What did you do at your reloading bench today?

trickg said:

The easy answer to this question is yes - more often than not the 5.56 range pickup I get has crimped primer pockets, and they aren't always staked. It's usually a ring crimp.

These days I have batches of brass - brass that I know I've processed, and brass that isn't processed and needs to be decapped, sized, primer pockets checked, and crimps cut out of the ones that need it.

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Ah, a crimp around the ring. I'm going to run these through my case prep machine and see what happens. I have about 100 cases left. I ran out of primers and projectiles.

guzma393 said:

The lee app press makes short work of decapping/swaging 223/556 range pickup brass.

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^ this picked up one of these as it was recommended by several members on another forum, use it all the time...

Bottom photo, left case is "staked / stabbed"
Right case regular crimp ring. Either way you will have to remove them if you wish to seat a primer with no issues. Ream or swage, each has its "Pros & Cons"

I have run into off center primer holes, its random cases not one particular headstamp
And don't forget to trim the cases

Ponder_MD said:

Help me understand.

In my pile, I've seen brass with 3 stakes. To me, this is crimped brass. The PSD brass does not have this. The hole is completely open, there's just a thick sleeve. They aren't uniformly thick from case to cast. I got to the point where I could eyeball a case and tell if it would work. Is there a crimp that I'm not seeing?

@85MikeTPI other brands of brass that I have are absolutely off-center. It's easily observed. It's not that I'm putting the case in the shell holder off center.

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The 3 stakes you see is a crimp. The ring you see is a crimp also. It is simply a different type. In either case, the crimp needs to be dealt with, either by reaming or by swaging, prior to attempting to seat a new primer.

Edit: I missed it prior to posting, but look at the 3rd photo (bottom photo) that Rockzilla posted. It clearly shows staked and ring type crimps. His picture shows 4 stakes, but the 3 stakes type of crimp that you mention having is common also. So is the ring type crimp that is also shown.

Loaded up some 350L bolt action only plinker subs using shooters world cleanshot (like tg) powder, xtreme 160 grain .356 plated bullets, and small pistol primers. Costs just as much as loading 9mm subs.

Hollywood quiet shot out of my ruger american ranch with the rugged obsidian 9. Chronos at 860 fps, and steel rings louder than the shot at 100y.

Rockzilla said:

View attachment 454400 View attachment 454401 View attachment 454402
Bottom photo, left case is "staked / stabbed"
Right case regular crimp ring. Either way you will have to remove them if you wish to seat a primer with no issues. Ream or swage, each has its "Pros & Cons"

I have run into off center primer holes, its random cases not one particular headstamp
And don't forget to trim the cases

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Ah, very helpful. Thanks! Yes, I trimmed the cases.

3 point "stake / stab crimp"

Loaded 5 rounds of 350 Legend with 25.5 gr of H110 and 165 gr FTX bullets. COL of 2.25. This is the first time I have loaded for 350 L and first time for straight walled.
I noticed the primers are backing out a tiny bit when seating the bullet. Not much, but can tell when standing them up. They wobble some before standing up straight. I backed down to 25 gr and still backing out.
I bought second hand brass that was deprimed and clean. I sized and trimmed to specs. Some of the pockets were loose and I scrapped a couple where I could pop the primers out easily.

Anybody think they know the reason the primers are backing out? Should I pull these and start with new brass? Just shoot them ?
Bolt gun btw

remrug said:

Loaded 5 rounds of 350 Legend with 25.5 gr of H110 and 165 gr FTX bullets. COL of 2.25. This is the first time I have loaded for 350 L and first time for straight walled.
I noticed the primers are backing out a tiny bit when seating the bullet. Not much, but can tell when standing them up. They wobble some before standing up straight. I backed down to 25 gr and still backing out.
I bought second hand brass that was deprimed and clean. I sized and trimmed to specs. Some of the pockets were loose and I scrapped a couple where I could pop the primers out easily.

Anybody think they know the reason the primers are backing out? Should I pull these and start with new brass? Just shoot them ?
Bolt gun btw

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Someone sold you trashed brass.

I would not fire them, my $0.02

85MikeTPI said:

Someone sold you trashed brass.

I would not fire them, my $0.02

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Yep!

85MikeTPI said:

Someone sold you trashed brass.

I would not fire them, my $0.02

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Bingo give that man 5# of "trashed" brass

1. Used more than once
2. Loads to Hot. Overcharged
3. Just plain ole worn out brass..

Me wouldn't of loaded at first if noticed issues to begin with. Had to go back and read your post, so just seating a bullet and the pressure it creates moves the primer out "some"?... nope...nope...nope...all kinds of go no further signs, ...

Pull down, scrap brass, buy new brass and done..

-Rock

I cranked out 100x147gr 9mm pills yesterday. I've got 2 weeks before my move with my divorce. I have no idea if I am going to setup my reloading stuff at the rental house I am moving to. I want to assume no. I'd been cranking out reloads last month, but I kind of fell off that.

I don't shit a crap ton, but I've got about 500 rounds of 115gr 9mm, 400 of 147gr 9mm, 400 of 230gr .45acp, 250 of 62gr .223 and a smattering of reloads in other calibers. Most I have enough to last me about a year already loaded up based on the volume of shooting I do in that caliber.

I have plenty commercially loaded ammo in all my calibers and a buddy pointed out, I should shoot up my steel cased stuff first. And it turns out I've got about 500 rounds of 9mm, 400 of 45acp and around 80 of 223 and .308 in steel. So I doubt I'll need to dip into any commercially loaded ammo in the next year if I don't want to setup my reloading equipment once I move.

