Question about Lake City and TAA brass

cdbeagle · July 25, 2014, 11:16 AM

I've been reloading for a year and half: .45 ACP, 9mm, .38 special, .380, 6.5x55 and .223(for AR). I use my own once fired brass from PRVI in the Swede and have been using my own once fired brass from PRVI ammo for the .223.

I buy once fired brass for all my handgun cartridges from a local guy with a good reputation that I met through a local forum. It has been very good. Recently I purchased 1000 rounds of NATO stamped once fired .223/5.56 brass from him. It looks to be quality brass and have had no issues with it. It is about 60% Lake City and 40% TAA. I bought a military crimp removal tool expecting to use it on all the brass.

But on the Lake City brass I'm only having to remove the crimp on one out of 50 cases and on the TAA one out of three cases. The brass that doesn't require crimp removal is a little harder to seat the primer with than my own once fired PRVI brass but not by very much(I hand prime, much prefer that over priming on my Lee Classic Turret).

Is this a problem? Is it normal? I've loaded and fired 300 rounds so far with zero issues. I thought all brass with a military crimp had to have the crimp removed before you could seat a primer. And all of the Lake City and TAA brass I bought has the military crimp.

I'm using the Wolfe primers specifically made for AR's and am wondering if the circumference of these primers may be smaller than the norm.

Any responses are appreciated.

rg1 · July 25, 2014, 12:01 PM

That's not normal to have little or no primer pocket crimps on military brass. Sometimes LC brass have very light crimps but not that many in a lot. I suspect that the brass already has been swaged. Possibly it was bought from a supplier that swages as a service and sells the once fired brass for a little higher cost for already swaged? Or, it could be twice fired and already swaged but probably not. Even swaged brass can show a little more resistance when seating primers. Just to make sure I'd run all them through your swager anyway to catch the ones not already swaged.

cdbeagle · July 25, 2014, 12:20 PM

The LC brass that I don't have to swage is harder to prime than my PRVI brass. So my thinking was that if it had already been swaged it would be as easy to prime as the PRVI.

Marco Califo · July 26, 2014, 12:04 AM

Crimps are a yes/no question. If you do not need to remove the crimp then someone else did. You have no way of knowing what else that person did or how many times.

Put another way, it is mixed brass, and NOT once fired. I bought 1000 Federal (FC) with the primer and crimp. I had to drill out the crimp from every single one.

Mike / Tx · July 26, 2014, 06:06 AM

Quote:

The LC brass that I don't have to swage is harder to prime than my PRVI brass. So my thinking was that if it had already been swaged it would be as easy to prime as the PRVI.

Quote:

I'm using the Wolfe primers specifically made for AR's and am wondering if the circumference of these primers may be smaller than the norm.

Ok so compare apples to apples, how do the Wolf primers fit in just the LC cases? If they are all a tight fit could simply be the primers are a touch thicker cupped and thus are a smidge bigger resulting in the tighter fit. Those AR type primers are usually thicker to keep from having a slam fire situation.

I have read of, and experienced, the Wolf primers being tighter or harder to seat in some brass verses others. You might measure the diameters of both the primers your using verses something like CCI or Win, and also measure the pockets on your LC and PPU and go from there. My bet is on thicker cups being a tighter fit.

chiefr · July 26, 2014, 08:21 AM

One undeniable truth about mil brass is there is always a degree of variance between lots.

I have seen brass so soft, the rims would easily rip of during reloading to brass so hard, you could run over it and use it.
Seen soft primers you could not punch out w/o decapper punching thru primer. Some brass, the primer seemed to want to fall out. Seen variance in crimps.

Like they say in the military, expect the unexpected and adapt, improvise, and overcome.

July 25, 2014, 11:16 AM	#1
cdbeagle Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2012 Location: Justin Texas Posts: 313	Question about Lake City and TAA brass I've been reloading for a year and half: .45 ACP, 9mm, .38 special, .380, 6.5x55 and .223(for AR). I use my own once fired brass from PRVI in the Swede and have been using my own once fired brass from PRVI ammo for the .223. I buy once fired brass for all my handgun cartridges from a local guy with a good reputation that I met through a local forum. It has been very good. Recently I purchased 1000 rounds of NATO stamped once fired .223/5.56 brass from him. It looks to be quality brass and have had no issues with it. It is about 60% Lake City and 40% TAA. I bought a military crimp removal tool expecting to use it on all the brass. But on the Lake City brass I'm only having to remove the crimp on one out of 50 cases and on the TAA one out of three cases. The brass that doesn't require crimp removal is a little harder to seat the primer with than my own once fired PRVI brass but not by very much(I hand prime, much prefer that over priming on my Lee Classic Turret). Is this a problem? Is it normal? I've loaded and fired 300 rounds so far with zero issues. I thought all brass with a military crimp had to have the crimp removed before you could seat a primer. And all of the Lake City and TAA brass I bought has the military crimp. I'm using the Wolfe primers specifically made for AR's and am wondering if the circumference of these primers may be smaller than the norm. Any responses are appreciated. __________________ Assistant Secretary - U.S. Dry Bean Council

July 25, 2014, 12:20 PM	#3
cdbeagle Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2012 Location: Justin Texas Posts: 313	The LC brass that I don't have to swage is harder to prime than my PRVI brass. So my thinking was that if it had already been swaged it would be as easy to prime as the PRVI. __________________ Assistant Secretary - U.S. Dry Bean Council

July 26, 2014, 12:04 AM	#4
Marco Califo Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 2011 Location: LA (Greater Los Angeles Area) Posts: 2,722	Crimps are a yes/no question. If you do not need to remove the crimp then someone else did. You have no way of knowing what else that person did or how many times. Put another way, it is mixed brass, and NOT once fired. I bought 1000 Federal (FC) with the primer and crimp. I had to drill out the crimp from every single one. __________________ ............

July 25, 2014, 12:01 PM	#2
rg1 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2001 Posts: 1,131	That's not normal to have little or no primer pocket crimps on military brass. Sometimes LC brass have very light crimps but not that many in a lot. I suspect that the brass already has been swaged. Possibly it was bought from a supplier that swages as a service and sells the once fired brass for a little higher cost for already swaged? Or, it could be twice fired and already swaged but probably not. Even swaged brass can show a little more resistance when seating primers. Just to make sure I'd run all them through your swager anyway to catch the ones not already swaged.

July 26, 2014, 08:21 AM	#6
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	One undeniable truth about mil brass is there is always a degree of variance between lots. I have seen brass so soft, the rims would easily rip of during reloading to brass so hard, you could run over it and use it. Seen soft primers you could not punch out w/o decapper punching thru primer. Some brass, the primer seemed to want to fall out. Seen variance in crimps. Like they say in the military, expect the unexpected and adapt, improvise, and overcome.