.223 Military brass depriming info needed

Lilswede1 · September 29, 2008, 12:35 AM

I bought a $40 press from Lyman with a Universal Decapping Die for knocking the primers out of military .223 brass.
I atttached Lyman's primer pocket reamer to my drill and used it on several cases.
The results were pretty good except I can still see a little red ring around the primer pocket.
Primers "seem" to seat alright but I have not added any powder yet (just building dummy rounds).
Need input from you folks who have been doing this sorta thing for awhile.

scsov509 · September 29, 2008, 01:27 AM

Don't worry about the "red ring", it's not uncommon to still see that a little after removing the crimp. If you don't get the crimp removed then you're going to know as soon as you try to prime the brass. A crimped or partially crimped piece of brass will absolutely destroy a primer, or at least mangle it up enough that it won't seat anywhere near all the way. So if the brass feels like it's priming alright, then it sounds like you're doing fine.

sourdough44 · September 29, 2008, 03:50 AM

I agree, you can tell by 'feel' if the crimp was removed properly from military brass. If you feel a lot of resistance compared to priming regular cases you should open it up more. I use the Hornaday hand tool to do the job.

September 29, 2008, 12:35 AM	#1
Lilswede1 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2008 Location: NW Wash State Posts: 216	.223 Military brass depriming info needed I bought a $40 press from Lyman with a Universal Decapping Die for knocking the primers out of military .223 brass. I atttached Lyman's primer pocket reamer to my drill and used it on several cases. The results were pretty good except I can still see a little red ring around the primer pocket. Primers "seem" to seat alright but I have not added any powder yet (just building dummy rounds). Need input from you folks who have been doing this sorta thing for awhile.

September 29, 2008, 01:27 AM	#2
scsov509 Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 2006 Posts: 819	Don't worry about the "red ring", it's not uncommon to still see that a little after removing the crimp. If you don't get the crimp removed then you're going to know as soon as you try to prime the brass. A crimped or partially crimped piece of brass will absolutely destroy a primer, or at least mangle it up enough that it won't seat anywhere near all the way. So if the brass feels like it's priming alright, then it sounds like you're doing fine.

September 29, 2008, 03:50 AM	#3
sourdough44 Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2007 Location: WI Posts: 621	I agree, you can tell by 'feel' if the crimp was removed properly from military brass. If you feel a lot of resistance compared to priming regular cases you should open it up more. I use the Hornaday hand tool to do the job.