Reloading Trick - Checking Primer Pockets

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Glock4ever

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Reloaders:

I need a way to determine if a primer pocket is pooched or not. I hate seating a primer in .223 and finding it drops in like w/o any resistance. Is there a gauge out there that I can use that will tell me to turf brass before I waste a primer?

Thanks
Glock
 
The trouble is that some brass has bigger primer pockets and I've found some primers are just a little bit different in size.

I don't worry too much if the primer feels different going in, as long as it stays in of course. :)



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SC: That is the problem. I have primers fallling out when I dump powder which ticks me off. I want to prevent the inevitable cleanup and waste of powder/primer if possible.
 
When you have what feels like a loose primer. Give the case a tap on the counter. If it falls out well there ya go. You can feel a loose primer when you press it in. I would imagine there is no feel with a primer that falls out. I dunno. Never had a primer fall out.
 
I will guess that you people who are shooting rifle cartridges, knowing the primer is loose, or went in very easy, have never had one blow out on firing.
The blaze flying out around the bolt makes spots in your vision, the ears ring merryly and it takes some careful work to get the pieces of extractor found and replaced.
 
Howard

all I can tell you are my experiences with my Rem 700 243 that I am currently using as my coyote gun.

Is there a gauge, none that I know of. If anybody would have developed one it more than likely would have been the BR shooters.

The .243 from what I am finding is really hard on brass. I am using Winchester brass and I am not to sure how many firings I will get until the pockets get really loose but I am pretty sure I can tell they get looser with every firing. Federal brass is definately CR++. It does not last at all. The Win is better but I know for a fact not as well as Lapua.

The 223 should be able to handle a lot of reloads B4 getting loose. My suggestion would be to start fresh with a bunch of brass and rotate them until fired maybe 15 times and just pitch them. Brass is cheap, yes even Lapua if it lasts you one season.

If you start with 100 pieces reload 15 times that is 1500 rounds. Do that a couple of times and you'll be wanting to rebarrel.

The other thing you could do is that if they are seating that loose then just knock the primer out and it can still be used. I have done with no problems.

I would not do it with my 6PPC loads but any of my other guns I ahve no problem with.

Not sure this helps any but that is the way I have been doing it.

Calvin
 
I can't speak for anyone else, but I can feel pockets start to loosen up long before the "falling out" stage. I then paint the headstamp with a permanent marker and it is never reloaded again.
 
cycbb486 said:
all I can tell you are my experiences with my Rem 700 243 that I am currently using as my coyote gun.

Is there a gauge, none that I know of. If anybody would have developed one it more than likely would have been the BR shooters.

The .243 from what I am finding is really hard on brass. I am using Winchester brass and I am not to sure how many firings I will get until the pockets get really loose but I am pretty sure I can tell they get looser with every firing. Federal brass is definately CR++. It does not last at all. The Win is better but I know for a fact not as well as Lapua.

The 223 should be able to handle a lot of reloads B4 getting loose. My suggestion would be to start fresh with a bunch of brass and rotate them until fired maybe 15 times and just pitch them. Brass is cheap, yes even Lapua if it lasts you one season.

If you start with 100 pieces reload 15 times that is 1500 rounds. Do that a couple of times and you'll be wanting to rebarrel.

The other thing you could do is that if they are seating that loose then just knock the primer out and it can still be used. I have done with no problems.

I would not do it with my 6PPC loads but any of my other guns I ahve no problem with.

Not sure this helps any but that is the way I have been doing it.

Calvin
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You are telling us how you are loading your 243 a WAY too heavy!
Primer pockets loosening on every shot is a 100% sure indication of loads that are much too heavy, and the pressures will be high in the danger zone.
Do not shoot loads that loosen the primers.
If your powder and bullets seem like a normal load, it may be something like stretched necks. A 243 is a very bad calibre for stretching the necks and if the necks are forcing into the smaller part of the chamber it greatly increases the pressure.
 
