Depriming pistol brass problem

Lemmon · July 22, 2010, 11:55 AM

I purchased range brass from one vender and a about 3% of it seem to have the primers "glued" in and when depriming only the top part of the primer cup is removed or better word would be torn out and the sides of the cup are frozen in the primer pocket of the brass. Found this to be true in a number of .380 and 9MM shells. These are not military crimped rounds but what I believe is commercial brass. I now keep a wooden dowel handy that I use to pry the shell out of the shell holder when this happens. I also now deprime my this brass before inserting into my progressive press, easier to correct on a single stage press than the progressive press. Any body else having a problem like this or know what I am running into?

I do not think I will have this same problem on brass that I have reloaded.
Thanks, Lemmon

alfack · July 22, 2010, 12:01 PM

I never had that happen for pistol brass, but odds are it is only one brand or headstamp that is the problem. If'n it were me, I would sort the brass and toss that brand. Not worth the hassle.

Doodlebugger45 · July 22, 2010, 12:09 PM

I have never had that problem but I have never messed with .380 or 9 mm stuff. I have bought a little bit of range brass for .357 and .44 mag and .45 LC and never encountered the problem. Mostly though I prefer to buy new brass if I decide I need more stock. That way I know the entire history of that case. If possible, I also try to just stick with one brand of brass for a given caliber to avoid problems like different brass thickness or lengths.

engineermike · July 22, 2010, 12:57 PM

A lot of the problems that I have had with range brass is that of the crimped primer. I just discard the ones with the problem brass head stamp and move on. If you want to keep and use the brass that is giving you problems then double check to be sure they are not crimped and call the manufaturer for more information, if you find the primer has been crimped then you are going to have to invest in a new tool.

riverwalker76 · July 22, 2010, 01:13 PM

If they appear to be 'glued' in then they have a primer sealer on the surface to prevent water penetration, and are more than likely crimped as well.

You can get the primer sealer off by soaking them for an hour in acetone a.k.a. fingernail polish remover and letting them dry in the sun afterwards.

S&B headstamps are notorious for being overcautious about their cartridges. They usually crimp and seal every primer pocket.

BigJimP · July 22, 2010, 01:25 PM

I don't load much .380 / but in 9mm I just completed a run of 5,000 rounds and I had some issues show up on 9mm brass ( and I sweep up the range floors too for brass ) ....

1. some of it was bedan primed / looks like surplus ammo out of Czech ... It was marked SO - 4 not 9mm ... and its got a funny look to the brass / so its easy to spot. Somebody is probably selling this junk at the local gunshows. I found at least 200 of them in the last batch of brass I cleaned and sorted ( probably 6,000 cases ).

2. FC NT brass 9mm luger ....has started showing up. The NT is for Non Toxic primers / and its hard to see but the primers are crimped. I'm not having a problem de-priming them / but re-priming them is where they crush primers ... I found at least 500 of them in the last 6,000 cases I sorted...

3. S&B brass is a pain as well / so I dump that stuff too. For awhile I was picking up a lot of it ( about a yr ago ) ..now not too much of it is showing up. Someone told me their bullets have a steel core / so the ranges quit selling it as "range ammo" ...but I don't know if they knew what they were talking about.

the only thing you can do is identify the head stamps that are causing you the problem / and sort them out. In my case, I clean them ...and then sort thru them by hand ( tossing out the bad ones ). There are quite a few man hours in sorting 5,000 cases ...but its a lot better than interrupting the process on a progressive loader. I use a case feeder too -- so once I dump the lubed cases into the case feeder, I don't touch them again unless there is an issue in station 1 or 2 usually ...

jbrown13 · July 22, 2010, 03:57 PM

Something I have tried with the 9mm S&B brass that have the red sealant on the primers is to take my chamfer tool and put a small bevel on the edge of the primer pocket. I couldn't see any evidence of a crimp, but I did notice that the edge of the primer pockets were much sharper than most brass. After trying this I no longer have difficulties priming S&B 9mm brass.