But I do still want to finish out the bag of 147gr .355" bullets I have (around 100 left) and load up at LEAST some .30-06 150gr as I am low on that. I think I only have around 100 rounds of PPU and S&B and about 30-40 reloads. That is not a lot of 03A3 or Garand shooting. Not that I shoot more than around 100 rounds a year between them, but that would still use up most of what I have. I am going to try to polish off the open pound of A2495 I have, which is probably around 80-90 rounds of .30-06.

Beyond that, *shrug*. Whatever I get to, I guess. I still have a fair amount of packing and organizing to do with my divorce, though I've been at it for around 2 weeks now, but still plenty to do. Maybe some .308 as I only have 50 reloads. And maybe some 30 carbine and 6.5 grendel.

Actually, heck, if I have the time, I'd like to stack up at least a solid 100-200 more rounds of all of my pistol calibers and the same for my rifle calibers. I doubt I'll get to that, because that is 1000-2000 rounds in 2.5wks and I need to shave a few days off that to make sure all of my gun stuff is solidly packed a few days in advance of my move.

Uncle Duke said:

PSD is crimped South Korean brass. It's the crimp that you'll need to deal with, not the #41 that's causing primer seating issues.

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This. You'll want to swage the pockets (ideally) or trim them.

Beyond knowing which head stamps are crimped, a quick way to check is get a primer pocket gauge. It'll both tell you if it is crimped and if the pocket is worn out (I don't worry much about the later). A set of go, no-go primer gauges for small and large is around $25 and fast to use once you figure it out.

Just make a pile of crimped and non-crimped brass.

Swaging is the ideal way to go, because you are not removing primer pocket material. Triming the pocket is okay too, but because you are removing some material, the pocket will loosen faster. For something like 5.56 brass probably not a concern as you are probably picking up tons of range brass anyway so who cares if the pockets wear out before the case necks.

Received the replacement Lee Classic Press handle and angled sleeve&mount. The orig ball handle on the right is supposed to be straight, not a 45deg bend coming off the mount..

The new handle is still hollow, hopefully the angles are engineered to handle the stresses because I still have a lot of 308win brass to decap..

Gave up on Lee presses after breaking a couple turret presses and having the exact same.thing as you picture happen.

I also tossed their decap dies when I discovered mighty armory. Wayne makes killer decap dies.

remrug said:

Loaded 5 rounds of 350 Legend with 25.5 gr of H110 and 165 gr FTX bullets. COL of 2.25. This is the first time I have loaded for 350 L and first time for straight walled.
I noticed the primers are backing out a tiny bit when seating the bullet. Not much, but can tell when standing them up. They wobble some before standing up straight. I backed down to 25 gr and still backing out.
I bought second hand brass that was deprimed and clean. I sized and trimmed to specs. Some of the pockets were loose and I scrapped a couple where I could pop the primers out easily.

Anybody think they know the reason the primers are backing out? Should I pull these and start with new brass? Just shoot them ?
Bolt gun btw

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I agree with the other responses- you got bad brass.
This is one of the main reasons I hand prime rifle rounds- it doesn't take long to be able to detect a loose primer pocket when you're squeezing by hand vs. on the press.

Squaregrouper said:

I agree with the other responses- you got bad brass.
This is one of the main reasons I hand prime rifle rounds- it doesn't take long to be able to detect a loose primer pocket when you're squeezing by hand vs. on the press.

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Seems to be the consensus. I was using a hand press that I have used for years. No primers were tight ,but most felt ok. But I knew I wouldn't load them again. I didnt feel they were too loose to fire once But now question that idea. A few that were really loose I popped the primer and scrapped.

I was planning to load some subsonics ,which would be a lower pressure than supers. What are your thoughts on that?

remrug said:

Seems to be the consensus. I was using a hand press that I have used for years. No primers were tight ,but most felt ok. But I knew I wouldn't load them again. I didnt feel they were too loose to fire once But now question that idea. A few that were really loose I popped the primer and scrapped.

I was planning to load some subsonics ,which would be a lower pressure than supers. What are your thoughts on that?

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If they were .38 Special or other really low pressure handgun rounds, maybe. For a rifle, even if subsonic, I would toss them.
Whenever you get the "Was there a primer in that hand squeeze?" and there was, trash it immediately.

Squaregrouper said:

If they were .38 Special or other really low pressure handgun rounds, maybe. For a rifle, even if subsonic, I would toss them.
Whenever you get the "Was there a primer in that hand squeeze?" and there was, trash it immediately.

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Gotcha....thanks
Its killing me ,I bought the rifle and components and cant load for it. New brass is almost non existent.


BTW The seller was pretty upset to find out he sold me worn brass and has more than made up the difference. I knew before the deal, he didnt know the history of it. But I took a chance anyway

remrug said:

Gotcha....thanks
Its killing me ,I bought the rifle and components and cant load for it. New brass is almost non existent.


BTW The seller was pretty upset to find out he sold me worn brass and has more than made up the difference. I knew before the deal, he didnt know the history of it. But I took a chance anyway

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Have had cases where the primers just fell out of the pockets of range pickup brass. I never noticed any of the range pickup brass I acquired have any with backed out primers, but some have had signs of overpressure. I also experienced a sticky bolt and a blown primer pocket using the max load of lil'gun with 170 grain hornady sp 350 legend bullets, following hodgon reloading data down to the exact specifications. I've yet called hodgon about it, but that load was definitely not a lawyer load.

Worst comes to worst, walmart still stocks factory ammo, both of the plinking and hunting variant, and it was how I acquired my first batch of brass. You could always pull them down to primed cases, and save the projectiles and powder, logging the factory load for later, if you need new brass now.



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