Brass prep on primes cases. What would you do?

bertn

bertn

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Bought a bunch (500+) of 223 and 556 brass locally from a guy who started reloading and did not like it and then sold all his reloading stuff.

Finally I got myself my first 223 rifle (Axis heavy barrel) and pulled out the brass.

All brass is primed and feels like it's a bit lubed.
Did some random sample testing and:
223 brass is within specs length wise and bolt closes normally on most cases.
556 brass is too long (1.650-1.770 inch) and on + 30% the bolt is a bit hard to close.
By the looks of the case mouths none of the brass has been trimmed, chamfered or deburred.

FYI; the chamber length of the rifle is 1.782 from bolt head to where throat starts so neck length is not the problem. I doubt this guy even did case resizing.

What would you do;
Decap and start over with brass prep and then put primers back in after brass prep?
Do brass prep on the primed cases and clean (how?) lube of the cases after prep (or after loading up)?

I only have a wet/stainless tumbler so can't really tumble the primed brass clean..

Thanks in advance,
Bert
 
If the primers are seated flush or just below flush, I'd just run 'em through a trimmer if they're already sized. A case gauge is your friend here. If you suspect lube contamination on the primers, I'd grab about 5 and try pop them off in your rifle. If they all go POP, I'd say pretty good odds they're good. I'd use 'em out for range plinking and then the next reload for more critical stuff like hunting or shooting matches.
 
Depending on your brand of resizing dies, you might be able to resize without depriming. With an RCBS for example, take the decapping pin out, then re-assemble the die with the expander ball and no de-priming pin. With a Lee die set, you're SOL.

Do you know what primers are in there?

The ones that are tight chambering, it might be worth a try to resize a few of them as a test.

If you could find out what kind of lube is on the cases, a quick wipe with a damp cloth might be enough to clean the lube off.
 
Not worth it to not restart. Why risk damage to your firearm or yourself or others. Decap, tumble, inspect resize, trim and reload.
Now you know what you got. Blast away with confidence.
 
Thanks for the replies.
They will be used for informal target shooting so nothing critical.
Primers are cci400. Bought his remaining ones so I'm sure about that.
I have hornady dies (546228) so I can remove the decapping pin if I want.
Forgot to check if the necks hold the bullet and wil check when I get home this afternoon.
I'm not sure if the cases are lubed but they don't feel as clean as usual. The more I think about it the more I think I should remove the primers and reseat them after brass prep.
 
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