Screwed up decriming primer pocket, need advice.

Bwell · January 25, 2014, 11:19 PM

I am new to reloading and just start last week with my case prep.

While decrimping primer pockets i noticed I was using a large reamer instead of a small. I never went all the way with the ream, pretty much got a lip on it (though thats how it was suppose to be) to help the primer slide in.

Did I just ruin a bunch of brass or is it still usable?

I can post picture soon.

Romeo 33 Delta · January 25, 2014, 11:40 PM

Try priming some of the cases with spent primers. In doing that, does anything feel "different" ... like seating with absolutely no resistance or does it seem to require your usual pressure?

If that seems to work OK ... try a number of cases with new primers and try firing them in your firearm ... do they go off?

I should think those two tests will help answer your questions.

BTW ... DON'T IT JUST PLAIN TWIST YOUR CORK RIGHT OFF WHEN YOU SCREW UP SOMETHING "SIMPLE" ?

If you ain't screwed something up ... you just ain't been reloading long enough! The important thing is the LEARN from those MESS UPS. If you never make the same mistake twice ... that's progress up the learning curve!

Bwell · January 25, 2014, 11:45 PM

I'll do that, I haven't gotten to the point of priming yet. When I do, I will use several cases that didn't need reamed to see how they feel, then try with the reamed ones. I only did about 200 out of a thousand so it's not horrible but still makes me feel sick that I didn't notice that.

skywag · January 25, 2014, 11:52 PM

You DID notice that! Throw them away.....no big deal.

Bwell · January 26, 2014, 12:18 AM

The one on the right didn't need reamed.

Bwell · January 26, 2014, 12:19 AM

To me it looks like there is plenty of room for it to seat still but thought I would share the pictures with you guys to see what you think.

FrankenMauser · January 26, 2014, 12:21 AM

Personally, I'd load and shoot.
But, there are plenty of other members that would consider doing so to be pretty irresponsible and dangerous.

Your call.

Bwell · January 26, 2014, 12:24 AM

What could happen? I thought the worst that can happen is it doesn't seat right? You're saying if it does seat but its not strong enough now, it could blow up in the rifle?

FrankenMauser · January 26, 2014, 12:46 AM

Nah. Worst case, the primer will expand to fill the chamfered area - and likely rupture in the process.

With normal, sane loads, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep those cases separated from the rest of your brass (incase you decide they do cause a problem), but load as usual.

chris in va · January 26, 2014, 03:40 AM

A hair more than I would have buzzed off but I've fired plenty of cases that look like that with no ill effects.

Remember those primers will be seated below flush anyway.

Adamantium · January 26, 2014, 04:19 AM

That is fine, I routinely remove that much material and have never had a problem. I have reloaded to 5.56 pressures and have never seen a primer flow into the cavity.

jepp2 · January 26, 2014, 09:53 AM

You can use them as others have suggested and they "might" work fine.

I would toss them. Why? The primer flows under the pressure of firing. It is going to flow into the area of the pocket where you chamfered too generously. This "might" make the primer fail in that corner. Primer failures can damage the bolt face. I know that personally due to some rifle primers I had fail in that specific location and the jetting gas erodes the bolt face. The failure was the fault of the primer not excessive pressure.

Bart B. · January 26, 2014, 10:58 AM

It all depends on how you want things to end up. If you want to err on the side of safety, toss them in the trash. If you want to err in favor of hoping they'll not cause problems, then use them. You decide what safety margins your reloads will perform in as well as what your well being is worth.

Marco Califo · January 26, 2014, 11:08 AM

See this thread http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=540569 for some comparative photos. Yes, you over did it some. Study the photos in the other thread and try for "just right". Better yet, buy some milspec once fireds with the primer pocket already processed: they will work fine, and you will have a reference point of what they should look like. http://www.gibrass.com/brass.html has them in stock.

Adamantium · January 27, 2014, 01:03 AM

Quote:

It is going to flow into the area of the pocket where you chamfered too generously.

No, no it will not. I'm speaking from shooting about thousands of rounds from brass processed just like that. The primer will not flow into the empty space.

Don P · January 27, 2014, 07:44 AM

Shoot them until the case splits or the primer no longer stays seated and falls out.

SWThomas · January 27, 2014, 10:27 AM

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure FC 223 cases are not crimped...

Adamantium · January 27, 2014, 01:35 PM

I don't know if they are all crimped but some of them are.

howlnmad · January 27, 2014, 02:58 PM

I'd keep loading and shooting them until they wouldn't hold primers any longer.

