7.62 X 39 primers

Unique · January 27, 2025, 09:09 PM

Just loaded 500 rounds of 7.62 X 39, mixed headstamps and large rifle casings.
I got a few small rifle casings that weee mixed in so I tried to seat small rifle primes (winchesters) but could not get them to even start to seat.
Been loading forever so then I thought I’d get the swager die in case of military crimps even though I could t see them I did and still not for the life of me could I get a primer to start.
Then I took some 40’s and de primed them and the primers went in easy peasy. What am I not getting ?
3 hours later I go back in and size/decap (3) 5.56 casings and use same primers and they go straight in with no problem.
Beats me, this is the first experience with 7.62’s but been loading 30 something years and never a problem until these small primered casings.

armoredman · January 28, 2025, 08:35 AM

I had exactly 10 of the Remington small primer brass in that caliber, got rid of them after a while. I don't recall having that much trouble priming them, though. What brand are they?

Unique · January 28, 2025, 12:14 PM

Winchester casings.
What gets me is when I primed the 5.55/223 they jumped in and through the years I loaded thousands upon thousands.
All I can guess is this is the first time I ever loaded 7.62 and so these RCBS dies are new and the shell holder. I’m now wondering if the shell holder is not exactly drilled center.
But with the amount of people seen this post and not commenting that tells me most don’t have an idea either.
Where you at Uncle Nick. You’ll give it your best shot

**Unclenick** · January 28, 2025, 12:29 PM

It's an odd problem. Some foreign-made brass is tight in the pockets, but you said you swaged these? Are you sure these weren't brass-plated steel cases that sprung back after swaging? I don't know why Winchester would have those unless they were made on contract overseas. A magnet will tell you.

If they are brass and not steel, my next step would be to run a primer pocket profiling reamer in and cut away the excess. If you have a Wilson case trimmer, their primer pocket profile cutters are excellent.

If the shell holder worked with most of the cases, that wouldn't seem to be the problem. You could buy a primer pocket gauge to check, but unless you want to own the gauges anyway, it's not worth it for a dozen cases.

Unique · January 28, 2025, 12:43 PM

UncleNick no these are brass casings. Out of a batch of like 550 all I had were 26 small primer casings.
So these 500 plus large primers went perfectly.
My problem started with these 26 small primer casings. So I swapped shell holder and 223 went right in and swapped to 40 cal.
First time ever loading 7.62 so I bought from midway the RCBS dies and I bought this new Lee shell holder. All I can guess is maybe defective shell holder but don’t know.
I just ordered an RCBS 32 shell holder.
In maybe 35 years reloading never had this problem

Unique · January 28, 2025, 12:47 PM

Unless bad stamped Winchester small primer pockets. I don’t know. Other than wanting to find out for myself these 26 casings aren’t worth the time or effort.
But this same shell holder worked perfectly for the 7.62 large primered casings.

Unique · January 28, 2025, 12:51 PM

Even reamed the heck out of them and still won’t start.

jetinteriorguy · January 29, 2025, 12:46 PM

One last thing you can try without a huge investment would be to chamfer the pockets a little bit with something like a case mouth chamfering tool or a 45deg countersink bit. They may just need a little help getting started.

gwpercle · January 29, 2025, 07:31 PM

Some ammunition is loaded with "green" primers , these are Lead Free primers and usually small rifle and small pistol size . For some reson these clean lead free primers are crimped in place ... they aren't Military but they are crimped ... both rifle and handgun ..
I see a lot of 45 ACP so primed .
But you have to watch for them , they can be loaded with small rifle / pistol primers but the crimp must be removed and the pocket Uniformed with a Lyman or CH4D Primer Pocket Uniformer . The Uniformer cuts the pockets to the correct diameter and depth !
Seems like the ammo makers always trying to throw us reloaders curve balls !
Gary

bamaranger · January 30, 2025, 08:21 PM

Yeah, no idea what's going on. However, I was not aware that Winchester loaded 7.62x39mm with small primer pockets, so that strikes me as odd as well. Not saying they haven't, the OP has some apparently, so it's been done.
I don't have any Winchester brass with small pockets, all large. The only x39mm w/ small pockets I have seen or are in my possession are Remingtons.

Unique · January 31, 2025, 01:01 PM

Bamaranger , all my problems are with the Winchester small primer casings.
The 5 R P small primer casings had no problems at all.
Gonna chunk these Winchester 7.62 X 39 casings unless anyone wants them, pay shipping and they’re yours.

tangolima · January 31, 2025, 01:34 PM

How many do you have?

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Unique · January 31, 2025, 03:51 PM

26 casings

Marco Califo · January 31, 2025, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangolima

How many do you have?

