Progressive Press and Primer Pocket

[bkhann]

I have been reloading now for several months and have reloaded about 3000 rounds. I am using a Lee Classic Turret Press set up as a single stage (I have disabled the auto indexing feature).
Being very conscientious about all aspects of reloading, thus to date I have had no issues with my finished product.
I can see in the near future purchasing a progressive press, as single stage loading is quite time consuming. One thing that concerns me is that there is no provision for cleaning the primer pocket when you load with a Progressive Press.
Is primer pocket cleaning an unnecessary step, or can I expect to produce a compromised product?

[margiesex]

I would say that I could help you out, but I'm alone in the concept that I deprime and resize before I tumble - to help clean out some gunk from the primer pocket.

That still leaves you the progressive issue - and, I have a RCBS PRO 2000 - and basically, I use the first two stations - then tumble, hand prime and set up 2 stations as powder and crimp.

I feel that using the press this way, I handle my brass more and have a better handle on quality control.

I do not clean my primer pockets any more than the tumble on handgun loads (9, 38. 357, 40, 45), but clean all primer pockets on rifle ammo.

Again, you'll get loads of suggestions on this one.

God bless and good shooting.

Margiesex

And remember - Hug your God and your guns - 'cause he's coming for them both, and soon!

[Farmland]

I have never cleaned handgun pockets.

[hornady]

Rifle I like to clean every time. Hand gun I am not that picky But I do keep them in lots like the Rifle and clean about every 4th or 5th fire. I picked up a cheap single stage press just for this. It also comes in handy for depriming Mil- brass or swaging primer pockets.

[rc]

Primer pocket cleaning is not mandatory especially with handgun ammo. The punch clears the primer pocket and it's only a problem if you can't seat the new primer. In thousands of pistol rounds loaded progresively, it hasn't been a problem.

[BigJimP]

I don't clean primer pockets on any handgun reloads - and I've loaded many thousands of cartridges in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 acp, .38 spl, .357 mag and .44 mag without a single misfire.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I am using a Lee Classic Turret Press set up as a single stage (I have disabled the auto indexing feature).

I can see in the near future purchasing a progressive press, as single stage loading is quite time consuming.

Put the indexing rod back in....Granted, it's not a progressive but it's capable of being a whole lot faster than a single stage...

[RidgwayCO]

To increase the output from your LCT, you'll need to install the auto-indexing rod. I also like to clean primer pockets, as it eliminates one more thing that could go wrong with my reloads. So to increase my production rate (and not have to purchase a full progressive press), here's the process I developed for my LCT:

1) Once my "Needs Processing" plastic box for a certain caliber is full, I take each case and deprime it using my Lee Universal Decapping Die, and then give the primer pocket a quick hit with the appropriate primer pocket uniformer spinning in the RCBS Trim Mate Case Prep Center.

2) All the cases to be processed are then placed in my vibratory case cleaner for a couple of hours with corn cob media, a capful of Nu-Finish car wax (at most), and a couple of used dryer fabric softener sheets cut up into fourths. After the cases are shiny, they get checked for cleaning media stuck in the flash holes, and then stored in the "Ready for Reloading" plastic box.

3) When I'm ready to reload, I first prime the cases I'll be reloading with my RCBS hand priming tool. After priming, each case is placed in the reloading block with the primer up so that I can check for high primers. Now they're ready for their trip around the LCT.

4) In station 1, each case is resized. In station 2, each case has its mouth flared and the appropriate amount of powder dropped with the Lee Pro Auto-Disk powder measure. In station 3, the bullet is seated after checking for the correct amount of powder every time. And in station 4, the crimp is applied.

5) The loaded rounds are then placed in plastic ammo boxes for eventual use. Boxes are marked with all appropriate load information, and the date they were produced.

The main advantage of the LCT for me is that it eliminates a lot of the case swapping required with a single-stage press. Once my cases are prepped and primed, each one goes through the four stations of the LCT and is done. Yes, it would be faster to use a true progressive press, but I wouldn't be comfortable not seeing each process being completed on each case (my hangup, I guess).

I've found the most important safety step is making sure the Lee Pro Auto-Disk has dropped the correct amount of powder each time before seating a bullet. I like the LCT because the case is right in front of you, and I've rigged a flex-neck LED flashlight to shine directly down on the case and easily see the powder column inside. Some powders are much more uniform in their drops than others (read "VihtaVuori" and spherical powders), and I've been stocking them at the exclusion of those that are prone to "bridging" and therefore light drops (read "Hodgdon Clays").

So unless you're dying to get a progressive, you might try my approach to speed up your ammunition production.

Also, for those of you who don't clean your primer pockets, this is not an attack on you, your family, or your way of life, so please don't be insulted. The great thing about this hobby is that you can do the steps you feel are necessary, and skip the ones you think are superfluous. And as long as your rounds go "bang" who really cares?...

[bkhann]

Thank you RidgewayCo. It sounds like this might be a logical "next step" to the reloading program.