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Old June 10, 2019, 09:31 AM   #26
mrdaputer
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I bought some 357 Hertz ammo from Cabela's and before I could reload them I had to work every one with a tool or they were a bear to get in. I will never buy Hertz ammo again lesson learned.
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Old June 10, 2019, 07:11 PM   #27
Grey_Lion
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dahermit View Post
Even when I chamfer the primer pocket hole with a 3/16 drill bit, the primers are still way to tight to fit in the hole correctly. So no, it is not a matter of crimped in primers.
A chamfer doesn't necessarily fully correct a primer crimp. You're putting in a slight bevel which should ease in a primer, but if the base of the primer hole was deformed by a heavy crimp, you may be out of spec enough to choke in the primer pocket at the bottom.

Remington pistol brass comes pre-chamfered in the primer pocket which I like.

Next question - what brass headstamp are you using? I haven't seen that specified in the post. ( I hope it's not blazer. perfecta, or aguila )
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Old June 10, 2019, 07:55 PM   #28
Reloadron
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Quote:
Next question - what brass headstamp are you using? I haven't seen that specified in the post. ( I hope it's not blazer. perfecta, or aguila )
The original poster mentions:
Quote:
The head stamps are: CBC, Blazer, R-P, Federal, Winchester, PPU. Agila.
Is this a common problem with .38 Special cases?
So there is sort of a smorgasbord in there.

Ron
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Old June 11, 2019, 06:41 AM   #29
dahermit
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Quote:
A chamfer doesn't necessarily fully correct a primer crimp. You're putting in a slight bevel which should ease in a primer, but if the base of the primer hole was deformed by a heavy crimp, you may be out of spec enough to choke in the primer pocket at the bottom.
I also used an RCBS Primer Pocket Swager Combo tool 9495 on them. That should have reformed the pockets.

Some of the primer holes seemed to have very little bevel, but none had any apparent crimp.
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Old June 11, 2019, 06:44 PM   #30
Grey_Lion
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AH - ok - there it is - thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by dahermit View Post
The head stamps are: CBC, Blazer, R-P, Federal, Winchester, PPU. Agila.
I've previously documented with pictures my grief with blazer brass - I find it tops my list of defective cases in once fired range brass and I scrap all blazer brass. Check out the pictures of the once fired brass failures. You might reconsider that choice.

As for Aguila brass - I have found so many variations in the brass in primer holes, and some of them being cannelured, that I choose not to reload this brass myself. Just too many production variations to use this when there is so much other better range brass available.

Is any of the winchester brass WMA headstamped? - That is often military and often primer crimped.

CBC, PPU, RP, FED and WIN I use regularly and have not had the issue you're experiencing. I use CCI 500 small pistol primers by choice.

Are you seeing any particular primer pocket problem / head stamp pattern?
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Old June 19, 2019, 05:49 PM   #31
dahermit
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Originally Posted by 44 AMP View Post
Ok, I won't...

What I will suggest is taking a look at your Dillion, and checking the adjustments & tolerances. It's not impossible for the "stop" screw limiting downward travel of the ram to move, which could result in high primers, or primers too deeply seated (crushed), and then there is the "fit" of your shell plate, and the case rims in it.

Take some of those "tight primer pocket" cases and load them on something else. Use a hand primer tool, or a single stage press with its "fixed" shell holder, and see if they act the same (too tight pockets).

If there is any difference in the way the primers seat when using a different tool, then the issue isn't the cases or the primers, its the fit of them in your Dillion.

the progressive press requires a certain amount of "slop" (clearance) for the parts to move. It is not impossible that with some cases, the tolerances needed are "stacked" in such a way you get poor results.
Can you tell me where exactly the "stop screw" is located on a Dillon 550b that "limits the downward travel of the ram"?
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Old June 19, 2019, 06:08 PM   #32
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I have found a solution to the problem (but not necessarily the root cause in that the problem with high primers has only manifest itself in the past year or so).

I got to thinking about a post someone made about my problem wherein they noted that it made no sense that I could seat the high primers deeper using a Lee Auto Prime (an old Black one), because the Dillon 550b had way more mechanical advantage than would logically would be afforded by my thumb and the Lee Auto Prime tool. A light bulb went off in my head and I pulled the priming punch from the Lee tool and measured it. It miked .197. I had a Dillon small priming punch in my bag of Dillon 550b spare parts. I miked that also. It miked .201 thousands...four thousands larger than the Lee small primer punch. I thought that I could experiment with the Dillon punch inasmuch as it was but a spare. So, I took off .004 reducing it to the same size as the Lee punch.

Long story short, it worked...all the primers are seating slightly below flush as they should. All I can figure, is that there is some flex that has developed in the press, press and the strong mount, and or the wooden plank table it is bolted to. (Some may remember some months ago I was having a problem with large pistol primers not seating all the way also.) In any event, although my solution may not be elegant or correct, but it is at least pragmatic and I do not have to screw around with reaming supposedly too tight primer pockets.
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Old June 19, 2019, 06:21 PM   #33
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After reading all the primer pocket prepping steps you went through ... and you did everything you could to them... I got to wondering... What Else ???
Maybe it was the primer seating mechanism , but not having a Dillion I was clueless as to how they work . I'm still using a single stage C press along with a Lee hand priming tool or a Lee Ram-Prime , that's all I know .

.004" off the punch diameter ....Wow ! That was a puzzler .

Any fix that works is both elegant and correct !!! ATTABOY
Glad you tracked down that most pesky problem !
Gary

Last edited by gwpercle; June 19, 2019 at 06:27 PM.
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