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Read post 5. He has 26 of them.

tangolima · January 31, 2025, 04:14 PM

Got it. Thanks. I will pass. Too bad of is not local.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Unique · February 1, 2025, 10:45 AM

Got this figured out !!!
Ok so I bought a new RCBS die for these 7.62’s and a Lee shell holder. All the 500 plus large rifle casings went perfect. And like 4 small brass casings from different head stamp. But the Winchester small primers a reamed, swaged them. Tried different days and they wouldn’t accept a primer.
Ordered a new RCBS shell holder like 2 days ago and got delivered last night and the small rifle primers went in like butter.
The whole time something is off with the Lee shell holder.
Through the years I have loaded thousands upon thousands of tons of calibers out there. Most with RCBS shell holders and only RCBS dies but occasionally I have used Lee shell holders for other calibers since I have the Lee shel holder set and never had a problem.
Don’t know what’s the issue with this one since it loaded the 500 plus large primer 7.62 fine.
Maybe just a tad oversized hole for primers. I don’t know.
But there it is.

**Unclenick** · February 1, 2025, 06:47 PM

Sounds like it allowed a slight misalignment. I should have suggested simply removing the shell holder from the press and dropping one of the errant cases in to see if the hole never quite reached alignment or overshot it. Take a caliper and measure the rim diameter of the ones that work with it and the ones that don't, and I'll guess you'll find a difference.

If you look at a shell holder chart, the different brands all have some holders that handle more than one cartridge head size, but they don't all agree on which holders can overlap which cartridges, so they can indeed be different sizes even when they claim to cover your cartridge.

Shell Holders for 7.62×39 and 6 PPC:

Hornady #6
Lee #12
Lyman #3
RCBS #32
Redding #12

Hornady #6 and Redding #12 are also for 6 PPC, 256 Win Mag, 220 Russian, 22 Rem Jet, 22 PPC, 38 Special, 38 Long Colt, 357 Magnum, and Maximum.

Lee #12 is also for: 6 PPC, 224 Wby Mag, 220 Russian, 22 PPC. Most of the others the Hornady and Redding #12 are used for, Lee uses their #1 shell holder for.

RCBS #32 is also for 6 PPC, 220 Russian, 22 PPC, and 25 ACP.

You get the idea. They just don't cover the exact same bases. This chart at Graf & Sons is one of the better ones.

January 28, 2025, 12:29 PM	#4
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,743	It's an odd problem. Some foreign-made brass is tight in the pockets, but you said you swaged these? Are you sure these weren't brass-plated steel cases that sprung back after swaging? I don't know why Winchester would have those unless they were made on contract overseas. A magnet will tell you. If they are brass and not steel, my next step would be to run a primer pocket profiling reamer in and cut away the excess. If you have a Wilson case trimmer, their primer pocket profile cutters are excellent. If the shell holder worked with most of the cases, that wouldn't seem to be the problem. You could buy a primer pocket gauge to check, but unless you want to own the gauges anyway, it's not worth it for a dozen cases. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

January 30, 2025, 08:21 PM	#10
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,800	odd Yeah, no idea what's going on. However, I was not aware that Winchester loaded 7.62x39mm with small primer pockets, so that strikes me as odd as well. Not saying they haven't, the OP has some apparently, so it's been done. I don't have any Winchester brass with small pockets, all large. The only x39mm w/ small pockets I have seen or are in my possession are Remingtons.

January 31, 2025, 03:51 PM	#13
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	26 casings Last edited by Unique; January 31, 2025 at 04:03 PM.

February 1, 2025, 06:47 PM	#17
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,743	Sounds like it allowed a slight misalignment. I should have suggested simply removing the shell holder from the press and dropping one of the errant cases in to see if the hole never quite reached alignment or overshot it. Take a caliper and measure the rim diameter of the ones that work with it and the ones that don't, and I'll guess you'll find a difference. If you look at a shell holder chart, the different brands all have some holders that handle more than one cartridge head size, but they don't all agree on which holders can overlap which cartridges, so they can indeed be different sizes even when they claim to cover your cartridge. Shell Holders for 7.62×39 and 6 PPC: Hornady #6 Lee #12 Lyman #3 RCBS #32 Redding #12 Hornady #6 and Redding #12 are also for 6 PPC, 256 Win Mag, 220 Russian, 22 Rem Jet, 22 PPC, 38 Special, 38 Long Colt, 357 Magnum, and Maximum. Lee #12 is also for: 6 PPC, 224 Wby Mag, 220 Russian, 22 PPC. Most of the others the Hornady and Redding #12 are used for, Lee uses their #1 shell holder for. RCBS #32 is also for 6 PPC, 220 Russian, 22 PPC, and 25 ACP. You get the idea. They just don't cover the exact same bases. This chart at Graf & Sons is one of the better ones. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

