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Old October 25, 2012, 10:14 AM   #1
Lilswede1
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.223 brass with military crimp

Have 1000+ once-fired .223 brass, sorted my mfg., with military primers.
Which tool and method is best for removing the crimp in this brass?
Is it wise to use a pocket uniform cutting tool after primer pocket has been resized?
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Old October 25, 2012, 10:44 AM   #2
brokenanew
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I usually use the Lyman hand tool but Ive never had more than 200 to do. And it does take some time.
Hers a read for you
http://squibloads.wordpress.com/relo...the-crimp-out/
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Old October 25, 2012, 03:07 PM   #3
p loader
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After knocking the old primers out I use the Lee chamfer tool to buzz out the crimp. It slips neatly on top of a magnetic nut driver drill bit (with small piece of masking tape between the chamfer tool and bit to make it snug up). It looks like it came that way from the factory and works flawlessly.

Once complete switch to primer correction tool and use drill to buzz out primer pocket. I have been advised to use this tool with the drill on low speed, so as not to cut too deep.
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Old October 25, 2012, 03:14 PM   #4
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I have an RCBS primer pocket swager. It presses out the crimp. You should sort the cases by manufacturer and set the swager for each since the thickness of the base may vary. In addition, I chamfer the edges.

It's a pain, but it works.
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Old October 25, 2012, 03:22 PM   #5
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Best to me would be the 1050 while sizing and trimming
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Old October 25, 2012, 04:30 PM   #6
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The RCBS bench swager tool is great for big runs like yours. Works essentially like the Dillon but is less expensive.

No, no pocket uniforming needed.
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Old October 25, 2012, 05:17 PM   #7
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The dillon super swage 600 is the best period. Its $100 but its worth it. Ive tried many cheaper options in the past. I actually just got my dillon about a month ago. Wish I picked it up years ago. So easy. Super consistant. Very fast operation. I you are serious about once fired brass then the dillon is the way to go. I order once fired brass online all the time. Most of the 223 is crimped. I dont even have to sort brass anymore. The dillon doesnt care.
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Old October 25, 2012, 07:03 PM   #8
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Ditto on the Dillon Super Swager. It is a benchtop tool, very heavy duty and pretty quick to go through the cases. I have done a few hundred cases at a time and probably about 6K total of .223, .30-06 and .308.

Uniforming is not required, but I like a nice even primer seating. You need to swage or ream the crimp before uniforming though otherwise the uniforming head will bind against the tight pocket walls.
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Old October 25, 2012, 09:52 PM   #9
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You'll only remove that crimp once...so if it takes you an hour or so...it beats buying one of the dedicated bench tools to do it. I knock out the primer with a decaping die, then chuck up my chamfer tool in a drill, and use the inside taper to lightly remove the crimp. You could do a thousand in about ten minutes that way. I've done it this way for LC .30-06 and 5.56 brass for years. Best Regards, Rod
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Old October 25, 2012, 09:55 PM   #10
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Dillon super swage. Hands down
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Old October 27, 2012, 10:26 AM   #11
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^^^
What he said!

But because I can't afford one, I buy my brass once fired and swagged
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Old October 27, 2012, 10:58 AM   #12
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If you don't buy much brass the other ways do work, and if you do buy the Dillon that adds 100.00 to the price of your brass. I just can't see spending 100.00 to do one thousand rounds.
The next brass I buy will be already cleaned and the crimp removed.
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Old October 27, 2012, 12:12 PM   #13
moxie
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For many of us, every time we go to the range, unavoidably or desirably as the case may be, someone else's crimped brass follows us home, mixed in with our own. These have to be swaged. Over time an easy tool like the RCBS bench mount or the Dillon pays off.
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Old October 27, 2012, 12:14 PM   #14
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Probably some terminology should be defined. There are four kinds of uniforming that are commonly done to primer pockets. Depth uniforming, profile uniforming, flash hole uniforming, and flash hole deburring. Depth uniforming is done with a carbide end cutter like the one mentioned and linked to earlier. Profile uniforming is done with a swager or with a primer pocket reamer. In the process any sort of crimp is also removed.

