.223 primer seating
- Thread starter masterduckmaster
- Start date
ultimate_monkey
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- victoria BC
Ar180shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
Take a picture from the side of the case, not the bottom!
The primer should bottom out in the primer pocket and be flush with the base of the case.
The primer should bottom out in the primer pocket and be flush with the base of the case.
back40sniper
CGN Regular
- Location
- South east Sask.
Mduckguy, don't be afraid to "push" on the handle when seating primer. You don't need a two handed, turn your face red push . Try one, look at it, after a while you will have a "feel" for it. After you are comfortable with it you just need to check primer seating once in a while.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Never mind taking more pictures or putting excessive pre-load on your primer. Stand the cartridge with it's seated primer on a flat surface, like a piece of glass or steel, or place a straight edge across the bottom of the case head; if it rocks, the primer needs to be a touch deeper.
Ar180shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The way I do it is to use the back end of a good caliper or a caliper and a depth gauge. I prefer .002" myself, but whatever the measurment, the benefit of this technique is questionable unless you uniform your primer pockets.
Usually I run my thumb along the bottom to ensure it is not flush, but recessed.And how do you go about measuring it to ensure it's within those specifications?
Once in a while I use Boomer's technique, as in when my primer pockets are uniformed and I'm doing up match ammo.
Having said all that, with clean pockets, a good seating tool and practice, one can feel the anvil entering the cup and do a great job just by hand and feel - no-one is going to measure every round. Not really possible to feel the seating depth with a progressive, so for the OP it's a matter of practising the amount of force needed to get a decent primer seat and/or some type of adjustment on his 550 (I have not used a 550, so can't comment on any setup).
The main point is that your advice regarding flush primers is incorrect, will lead to uneven ignition, and may lead to lack of ignition if the firing pin energy is marginal. Primers need to be slightly below the base, and the accepted range is .003" to .005" - but of course dirt and manufacturing variances make this an estimate. Have a look at the picture included with my post for a visual reference.
Years ago I was taught to run my index finger over the base of the case when I had seated my primers. Easy to do when you remove the case from the feeder and easy to feel that the primer is flush. Faster than putting the brass on a level surface and that step is not necessary. Have continued to use this method and it's never failed me.
Here is what can happen, to the best laid plans of men and mice.
I bought a bag of 100 new Remington brass for my 45-70.
Long story short, couldn't get the primers seated all the way in. Even pistol primers, which I sometimes use in the 45-70.
Finally measured the depth of the pocket and the depth of the pocket is quite a bit, from memory I think it was like .012", shallower than the height of the primers!
Anyone out there want to buy a bag of new Remington 45-70 brass, cheap?
I bought the new bag of brass at a gun show.
Oh, I tried every address I could find to vent my frustrations to Remington, but could find nothing. Form letters stating I had contacted the wrong department, etc, etc. or robots on the phone giving me every number to punch, except what I wanted. A live voice would quickly tell me I had contacted the wrong department, wrong country, wrong something.
Guess what? No more Remington brass for me.
I bought a bag of 100 new Remington brass for my 45-70.
Long story short, couldn't get the primers seated all the way in. Even pistol primers, which I sometimes use in the 45-70.
Finally measured the depth of the pocket and the depth of the pocket is quite a bit, from memory I think it was like .012", shallower than the height of the primers!
Anyone out there want to buy a bag of new Remington 45-70 brass, cheap?
I bought the new bag of brass at a gun show.
Oh, I tried every address I could find to vent my frustrations to Remington, but could find nothing. Form letters stating I had contacted the wrong department, etc, etc. or robots on the phone giving me every number to punch, except what I wanted. A live voice would quickly tell me I had contacted the wrong department, wrong country, wrong something.
Guess what? No more Remington brass for me.
Agreed.
Set the case, base-down, on a flat surface. If it wobbles, the primer isn't deep enough.
None of the pictures show anything relevant.
-M
Wow, talk about being defeated easily. You never hear of a Primer Pocket Uniformer?
Get one and run it into the primer pocket till it stops cutting. You now have a pocket of the correct depth and can keep all that brass because there is nothing wrong with it that can't be corrected with 20 minutes work.
Ar180shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
My point exactly. As long as you feel that and ensure that the primer is not protruding from the base of the case, you're good to go. But for some reason, I don't think you got the point I was making.