Problem I have with pitching brass is that there is a lot of range pickups mixed in with my good stuff. Less using Lapua brass which is very uncommon on ranges - too expensive for my ar too - I end up with Rem, Fed, Win, etc brass. Frequently, I pitch a ton of brass after resizing if it doesn't fall into my case gauge all the way. But I would like to have a step before case trimming to check if the primer pocket is pooched. I don't want to waste time trimming a piece of brass that is going to just be pitched. Right now if I put a primer in and it "drops" in too easily I just chuck it as I made the mistake early on of dumping powder into it and having it spill out. As for the idea of knocking loose primers out; I don't much like contaminating primers by having them go into a pocket and then fall out on to the floor/table/etc. As well, some primer pockets "feel" loose and won't necessarily drop the primer out - guys with hand primers probably know what I am talking about. I thought that there might be something like a go-no go gauge for the primer pocket in existence.
 
I had a local machinist make up a "go no-go" gauge for large rifle primer pockets. If the No-go section fits in, the primer pocket is too loose. FWIW, it takes upwards of 10 loads for me to notice any loosening of primer pockets in my hunting rifles. Regards, Eagleye.
 
What you are

H4831 said:
You are telling us how you are loading your 243 a WAY too heavy!
Primer pockets loosening on every shot is a 100% sure indication of loads that are much too heavy, and the pressures will be high in the danger zone.
Do not shoot loads that loosen the primers.
If your powder and bullets seem like a normal load, it may be something like stretched necks. A 243 is a very bad calibre for stretching the necks and if the necks are forcing into the smaller part of the chamber it greatly increases the pressure.
Click to expand...

saying is correct, but the difference here is there are no indications of any kind of high pressure. No flattening of primers, popping of primers, hard bolt lift. Brass length is well within limits. Does it bother me, not one bit. Why because my 55gr Blitzking loads fall in my mind within limits.

I find loading for the 243 very similar to that of the 22-250 in its quirks that each cartridge have.

I will know for certain how long my brass will last as I have started with a new batch. I run only about 20 pieces at a time so they get a good workout. 10 cases are on reload 4 and so far they are fine.
 
Eagleye said:
I had a local machinist make up a "go no-go" gauge for large rifle primer pockets. If the No-go section fits in, the primer pocket is too loose. FWIW, it takes upwards of 10 loads for me to notice any loosening of primer pockets in my hunting rifles. Regards, Eagleye.
Click to expand...
Yes, a guage ball would do this was well. Just select the no-go size.
 
cycbb486, This is what you said, causing me to state you were loading the 243 much too heavy.

The .243 from what I am finding is really hard on brass. I am using Winchester brass and I am not to sure how many firings I will get until the pockets get really loose but I am pretty sure I can tell they get looser with every firing. Federal brass is definately CR++. It does not last at all. The Win is better but I know for a fact not as well as Lapua

The swelling of primer pockets is the ultimate pressure indicator available to a hand loader. When this happens it means you are using pressures that are extreme, and definetely in the danger zone. Any shot could blow the brass a part, then parts of your rifle could be blown far and wide.
You are trying various brands of brass, attempting to find one stronger than the rest, that will handle the extreme pressure.
You state Federal brass is "CR++. I take that to mean you consider Federal brass as crap. This is a completely false assumption. Any component that an old time, reliable company like Federal turns out for handloaders, will handle all the pressures the rifle is designed to handle.
There are very strict world wide standards for every phase of shooting, including handloading components, that all manufaturers must adhere to.
 
The brass case provides a seal between the chamber and the gas produced by burning propellant. If you think the few thou of brass is containing the pressure developed in a cartridge and preventing the 1/4"+ thick steel in the action from blowing to smithereens, think again.
 
H4831: I don't know what your post has to do with helping find an instrument or determine how to measure primer pockets (original thread) but it is a fact that federal brass is not very good for longetivity of primer pockets (I believe what Calvin was originally speaking on) so in a manner of speaking Federal brass is crap.
 
joe-nwt said:
I then paint the headstamp with a permanent marker and it is never reloaded again.
Click to expand...

Not me. If they're loose I crush them with a HD set of side cutters and garbage them. That way nobody's ever going to try to load them again. As far as gauging them goes, I wouldn't bother anyway. They feel that loose when priming it's out with the primer and the above procedure kicks in.
 
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