January 27, 2025, 09:09 PM	#1
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	7.62 X 39 primers Just loaded 500 rounds of 7.62 X 39, mixed headstamps and large rifle casings. I got a few small rifle casings that weee mixed in so I tried to seat small rifle primes (winchesters) but could not get them to even start to seat. Been loading forever so then I thought I’d get the swager die in case of military crimps even though I could t see them I did and still not for the life of me could I get a primer to start. Then I took some 40’s and de primed them and the primers went in easy peasy. What am I not getting ? 3 hours later I go back in and size/decap (3) 5.56 casings and use same primers and they go straight in with no problem. Beats me, this is the first experience with 7.62’s but been loading 30 something years and never a problem until these small primered casings. Last edited by Unique; January 28, 2025 at 01:17 AM.

January 28, 2025, 08:35 AM	#2
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,480	I had exactly 10 of the Remington small primer brass in that caliber, got rid of them after a while. I don't recall having that much trouble priming them, though. What brand are they?

January 28, 2025, 12:14 PM	#3
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	Winchester casings. What gets me is when I primed the 5.55/223 they jumped in and through the years I loaded thousands upon thousands. All I can guess is this is the first time I ever loaded 7.62 and so these RCBS dies are new and the shell holder. I’m now wondering if the shell holder is not exactly drilled center. But with the amount of people seen this post and not commenting that tells me most don’t have an idea either. Where you at Uncle Nick. You’ll give it your best shot

January 28, 2025, 12:43 PM	#5
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	UncleNick no these are brass casings. Out of a batch of like 550 all I had were 26 small primer casings. So these 500 plus large primers went perfectly. My problem started with these 26 small primer casings. So I swapped shell holder and 223 went right in and swapped to 40 cal. First time ever loading 7.62 so I bought from midway the RCBS dies and I bought this new Lee shell holder. All I can guess is maybe defective shell holder but don’t know. I just ordered an RCBS 32 shell holder. In maybe 35 years reloading never had this problem

January 28, 2025, 12:47 PM	#6
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	Unless bad stamped Winchester small primer pockets. I don’t know. Other than wanting to find out for myself these 26 casings aren’t worth the time or effort. But this same shell holder worked perfectly for the 7.62 large primered casings.

January 28, 2025, 12:51 PM	#7
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	Even reamed the heck out of them and still won’t start.

January 29, 2025, 12:46 PM	#8
jetinteriorguy Senior Member Join Date: April 28, 2013 Posts: 3,476	One last thing you can try without a huge investment would be to chamfer the pockets a little bit with something like a case mouth chamfering tool or a 45deg countersink bit. They may just need a little help getting started.

January 29, 2025, 07:31 PM	#9
gwpercle Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2012 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 1,915	Some ammunition is loaded with "green" primers , these are Lead Free primers and usually small rifle and small pistol size . For some reson these clean lead free primers are crimped in place ... they aren't Military but they are crimped ... both rifle and handgun .. I see a lot of 45 ACP so primed . But you have to watch for them , they can be loaded with small rifle / pistol primers but the crimp must be removed and the pocket Uniformed with a Lyman or CH4D Primer Pocket Uniformer . The Uniformer cuts the pockets to the correct diameter and depth ! Seems like the ammo makers always trying to throw us reloaders curve balls ! Gary

January 31, 2025, 01:01 PM	#11
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	Bamaranger , all my problems are with the Winchester small primer casings. The 5 R P small primer casings had no problems at all. Gonna chunk these Winchester 7.62 X 39 casings unless anyone wants them, pay shipping and they’re yours.

January 31, 2025, 01:34 PM	#12
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 5,178	How many do you have? -TL Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

January 31, 2025, 04:14 PM	#15
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 5,178	Got it. Thanks. I will pass. Too bad of is not local. -TL Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

February 1, 2025, 10:45 AM	#16
Unique Member Join Date: May 22, 2017 Location: Central Texas Posts: 90	Got this figured out !!! Ok so I bought a new RCBS die for these 7.62’s and a Lee shell holder. All the 500 plus large rifle casings went perfect. And like 4 small brass casings from different head stamp. But the Winchester small primers a reamed, swaged them. Tried different days and they wouldn’t accept a primer. Ordered a new RCBS shell holder like 2 days ago and got delivered last night and the small rifle primers went in like butter. The whole time something is off with the Lee shell holder. Through the years I have loaded thousands upon thousands of tons of calibers out there. Most with RCBS shell holders and only RCBS dies but occasionally I have used Lee shell holders for other calibers since I have the Lee shel holder set and never had a problem. Don’t know what’s the issue with this one since it loaded the 500 plus large primer 7.62 fine. Maybe just a tad oversized hole for primers. I don’t know. But there it is.