If you want to remove the crimp, but don't care about profile uniforming, then I think the chamfer tools are adequate. If you want to uniform the primer pocket profile, it does make primer seating feel more consistent, and in the case of harder to seat primers, like the Russian KVB primers, it definitely makes that less of a chore.

If you want to uniform pocket depth, it is usually done both to improve ignition consistency and to reduce slamfire probability in gas guns. It gets more important in high reload count cases, as the brass at the bottom of the primer pocket tends to flow rearward over timer, making it shallower. Many now use the depth uniforming tools to clean primer pocket residue because it tends to trim flowed brass down at the same time.

Uniforming flash holes is a waste of time if you don't deburr them. This is really a benchrest precision step. Hole chucking reamers are available for the purpose. Deburring flash holes is something I've found to make a measurable improvement with some spherical propellants, but seldom see a difference with stick powders. Both are ignition consistency improving techniques, so the harder the powder you have is to light, the more you should consider trying them to see if you get an improved group size.
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Old October 27, 2012, 07:54 PM   #15
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The difference in price between a hand reamer or drill reamer and the dillion super swage is pretty big. But its easy to ruin the brass with a hand reamer and not with a super swage.

My 8 year old wants to help, I decap and resize several hundred rounds , he sits at the super swage and goes to town. So easy...an 8year old can do it.
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Old October 27, 2012, 07:58 PM   #16
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wouldn't that be called child labor, lol
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Old October 27, 2012, 08:03 PM   #17
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Quote:
If you don't buy much brass the other ways do work, and if you do buy the Dillon that adds 100.00 to the price of your brass. I just can't see spending 100.00 to do one thousand rounds.
The next brass I buy will be already cleaned and the crimp removed.
You only have to buy the Dillon once.
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Old October 27, 2012, 08:08 PM   #18
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Beats taking out the trash! Plus he's all proud with a big bucket of brass he worked.
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Old October 27, 2012, 08:20 PM   #19
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Yes, that Super Swage is pricey. But you only have to buy it ONCE.

You will definitely save the most important facet of all--yout time. That's why over the years, I've tried to automate as much as possible.

You will have to remove primer pocket crimps from mil surp brass. Guess what? You'll also have to do it on some regular primer purchases. A good example is PMC .223.

And if you have a whole bucketful of surplus brass, after it's cleaned and deprimed, the Dillon Super Swage is almost flawless, consistent in use and very easy to use.

Get the Dillon tool; you won't regret it.
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Old October 30, 2012, 11:36 AM   #20
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I have RCBS sweging combo set, Works Good, slow Just receved C-H 4D sweging and priming set, faster a little toucher seting up so you don't bend the rims. Did 100 in 20 mins with the C-H
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Old October 30, 2012, 12:18 PM   #21
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The dillon super swage 600 is the best. I paid $90.
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Old October 31, 2012, 10:30 AM   #22
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Seems to me the last time I ran a batch through the Super Swage I got 1000 done in about 50 minutes. So I'm running right at about 3 seconds each. Probably a little faster, since I have to stop and move things around occasionally and, going that fast, I have ruined a couple or three cases out of the batch by not getting them fully down into position. The result is the swaging ram goes in off-center, and it is easily powerful enough to swage right into the solid head brass.

Note that swaging does tend to press any flash hole burrs flat and partly over the flash hole in many instances. For best ignition consistency you will want to deburr flash holes when swaging, so the real process time isn't as quick as just the swager itself is. But I also find, particularly with spherical propellants, that the deburred case improves ignition consistency, so I don't see this as a waste.
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Last edited by Unclenick; October 31, 2012 at 10:36 AM. Reason: typo fix
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