Military Brass Question....

animalloverbutalsohunter

animalloverbutalsohunter

New member
I have approximately 2000 pieces of military brass in 223... I was messing around with some last light and realized i can prime it without swaggering the primer pocket.... is this ok or should i swagger them anyways?

Thanks
Andrew
 
I normally just remove the crimp with a de-burring tool,but if they can go in without primer damage & seat all the way,I don't know what it would hurt.
 
If your primers are not crimped, go ahead and prime as normal... You don't indicate what brand of brass, so be sure to check what kind of primer is in the cases...before running through your sizing die..

If it is "Boxer"...single flash hole in the middle, you will be okay..

If it is "Berdan".. It will have two small flash holes that look like a snake bite and that will require a special de-priming tool for removal...

I had some Berdan mixed in with some brass that was given to me and spend the biggest part if an evening separating them with a little tiny flash light...also broke a couple of de-capping pins on my dies to start out...
 
The only problem I can see is, If you get a primer stuck part way in, you may have trouble getting it out of the priming tool. That is, if you are using a hand priming tool.
 
Last edited:
It will be fine as stated above. There is alot of the newer Lake City brass that the primer crimp isnt as strong as it used to be- and you can re-prime without any additional case prep.
 
ok thanks everyone! when i was priming them (lee hand primer) they felt a little tight, but that was it, i inspected the primers after they were in and sat flush and didnt appear to have any damage to them what so ever! So hopefully they will shoot good!

Thanks
Andrew
 
Old Turtle & MGYSGT - Let me play the novice on this crimping question on .223. First off, how can you tell whether the primer is crimped or not? If the bullet is crimped, do I ASSUME the primer is also and that ALL military ammo is crimped?

Secondly, curahee speaks of Lake City ammo. I have around 500+ rds of Black Hills .223 ammo that I bought some 10+ years ago and have now started shooting it my new .223 bolt gun (I suspect these a re reloads just like what they're turning out today). I do that just for the Lake City casings for reloading purposes. I have not noticed any crimping on this ammo, nor am I having any difficulty during reloading and installing Federal 205 primers.

I am aware that not all ammo is crimped and know what crimping looks like. But the original question posted on this subject confuses me a little bit (but them my wife tells me I'm easily confused). Please explain. Thx guys!
 
Black Hills produces (or at least used to) a "Red Box" and a "Blue Box" grade of ammo...One is 'new production' and will usually have a "BHA" head stamp on the cartridge base...the 'reloaded/re-manufactured' ammo will have a variety of head stamps..I'm still sitting on several hundred rounds of each...

If their bullets are crimped, I've never had a problem with it and their 'new production' ammo used to have a red sealer applied around the primer... It's been quite a few years since I've acquired any, so that may have changed.

Most of your crimped primers will offer a higher degree of resistance when being de-capped and you can usually see a small copper colored ring around the primer/primer pocket.

Not all military ammo is crimped...it would depend on the contract as it was written... I've found some older Lake City brass that was not crimped and is a pleasure to reload.

Almost all the Federal .223 brass is crimped due to a government contract and the company crimped the civilian brass rather than re-tooling to keep the two markets separate...

Hope this helps.... It seems that in the ammo production world, very little is constant...
 
I read that military match cases are not crimped primer pocket's. I had a bunch of LC 308 cases years ago and don't remember if they were or not. I have several hundred FA 49 cases in 30-06 right now and they are not crimped. Hard not to see the crimp, especially after you remove the primer. Quick twist with a champhering tool takes it right out.
 
You should swage them. I set off a .308 primer by being lazy. Got away with it for a while, then one didn't like being squeezed that hard.
 
I have read where a good number of people using the swedgeing tool have had some problems. Is this from setting it up wrong or are there some inherent problem's that need to be watched for? My champhering tool works every time.
 
Originally Posted By: Don FischerI have read where a good number of people using the swedgeing tool have had some problems. Is this from setting it up wrong or are there some inherent problem's that need to be watched for? My champhering tool works every time.

Yep, you gotta follow the set up directions, no problem with the tool.
The chamfering tool works fine for me too. It just doesn't take it long to get my arthritic fingers to hurting. Getting old ain't for sissies!
laugh.gif
 
My suggestion, if you plan on only working with the 2000 pcs., would be to cut the crimp out with a deburring tool.

The Dillon sawge is fantastic, I've had mine for several years. However, it takes a lot of brass to offset the price.
 
Quote:Is this from setting it up wrong or are there some inherent problem's that need to be watched for?

In my opinion, it's from setting it up wrong. If you start real shallow, and adjust it down while watching how deep it swages (it's easy to see), and stop about .010 from the bottom of the pocket, it works great.
If you try to go so deep that you feel pressure as it cams over, you'll have problems.
I doubt you even need to go as deep as I'm describing, but there's a radius former on the swager that breaks the outside burr if you observe carefully.

Mine's done thousands of 5.56 and 7.62 without any damage and the primers seat nice and smooth.
 
I can personally atest to LC 308 ammo back in 1983 - 1984 as not being crimped, whereas Federal.308 ammo was crimped. That Lake City stuff was some of the finest I could lay my hands on. Goodness I wish those sources hadn't dried up.

And thanks to all for the explanation and summary on crimped primers.
 
Back
Top