July 22, 2010, 11:55 AM	#1
Lemmon Senior Member Join Date: December 25, 2009 Location: Rural South Carolina Posts: 445	Depriming pistol brass problem I purchased range brass from one vender and a about 3% of it seem to have the primers "glued" in and when depriming only the top part of the primer cup is removed or better word would be torn out and the sides of the cup are frozen in the primer pocket of the brass. Found this to be true in a number of .380 and 9MM shells. These are not military crimped rounds but what I believe is commercial brass. I now keep a wooden dowel handy that I use to pry the shell out of the shell holder when this happens. I also now deprime my this brass before inserting into my progressive press, easier to correct on a single stage press than the progressive press. Any body else having a problem like this or know what I am running into? I do not think I will have this same problem on brass that I have reloaded. Thanks, Lemmon

July 22, 2010, 01:13 PM	#5
riverwalker76 Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 993	If they appear to be 'glued' in then they have a primer sealer on the surface to prevent water penetration, and are more than likely crimped as well. You can get the primer sealer off by soaking them for an hour in acetone a.k.a. fingernail polish remover and letting them dry in the sun afterwards. S&B headstamps are notorious for being overcautious about their cartridges. They usually crimp and seal every primer pocket. __________________ *Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto* - “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.”

July 22, 2010, 12:01 PM	#2
alfack Senior Member Join Date: March 4, 2009 Location: Marysville, Washington Posts: 195	I never had that happen for pistol brass, but odds are it is only one brand or headstamp that is the problem. If'n it were me, I would sort the brass and toss that brand. Not worth the hassle.

July 22, 2010, 12:09 PM	#3
Doodlebugger45 Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2009 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,717	I have never had that problem but I have never messed with .380 or 9 mm stuff. I have bought a little bit of range brass for .357 and .44 mag and .45 LC and never encountered the problem. Mostly though I prefer to buy new brass if I decide I need more stock. That way I know the entire history of that case. If possible, I also try to just stick with one brand of brass for a given caliber to avoid problems like different brass thickness or lengths.

July 22, 2010, 12:57 PM	#4
engineermike Junior member Join Date: March 14, 2010 Location: Oklahaoma City Posts: 538	A lot of the problems that I have had with range brass is that of the crimped primer. I just discard the ones with the problem brass head stamp and move on. If you want to keep and use the brass that is giving you problems then double check to be sure they are not crimped and call the manufaturer for more information, if you find the primer has been crimped then you are going to have to invest in a new tool.

July 22, 2010, 01:25 PM	#6
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	I don't load much .380 / but in 9mm I just completed a run of 5,000 rounds and I had some issues show up on 9mm brass ( and I sweep up the range floors too for brass ) .... 1. some of it was bedan primed / looks like surplus ammo out of Czech ... It was marked SO - 4 not 9mm ... and its got a funny look to the brass / so its easy to spot. Somebody is probably selling this junk at the local gunshows. I found at least 200 of them in the last batch of brass I cleaned and sorted ( probably 6,000 cases ). 2. FC NT brass 9mm luger ....has started showing up. The NT is for Non Toxic primers / and its hard to see but the primers are crimped. I'm not having a problem de-priming them / but re-priming them is where they crush primers ... I found at least 500 of them in the last 6,000 cases I sorted... 3. S&B brass is a pain as well / so I dump that stuff too. For awhile I was picking up a lot of it ( about a yr ago ) ..now not too much of it is showing up. Someone told me their bullets have a steel core / so the ranges quit selling it as "range ammo" ...but I don't know if they knew what they were talking about. the only thing you can do is identify the head stamps that are causing you the problem / and sort them out. In my case, I clean them ...and then sort thru them by hand ( tossing out the bad ones ). There are quite a few man hours in sorting 5,000 cases ...but its a lot better than interrupting the process on a progressive loader. I use a case feeder too -- so once I dump the lubed cases into the case feeder, I don't touch them again unless there is an issue in station 1 or 2 usually ...

July 22, 2010, 03:57 PM	#7
jbrown13 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: Perry, GA Posts: 105	Something I have tried with the 9mm S&B brass that have the red sealant on the primers is to take my chamfer tool and put a small bevel on the edge of the primer pocket. I couldn't see any evidence of a crimp, but I did notice that the edge of the primer pockets were much sharper than most brass. After trying this I no longer have difficulties priming S&B 9mm brass.