Issues seating primer (.223)
Quote from Reloader on March 25, 2013, 11:07 pmI am new to reloading so please bare with me on this! I made the decision to get into reloading about a year ago and have been buying things on and off when I have the cash to get a nice setup going. Right now I have a Dillon 550b along with a Dillon Super Swage 600 that I am using.
I have a lot of lake city brass with crimped primers that are giving me issues when trying to seat a new primer into the cases. I have two different sets of crimp styles on the cases one being the full ring crimp and the other being the type where the primer is staked in four spots around it. All the cases have been tumbled, deprimed, and trimmed.
My issues is that after swaging the cases I can get the cases that have the full circle crimp to seat the primers at the right depth with no issues but I can not get the other crimp style (4 spot stake) to seat below to a depth of 3 to 5 thousandths. I am positive I have set up the swage correctly also and am making sure the cases are centered when using the swage.I have ran a primer pocket uniforming tool on them and it fits very tightly and takes some brass out but doesnt help with seating the primer to the right depth. The primer is anywhere from 1 to 5 thousandths above the case every time. Sometimes the primer is not even seated evenly and is crooked or has a flat mark on a small part of it after being inserted. On occasion there will be a shaving of brass that has been sheered off after priming that i have found also. The primers being used are Remington No 7 1/2 small rifle bench rest primers.
Also to note when priming a piece of brass sometimes it acts as though it is catching on a bur in the primer cup but still seats the primer. Could the swage be making small burs or imperfections on the inside edge of the cup?
Am I missing a step with prepping the cases to be primed? I was under the impression that after swaging and uniforming the pocket and flash hole, that I would be able to prime the cases with no problems...Do I possibly need to use another tool to open the primer pockets up more?
I am new to reloading so please bare with me on this! I made the decision to get into reloading about a year ago and have been buying things on and off when I have the cash to get a nice setup going. Right now I have a Dillon 550b along with a Dillon Super Swage 600 that I am using.
I have a lot of lake city brass with crimped primers that are giving me issues when trying to seat a new primer into the cases. I have two different sets of crimp styles on the cases one being the full ring crimp and the other being the type where the primer is staked in four spots around it. All the cases have been tumbled, deprimed, and trimmed.
My issues is that after swaging the cases I can get the cases that have the full circle crimp to seat the primers at the right depth with no issues but I can not get the other crimp style (4 spot stake) to seat below to a depth of 3 to 5 thousandths. I am positive I have set up the swage correctly also and am making sure the cases are centered when using the swage.
I have ran a primer pocket uniforming tool on them and it fits very tightly and takes some brass out but doesnt help with seating the primer to the right depth. The primer is anywhere from 1 to 5 thousandths above the case every time. Sometimes the primer is not even seated evenly and is crooked or has a flat mark on a small part of it after being inserted. On occasion there will be a shaving of brass that has been sheered off after priming that i have found also. The primers being used are Remington No 7 1/2 small rifle bench rest primers.
Also to note when priming a piece of brass sometimes it acts as though it is catching on a bur in the primer cup but still seats the primer. Could the swage be making small burs or imperfections on the inside edge of the cup?
Am I missing a step with prepping the cases to be primed? I was under the impression that after swaging and uniforming the pocket and flash hole, that I would be able to prime the cases with no problems...Do I possibly need to use another tool to open the primer pockets up more?
Quote from Reloader on March 26, 2013, 1:25 pmAfter you swage and uniform, run a primer pocket brush to make sure all the shavings and debris are removed from the primer pocket. Check your shell plate. Get it as tight as you can and still be able to advance it. If it is tipping at all under seating pressure, the primer won't seat right and could cause the flat spots you described. Another cause of the flat spots is the the small shavings you described getting between the primer and the seating ram.
After you swage and uniform, run a primer pocket brush to make sure all the shavings and debris are removed from the primer pocket. Check your shell plate. Get it as tight as you can and still be able to advance it. If it is tipping at all under seating pressure, the primer won't seat right and could cause the flat spots you described. Another cause of the flat spots is the the small shavings you described getting between the primer and the seating ram.
Quote from Reloader on March 27, 2013, 1:00 amThanks so much for the help! I think I got it figured out that it had to do with a combination of a few things. My shell plate was a bit loose for some reason so I readjusted it to be like you said. I also think I was afraid of taking out too much of the primer pocket when uniforming it so I tried it again tonight and ran the uniforming tool in the pocket till it was pretty smooth and didnt grab much at all on high spots on the brass.
I was able to run 6 pieces through and not have a single issue tonight, with them all being seated very close to the same depth. Unfortunately I dont have more time to try right now but will work with it some more tomorrow night. Hopefully it is all squared away now, but if not Ill be back with more questions 😛
Thanks again!
Thanks so much for the help! I think I got it figured out that it had to do with a combination of a few things. My shell plate was a bit loose for some reason so I readjusted it to be like you said. I also think I was afraid of taking out too much of the primer pocket when uniforming it so I tried it again tonight and ran the uniforming tool in the pocket till it was pretty smooth and didnt grab much at all on high spots on the brass.
I was able to run 6 pieces through and not have a single issue tonight, with them all being seated very close to the same depth. Unfortunately I dont have more time to try right now but will work with it some more tomorrow night. Hopefully it is all squared away now, but if not Ill be back with more questions 😛
Thanks again!