brass on the outer edge of the pocket. The most common cure is to cram a swager into the pocket to force the crimp out of the way. If you happen to have a Wilson (or Sinclair) trimmer, they have a pocket reamer that cuts the crimp away. Cutting is better than cramming, but there is not really a convenient tool for doing this in any volume (at least not that I know of).

I've used both the RBCS and Dillon swaging tools. The RBCS is much cheaper but the Dillon is much easier to use.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Hard to believe you didn't pop one off pushing on them like that. They will explode,
it's what they are made to do. Please don't take those kind of risks reloading.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

I ran into the same (seemingly) problem with once-fired Hornady Match Brass and Fed Match primers. Being new to the discipline that extra bit of metal in the primer pocket went unrecognized. As was recommended to me, I chucked up the case mouth chamfer tool and at low speed shelled out the rim; problem solved.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Those primer pockets are crimped, and that is exactly what happens when you try to seat a primer in a crimped primer pocket. The opening needs to be opened up a tad, either by reaming with a debur tool, or swaging with a primer pocket swager (only have experience with the Dillon unit--picked one up used for $60--works great).
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

The primers are crimped. You either need to swage the pockets or use a deburring tool to remove the crimp.

It should have only taken one or two cases to realize something is wrong.You might want to stop and assess the situation when things dont go right. Forcing things could create problems. While seating a primer and having it go off probably wont kill you it can certainly cause harm to you. Wearing safety glasses and pointing the case/tool away from you is a wise thing.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Couple of points:

A) after you get 3 bad of anything--stop--investigate and figure out what is not going on right.

B) you can ALSO cut out the crimps with an exacto knife

C) you need to start using the sensors in your arm and hand. If the primer (or bullet) don't seem to be going in smoothly--STOP and investigate why.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Go easy guys... we were all newbies once! I know I've f'd stuff up before learning the ins/outs. The first time you ever seat a primer, you have NO idea how much force it takes. A quickly learned "feel", but without that data point, you're just guessing.

It's easy to monday-morning-quarterback.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

I had similar issues reloading BH (winchester brass). They have a slight crimp on them so you need to open up pocket mouth slightly (swage if you can), and then uniform the pocket bottom. *Careful, If you do this repeatedly eventually primers might pop out when fired in a gas gun. Good luck.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Go easy guys... we were all newbies once! I know I've f'd stuff up before learning the ins/outs. The first time you ever seat a primer, you have NO idea how much force it takes. A quickly learned "feel", but without that data point, you're just guessing.

It's easy to monday-morning-quarterback. </div></div>

Fair enough mate. At the same time, reloading is not a hobby one should be too 'laid back' about. One can hurt themselves pretty badly pretty easily.
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

Lazy - you have gotten some good advice on what to do with the primers/crimps. But what in the world did you do to the case on the right ?!?
 
Re: What am I doing wrong?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CMH</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Lazy - you have gotten some good advice on what to do with the primers/crimps. But what in the world did you do to the case on the right ?!?</div></div>

LOL, it was stuck on my priming tool and lost
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. Thanks for the help guys! Don't you hate the newbies
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