Swage or ream crimped primer pocket?

[dwvcfii 1]

New to reloading and I'm trying to sort out how I'll go about processing brass. Even some pistol brass is coming with crimped primer pockets lately so I got to thinking...is it better to swage the primer pocket (a la Dillon 600 or 1050 built-in) which seems to just smash the crimp down vs. reaming the pocket, with, say, a Hornady reaming tool, to remove the extra metal entirely?

 

Seems to me it would be better to ream if only because it won't cause any distortion of the case and since the Hornady reaming tool also puts a slight chamfer on the edge of the pocket, priming should be easier.

 

Thoughts?

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Swaging is better because it simply presses the displaced brass back in versus cuting it out. Your primer pockets will thank you for it

 

Also, it is faster, cleaner, and easier to swage than to cut. Its only downside is it costs more to get set up.

[dwvcfii 1]

By "your primer pockets will thank you", do you mean that I'll be able to get more reloads out of the case before the pockets loosen up too much? If so, I'm okay with that, and I certainly don't want to add any more steps than necessary to the process. In fact, this is one of the reasons I'm considering the 1050...while the separate Dillon swager works, I can't imagine wanting to do all that manual labor if the press will do it for me.

[Melgamatic 66]

Dillon Super Swage, baby

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

By "your primer pockets will thank you", do you mean that I'll be able to get more reloads out of the case before the pockets loosen up too much?...

 

Bingo! Yep

[Joelk 61]

Dillon Super Swage, baby

I agree, the Dillon is the way to go.

[raz-0 1,259]

If you don't want to spend on the dillon super swage, just ream the pockets. The swagers that mount on your press form other brands all suck.

 

If you do go with reaming them, make sure to get something with a good, sharp cutter. The hornady is decently priced and sharp. The lyman not so much.

[usnmars 136]

I ream my pockets and have rifle brass with 20+ reloads and havent had an issue with loose pockets.

[AS350Driver 56]

If you don't want to spend on the dillon super swage, just ream the pockets. The swagers that mount on your press form other brands all suck.

If you do go with reaming them, make sure to get something with a good, sharp cutter. The hornady is decently priced and sharp. The lyman not so much.

 

 

I agree with this. I have the RCBS die for swageing, it does work but is time consuming and set up can be a pain. When I started loading I was on a tight budget and this was the best option for me. The Dillon looks awesome though.

[dwvcfii 1]

I ream my pockets and have rifle brass with 20+ reloads and havent had an issue with loose pockets.

 

Very good news...exactly what I wanted to hear.

[usnmars 136]

I ream and uniform the pockets on my lyman case prep machine. it takes no time at all.

[tbtrout 141]

I have used a Chamfer tool to ream out pockets for years. My case necks split or case head starts to seperate before my primer pockets loosen up. But they still have not thanked me.

[Old School 611]

I ream my pockets and have rifle brass with 20+ reloads and havent had an issue with loose pockets.

 

There's a lot of reasons primer pockets loosen up. Hot loads,quality/type of brass just to name two.

 

Though 20+ loadings on a case is high in a rifle caliber.

[usnmars 136]

ah, it all comes down to reading your brass. Learn to caress and feel it as the ram pushes the brass up into the sizing die. Slow and steady movement and pressure on the ram. Be sensitive and learn to get the "touch." You will notice some brass is stiffer to resize than others. Is this because of neck thickness variances? put a caliper on and measure. If it is the same spec, set the brass aside for an annealing job. I anneal, tumble, and resize again. You will notice the brass sizes with the same resistance as the other brass now. If the neck thickness is off compared to other brass neck turn. Once you get to the "zen" like state when resizing your brass will last VERRRRY long. I was taught by one of the best reloaders and shooters in the country( I wont mention his name), and this is one of the things he taught me. It also depends on the caliber too. .303 is horribly rough on brass due to loose chambers so the max I get out of them is about 6-8.

[matt6669 71]

I'm like Tim I don't do any of that fancy crap. I ream the primer pockets out on my RCBS case prep and off I go. I'm stock piled so deep on most of my calibers due to generous friends that if a few cases start to split it definitely isn't going to be the end of the world for me. Worst case scenario, there is so much CMP ammo being sold right now along with many other calibers, that the brass is so plentiful on gunbroker you can pick up a thousand rounds of 3006 brass for practically pennies.

[usnmars 136]

ah, but when 30-06 brass does go bad with a split neck.... it gets converted to 8mm my brass never dies, and when it does it goes into the "Teddy Box"

[matt6669 71]

haha we are gonna have to do some 8mm conversions when your home little buddy. That my next caliber I'm going to be loading for.

[tbtrout 141]

ah, it all comes down to reading your brass. Learn to caress and feel it as the ram pushes the brass up into the sizing die. Slow and steady movement and pressure on the ram. Be sensitive and learn to get the "touch." You will notice some brass is stiffer to resize than others. Is this because of neck thickness variances? put a caliper on and measure. If it is the same spec, set the brass aside for an annealing job. I anneal, tumble, and resize again. You will notice the brass sizes with the same resistance as the other brass now. If the neck thickness is off compared to other brass neck turn. Once you get to the "zen" like state when resizing your brass will last VERRRRY long. I was taught by one of the best reloaders and shooters in the country( I wont mention his name), and this is one of the things he taught me. It also depends on the caliber too. .303 is horribly rough on brass due to loose chambers so the max I get out of them is about 6-8.

And this is what weeks out to sea surrounded by men will do to you.

[usnmars 136]

ROFLMAO it has been a long 3 weeks

[djg0770 481]

And this is what weeks out to sea surrounded by men will do to you.

 

I was going to say something similar - about how he's making love to brass and he really needs to find a woman so that his brass can "relax" and feel so "stiff"...

[usnmars 136]

Fah-Q Dan

[djg0770 481]

Fah-Q Dan

 

Gotcha buddy!