TylerOutdoorsman · January 28, 2014, 04:34 PM

Most of the FC primers in cases from the range pickups I have are crimped. I would shoot a couple of the cases that are over reamed and closely inspect them to make sure it doesn't look like it's gonna cause a problem like some of the other guys mentioned like primer failure. If it looks fine, load on man.

Powderman · January 28, 2014, 04:45 PM

If you load a lot of .223, I highly suggest dropping some coin and getting a Dillon Super Swage. It's worth its weight in gold, if you load a lot of brass that has crimped primers.

hodaka · January 28, 2014, 06:11 PM

I've removed a bunch of crimps with a pocket knife over the years and many were gouged out a lot worse than those seem to be. I imagine they will shoot just fine.

Bwell · January 28, 2014, 06:27 PM

Thanks for the advice guys!

I will probably have to win a fishing tournament to get the Dillon, my wife is going to kick my ass if I send anymore on this! lol

4runnerman · January 28, 2014, 08:04 PM

With 223 cases- I would just throw them away and lesson learned. Lesson's seem to sink deeper when they cost money. Not to pick here,but when you did the first case-Did you not look at it to see how it went?. Old carpenter rule-- Measure twice, cut once. With 800 cases left and say 12 reloads from each case- You are good to go for a long time. Anneal after every 4th loading. That would put you just short of 10,000 rounds. Almost time for a new barrel by then, give or take another3 or 4 thousand.

GP100man · January 29, 2014, 09:12 AM

Even if primers are`nt crimped some have perfect formed square corners on the pockets , that means ya gotta have it peerfectly lined up to seat 1.

This camfer will cause no problem under normal pressures , I`ve done many surp cases for 308 & `06 just like that. But as we all know each firearm is it`s own entity , I would load 1 & fire it .

If useing srmp primers or the mil spec primers especially!

January 25, 2014, 11:19 PM	#1
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	Screwed up decriming primer pocket, need advice. I am new to reloading and just start last week with my case prep. While decrimping primer pockets i noticed I was using a large reamer instead of a small. I never went all the way with the ream, pretty much got a lip on it (though thats how it was suppose to be) to help the primer slide in. Did I just ruin a bunch of brass or is it still usable? I can post picture soon.

January 26, 2014, 12:21 AM	#7
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Personally, I'd load and shoot. But, there are plenty of other members that would consider doing so to be pretty irresponsible and dangerous. Your call. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

January 26, 2014, 12:46 AM	#9
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Nah. Worst case, the primer will expand to fill the chamfered area - and likely rupture in the process. With normal, sane loads, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep those cases separated from the rest of your brass (incase you decide they do cause a problem), but load as usual. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

January 26, 2014, 04:19 AM	#11
Adamantium Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 1999 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 1,021	That is fine, I routinely remove that much material and have never had a problem. I have reloaded to 5.56 pressures and have never seen a primer flow into the cavity. __________________ New gun, same ol' shot.

January 26, 2014, 09:53 AM	#12
jepp2 Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 1,476	You can use them as others have suggested and they "might" work fine. I would toss them. Why? The primer flows under the pressure of firing. It is going to flow into the area of the pocket where you chamfered too generously. This "might" make the primer fail in that corner. Primer failures can damage the bolt face. I know that personally due to some rifle primers I had fail in that specific location and the jetting gas erodes the bolt face. The failure was the fault of the primer not excessive pressure. __________________ NRA Benefactor Life member

January 25, 2014, 11:40 PM	#2
Romeo 33 Delta Senior Member Join Date: March 27, 2009 Posts: 315	Try priming some of the cases with spent primers. In doing that, does anything feel "different" ... like seating with absolutely no resistance or does it seem to require your usual pressure? If that seems to work OK ... try a number of cases with new primers and try firing them in your firearm ... do they go off? I should think those two tests will help answer your questions. BTW ... DON'T IT JUST PLAIN TWIST YOUR CORK RIGHT OFF WHEN YOU SCREW UP SOMETHING "SIMPLE" ? If you ain't screwed something up ... you just ain't been reloading long enough! The important thing is the LEARN from those MESS UPS. If you never make the same mistake twice ... that's progress up the learning curve!

January 25, 2014, 11:45 PM	#3
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	I'll do that, I haven't gotten to the point of priming yet. When I do, I will use several cases that didn't need reamed to see how they feel, then try with the reamed ones. I only did about 200 out of a thousand so it's not horrible but still makes me feel sick that I didn't notice that.

