Newbie reloader and have the lee turret press(4) and have had no problems with reloading for my .40S&W and .45ACP but for the .233Rem I am having a b***h with the primer seating. The cases have been tumbled,de-primed,sized, trimed and champerd insided and out and then tumbeled again. I am having a hard time seating the primers about 40% of the time and they are crushing ,etc. I just bought 2000 once fired from Budget and I was thinking that a guy should maybe prime with a hand primer. Something is not right as it should not take that kind of force to seat those primers. Am I missing something? And I have swagged the primer pockets with a RCBS brush.
.233 lee priming problems
- Thread starter cormann2
- Start date
Biggunners
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- MOSTLY LOSTED
I cant seem to load attachments on this site
I was kinda wondering about that so now I know. So take that crimp out and life is good. Any suggestions to get one online?
KODIAK BEAR
Regular
- Location
- West of the Rockies, on an island.
There are all sorts of tools to remove the primer crimp but the best I have used and still do is the Dillon Super Swage. I am sure others will chime in with some other suggestions but the Dillon is quite fast and easy to use.
KODIAK BEAR
Regular
- Location
- West of the Rockies, on an island.
Forgot to mention that I also hand prime (Lee) as I can feel the primer seat better that way. You can also do it watching television if you want.
Until your new Dillon tool arrives, you cna buy a 3/8" countersink tool at the hardware store for abour $6.00 I mount the electric drill in my vice and give each primer pocket a shot. Cleans them right up.
notsorichguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- The city that rhymes with fun
Yup, the primer pockets have a crimp. Some commercial brass doesn't but if you bought 1xf from a retailer it will have a crimped in primer for sure!
I prefer the primer crimp remover you get for the RCBS Case prep centre.
I REALLY reccomned it if you are trying to swage more than one head stamp, which is usually the case when you buy 1xf brass from one of our friendly site sponsors......
While the Dillon is a really nice piece of kit, with every brand of case you will have to re-adjust the swager to allow for different web thicknesses. Whereas the RCBS unit is a cutter head that only reams the exterior of the case so no need to fiddle with unit. Just turn on the case prep centre and start reaming.
Once you get the case prep center set up its a real breeze. One station to chamfer, one to de-burr, one to brush out the case mouth, one to cut out the crip, one to unify primer pockets (or clean primer pockets). Voila!
Cheers!
I prefer the primer crimp remover you get for the RCBS Case prep centre.
I REALLY reccomned it if you are trying to swage more than one head stamp, which is usually the case when you buy 1xf brass from one of our friendly site sponsors......
While the Dillon is a really nice piece of kit, with every brand of case you will have to re-adjust the swager to allow for different web thicknesses. Whereas the RCBS unit is a cutter head that only reams the exterior of the case so no need to fiddle with unit. Just turn on the case prep centre and start reaming.
Once you get the case prep center set up its a real breeze. One station to chamfer, one to de-burr, one to brush out the case mouth, one to cut out the crip, one to unify primer pockets (or clean primer pockets). Voila!
Cheers!
I didn't see what type if brass you were using other than it is once fired with a crimp. If it's LC (lakecity), try as you may, you will never get some if the primers to seat; the pockets on some of these are not deep enough and may need to be uniformed.
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You need to look at the primer pockets. If you see a small ring around the pocket, that is the crimp. Sometimes the crimp will be three little angular dimples around the rim of the pocket. Generally only .mil brass is crimped.
You need to sort your brass into piles of like with like. Keep in mind that the thickness of the case determines the internal volume. That can affect the pressures.
.Mil brass is generally much thicker than commercial brass and should not be used interchangeably with commercial brass cause it can result in pressure spikes.
Personally I don't both with .mil brass. It is nothing but a pain in the ass to deal with. The primer pocket swagers never seem to do a perfect job and primers are always difficult to seat. The case thickness issue means you need to work up a separate load for the military brass.
Unless you have a large amount of it, I'd chuck the .mil stuff out and stick to commercial brass.
You need to sort your brass into piles of like with like. Keep in mind that the thickness of the case determines the internal volume. That can affect the pressures.
.Mil brass is generally much thicker than commercial brass and should not be used interchangeably with commercial brass cause it can result in pressure spikes.
Personally I don't both with .mil brass. It is nothing but a pain in the ass to deal with. The primer pocket swagers never seem to do a perfect job and primers are always difficult to seat. The case thickness issue means you need to work up a separate load for the military brass.
Unless you have a large amount of it, I'd chuck the .mil stuff out and stick to commercial brass.
Well I have 2K of it now so it looks like I'm RCBS Case Prep Center bound. Anything extra I should buy with it?
I would highly recommend a RCBS primer pocket swager (or equivalent), lyman flash hole uniformer and lyman primer pocket uniformer... lee trimmer (cheap and works well), and hand chamfering tool, then you are good to go. I did a whole bunch of mil range brass, probably around 2k and it didn't take too long to prep it all up.
IMHO, I wouldn't worry about the pressure spikes with military brass, unless you are thinking about working up some wonky bubba-load. I've loaded gobs of military brass (PMC,LC,etc) and measured the pressure... no spikes. The brass is a little thicker so there is not as much volume inside the case; with some powders and bullet combinations you may be looking at a very full case and compressed load. The cartridge is simply a fancy gasket that keeps the hot gasses contained so the bullet can come squirting out the other end, personally I'd rather have a slightly thicker & stronger gasket between my face and the hot gasses.
I've not tested it, but I think the mil brass is a bit harder and more prone to early neck cracking from work hardening. I've started annealing the necks as part of my first case prep, but this is completely unnecessary.
Steps: knock out primer, swage pocket, uniform pocket if required (only LC brass for sure) full length size, trim, chamfer neck, uniform flash hole... load a bunch and go hunt some gophers! Did i forget something?
Not sure if this is even possible with the Lee press, but you are using a small primer post and not a large primer post for seating the primers? I have heard of people trying to seat primers using the large primer tool; it is possible but the success rate is about what you describe.
I use a Lee hand priming tool too, well I switched to RCBS after I broke my Lee. ANyway I find its easier to seat primers in crimped pockets when you bring the primer right up flush with the shell holder then when you slide in the case put a little pressure on the primer so you can feel when it's lined up. Of course these have been swagged but with a lyman tool and it doesn't work that great in my opinion, but I am cheap so I wont pay for a super swage so i deal with what i have.
