Primer Pockets

[matthewpauls]

How clean do you get your primer pockets for accurate target shooting? The job also seems to be a real pain with those stiff short little primer pocket brushes. Is there an easier way?

 

[Therion]

Lee makes a primer cleaning tool, which looks like a flat screwdriver, with one end for large primers and the other end for small primers. Those are cheap and work OK. If you clean your brass with an ultrasonic cleaner, that does a nice job on the primer pockets.

All that being said, I have seen people say that cleaning primer pockets did not affect accuracy....YMMV

 

[JEC]

I use a primer pocket uniformer...think they cost about $20.00. It has a cutter with a predermined depth setting. The shaft is the a few thou less than the diameter of the primer pocket so it never cuts into the side of the pocket (enlarging the diameter). This tool gives you uniform depth pockets...and once you reach that depth, it just removes the powder residue. I typically reload my brass 10 -12 times. You need to be careful using any tool that can shave any brass from the side of the pocket (like a small screwdriver), as that just enlarges the pocket diameter and thereby shortens brass life.

 

[matthewpauls]

Is removing that residue crucial to benchrest accuracy?

 

[JEC]

I am not a benchrest shooter but like to shoot small groups...but can tell you that consistency is the key to accurate shooting. If you clean with a uniformer, it leaves the cup with no build-up so primers seat at exactly the same depth each time.

 

[hk33ka1]

I also clean rifle brass with a uniformer. I uniform the brass when I get it, then a light turn of the same tool cleans the pocket after the used primer is removed each loading. For brass I have not uniformed I occasionally use the RCBS brushes in a drill or the Lee tool. I have stopped cleaning pistol pockets and have not noticed any difference.

 

[Mad_Mikee]

I have an RCBS case prep station which speeds things up. I'm also looking to buy a wet tumbler like a RCBS Sidewinder or a Thumbler.

 

[acrashb]

Is removing that residue crucial to benchrest accuracy?

Absolutely.

 

[Fassteel]

Is removing that residue crucial to benchrest accuracy?

Every detail in brass prep is critical for maximum accuracy from primer pocket reaming, flash hole reaming, neck turning, weighing your brass, using match primers. I'm sure there some more bits of things that are important. FS

 

[shootist22-250]

A small blade screw driver, perhaps an eighth or sixteenth inch and patience will work.