January 25, 2014, 11:52 PM	#4
skywag Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2011 Posts: 254	You DID notice that! Throw them away.....no big deal.

January 26, 2014, 12:18 AM	#5
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	The one on the right didn't need reamed.

January 26, 2014, 12:19 AM	#6
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	To me it looks like there is plenty of room for it to seat still but thought I would share the pictures with you guys to see what you think.

January 26, 2014, 12:24 AM	#8
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	What could happen? I thought the worst that can happen is it doesn't seat right? You're saying if it does seat but its not strong enough now, it could blow up in the rifle?

January 26, 2014, 03:40 AM	#10
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	A hair more than I would have buzzed off but I've fired plenty of cases that look like that with no ill effects. Remember those primers will be seated below flush anyway.

January 26, 2014, 10:58 AM	#13
Bart B. Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Posts: 8,927	It all depends on how you want things to end up. If you want to err on the side of safety, toss them in the trash. If you want to err in favor of hoping they'll not cause problems, then use them. You decide what safety margins your reloads will perform in as well as what your well being is worth.

January 26, 2014, 11:08 AM	#14
Marco Califo Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 2011 Location: LA (Greater Los Angeles Area) Posts: 2,598	See this thread http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=540569 for some comparative photos. Yes, you over did it some. Study the photos in the other thread and try for "just right". Better yet, buy some milspec once fireds with the primer pocket already processed: they will work fine, and you will have a reference point of what they should look like. http://www.gibrass.com/brass.html has them in stock. __________________ ............

January 27, 2014, 07:44 AM	#16
Don P Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2005 Location: Swamp dweller Posts: 6,187	Shoot them until the case splits or the primer no longer stays seated and falls out. __________________ *NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer, ICORE Range Officer, ,MAG 40 Graduate* *As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be.*

January 27, 2014, 10:27 AM	#17
SWThomas Member Join Date: August 17, 2013 Location: Fort Lee, VA Posts: 73	Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure FC 223 cases are not crimped...

January 27, 2014, 01:35 PM	#18
Adamantium Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 1999 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 1,021	I don't know if they are all crimped but some of them are. __________________ New gun, same ol' shot.

January 27, 2014, 02:58 PM	#19
howlnmad Senior Member Join Date: April 29, 2009 Location: Harriman Tn Posts: 424	I'd keep loading and shooting them until they wouldn't hold primers any longer.

January 28, 2014, 04:34 PM	#20
TylerOutdoorsman Member Join Date: October 21, 2012 Location: Waxahachie, TX Posts: 49	Most of the FC primers in cases from the range pickups I have are crimped. I would shoot a couple of the cases that are over reamed and closely inspect them to make sure it doesn't look like it's gonna cause a problem like some of the other guys mentioned like primer failure. If it looks fine, load on man.

January 28, 2014, 04:45 PM	#21
Powderman Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2001 Location: Washington State Posts: 2,166	If you load a lot of .223, I highly suggest dropping some coin and getting a Dillon Super Swage. It's worth its weight in gold, if you load a lot of brass that has crimped primers. __________________ Hiding in plain sight...

January 28, 2014, 06:11 PM	#22
hodaka Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 2,010	I've removed a bunch of crimps with a pocket knife over the years and many were gouged out a lot worse than those seem to be. I imagine they will shoot just fine.

January 28, 2014, 06:27 PM	#23
Bwell Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2013 Posts: 11	Thanks for the advice guys! I will probably have to win a fishing tournament to get the Dillon, my wife is going to kick my ass if I send anymore on this! lol

January 28, 2014, 08:04 PM	#24
4runnerman Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,577	With 223 cases- I would just throw them away and lesson learned. Lesson's seem to sink deeper when they cost money. Not to pick here,but when you did the first case-Did you not look at it to see how it went?. Old carpenter rule-- Measure twice, cut once. With 800 cases left and say 12 reloads from each case- You are good to go for a long time. Anneal after every 4th loading. That would put you just short of 10,000 rounds. Almost time for a new barrel by then, give or take another3 or 4 thousand. __________________ NRA Certified RSO NwCP- Performance Isn't Optional

January 29, 2014, 09:12 AM	#25
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	Even if primers are`nt crimped some have perfect formed square corners on the pockets , that means ya gotta have it peerfectly lined up to seat 1. This camfer will cause no problem under normal pressures , I`ve done many surp cases for 308 & `06 just like that. But as we all know each firearm is it`s own entity , I would load 1 & fire it . If useing srmp primers or the mil spec primers especially! __________________ GP100man