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Old August 26, 2012, 12:43 PM   #1
rebs
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LC 5.56 case prep ?

with once fired LC 5.56 cases, do you deprime and size or just deprime before you trim to length ?
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Old August 26, 2012, 01:07 PM   #2
Edward429451
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You have to size them before you trim because they grow in the size die. I do deprime and size before I trim and then I debur the flash holes to finish the prep.

ETA; oh yeah, and de-crimping the primer pocket. Forgot that.

Last edited by Edward429451; August 26, 2012 at 02:34 PM.
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Old August 26, 2012, 01:12 PM   #3
tobnpr
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Sometimes with LC brass (as with any military brass) you may need to remove the crimp ring after decapping/sizing.

I run them on a LNL progressive press, and while the pockets are sometimes tight, I can usually seat them without the extra de-crimping step.

Easiest way if you need to do it is to put a de-crimping tool into a drill on slow speed.
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Old August 26, 2012, 02:20 PM   #4
rebs
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I run them on a LNL progressive press, and while the pockets are sometimes tight, I can usually seat them without the extra de-crimping step.

I tried that and crushed a lot of primers. How do you avoid crushing the new primers ?
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Old August 26, 2012, 02:54 PM   #5
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With LC brass it's usually best to de-crimp the primer pockets, then you won't be crushing primers. Another help is hand priming with the Lee Auto Prime tool. Much more effective, for me, than priming on the press.

Yes, you need to size new or once-fired or thousandth-fired brass. Then trim. Then chamfer and deburr the case mouth. Flash hole deburring is very optional. I've never done it.
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Old August 26, 2012, 06:31 PM   #6
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Rebs;
Dunno. I've only bought LC a couple of times (usually buy Winchester), but while they definitely felt tight, I didn't crush any. Maybe I just got lucky with those I had... CCI primers.
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Old August 26, 2012, 08:33 PM   #7
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I run all my LC 223 brass through an RCBS sb die and then uniform the flash holes. then I get the same amount of swage on each case. I can run them through the RCBS swager almost as fast as the Dillon somebody stole. Clean the primer pockets to remove the ash and any brass left over from the flash hole tool, and they're good to go.
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Old August 26, 2012, 09:00 PM   #8
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Quote:
Dunno. I've only bought LC a couple of times (usually buy Winchester), but while they definitely felt tight, I didn't crush any. Maybe I just got lucky with those I had... CCI primers.
Were you using the CCI #41 primers? Back before I got my Dillon swager, I found that the harder cup material on the 41s often allows me to seat them without decrimping the brass first.
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Old August 26, 2012, 11:32 PM   #9
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Depriming and sizing is one step for my Hornady LNL. Then I trim, chamfer and debur, and remove the crimp. I use the RCBS tim mate case prep so it's done at one station.
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Old August 27, 2012, 10:46 AM   #10
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I buy my LC brass already swaged! I did pay a little much, I think $60-65 for 500.
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Old August 27, 2012, 10:53 AM   #11
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Size (and decap), then trim. Try using a countersink bit in a cordless drill to remove the crimp -- not sure about 5.56 LC brass but it works great with some and it's *fast*.

All the FC brass that I've picked up was too short by a thousandth or two after sizing . So I separate it out and use it together as a batch because I might have to adjust the dies for it. No need to trim, just check for any long ones.

I haven't shot enough 5.56 yet to know if I should invest in a small-base die.
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Old August 27, 2012, 01:47 PM   #12
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Ditto with the countersink bit. Fast and effective.
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Old August 28, 2012, 07:14 AM   #13
rebs
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I use a 3/8th drill in my cordless screw driver to remove the crimp, very quick and easy.
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Old August 28, 2012, 04:54 PM   #14
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With a Dillon trimmer in station 4 and Dillon decapping/resizing die in station 1 of my case prep toolhead on my Dillon 650 with casefeeder, all necked rifle brass prep is a breeze. I trimm .223/5.56, .308, 30-06, and even taper walled 30 Carbine brass without ever having to touch a single case. Just dump the tumbled and lubed brass into the casefeeder, turn on the trimmer, and then start cranking.

In goes the fired brass and out comes decapped, resized, and trimmed brass ready for a quick 10 minute tumbling to remove the lube and they are ready for handloading. If they have a crimp, a quick pass through the Dillon Swagger. If not, they are ready for the reloading toolhead for quality handloads ready to shoot.
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Old August 28, 2012, 05:53 PM   #15
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My process for once fired LC brass:
- tumble
- decap/resize
- swage primer crimp
- uniform primer pocket (depth)
- trim

I use a standard resize die the first time prepping the brass. Later firings I use an X-Die so I just clean, decap/resize.
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Old August 28, 2012, 06:05 PM   #16
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with any LC Nato brass the best is to full-lengh resize the brass and de-prime frist, then swage the primer pocket to get rid of the crimp that is used on Nato brass. Dillion makes a Super Swager 600 that does both large and small primer pockets. then clean and prep like normal. Once you have fire formed the brass to your chamber then use a neck sizing die. I use Nato brass for .308 because that brass is annealed at the neck and shoulder and the primer pocket. it is a little thicker brass so becareful when loading. rule of thumb is to start low and work your way up. hope this helps
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