Removing primer pocket crimp

OldDude

OldDude

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I have a bunch of 5.56 brass I'm in the process of reloading.

The usual, resize, trim/deburr/chamfer, then the fun part - removing the primer pocket crimp.
I have a Hornady (I think) primer pocket tool that does a satisfactory job of removing the crimp.

The issue I have is holding the small diameter brass case in one hand with the cordless drill in the other hand - my hand starts to cramp up holding the brass after a couple of dozen cases.
I've even tried wearing a rubberized grip glove so I don't have to squeeze my fingers/thumb quite so tightly, and that only gets me through an extra dozen or so brass.

At that rate, it'll take me a month of Sundays to de-crimp all the brass I have.

So my question for my fellow nutz is: how do you hold the brass cases to de-crimp, without major grief?

Thanks.
 
Don't you have a vice with soft jaws?

I use hockey pucks as soft jaws for my vice. They hold the cases tight and don't collapse them.

I usually use a drill press, because it's much faster, etc.

I recently took the crimp off a couple of hundred LC 30-06 military cases, dated 63.

I can clamp 12 cases in the jaws of my vice, between hockey pucks without any damage.

I did this with the LC cases because my drill press is presently set up for a special non firearm related job and I didn't want to take it down and set up the jig again.

Clamp I put a 4 inch wide by eight inch piece of plywood on the base and rested the cases on top of them. My set up uses four pucks. ($1 each at Cdn Tire)

I cut a 1/4 inch slot in the side of each puck and with a piece of plywood, join them together at the right height for the jaws to press evenly against them.

Once the cases are clamped, case mouth down, it takes less than a minute with a hand held drill, with proper bit to take off the crimp rings.

Easy to do a couple of hundred in half an hour, once you get your set up running.

I have arthritis in my thumb joints, so don't use a handheld priming tool anymore. I use a Lee Bench Mount instead. My thumbs love it.
 
I do not hold the case to "de-crimp" - maybe a bit more fussing to get set up and perhaps a bit more expensive, but I use the RCBS swaging tool - the Grandson just loved his PC10, especially since GrandPa (me) was supplying the ammo - I would swage out about 100 cases at a time, per session - easily four or five hundred done so far. Once dealt with, no more fussing with that case - just "fill 'em up again". It would probably need a different solution for a shooter who ripped through a couple hundred rounds per shooting session, and did not bother to pick up his brass to reload again.
 
bearhunter said:
Don't you have a vice with soft jaws?

I use hockey pucks as soft jaws for my vice. They hold the cases tight and don't collapse them.

I usually use a drill press, because it's much faster, etc.

I recently took the crimp off a couple of hundred LC 30-06 military cases, dated 63.

I can clamp 12 cases in the jaws of my vice, between hockey pucks without any damage.

I did this with the LC cases because my drill press is presently set up for a special non firearm related job and I didn't want to take it down and set up the jig again.

Clamp I put a 4 inch wide by eight inch piece of plywood on the base and rested the cases on top of them. My set up uses four pucks. ($1 each at Cdn Tire)

I cut a 1/4 inch slot in the side of each puck and with a piece of plywood, join them together at the right height for the jaws to press evenly against them.

Once the cases are clamped, case mouth down, it takes less than a minute with a hand held drill, with proper bit to take off the crimp rings.

Easy to do a couple of hundred in half an hour, once you get your set up running.

I have arthritis in my thumb joints, so don't use a handheld priming tool anymore. I use a Lee Bench Mount instead. My thumbs love it.
Click to expand...


Interesting....
I'll have to see what I can come up with along these lines.
 
Maybe hold the brass in the drill chuck jaws and spin it up
can leave minor marks if tension isn't correct, but slick and easy when the slip adjustment on the drill is set right
 
the burstfire 2 is another option. you can anneal as well as do all the case prep work. unfortunately with our present exchange rate it is quite pricy.
 
I use a Frankford Arsenal case prep center

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I'm using RCBS swaging dies. Works good. I'll usually do a hundred cases at a time. If I had a bigger reloading bench and didn't already have the swaging dies I'd consider getting a dedicated swaging tool like the Dillon super swage 600. But for only doing about 500 cases a year not sure it would be worth the extra spend.
 
Doing a five gallon bucket a year, I've tried most methods to address this very issue.
I have settled on doing it in two stages - the first is with the Dillon super swage 600, and the second is to give it a pass with a K&M cutter/uniformer chucked in a cordless drill and wearing rubber covered work gloves.
 
Frankford Arsenald swager..but I preffer the drill - Lyman cutter - very fast to do a bunch of case..I have done 5000 IVI .223 case this way in an afternoon.
 
I don't do a lot of crimped brass but when I do come across a few I just take a twist drill bit a little larger than the primer pocket with a piece of 3/4" or so dowel for a handle and just use it like a hand primer pocket cleaner. It works great as long as you do not go crazy.

Bill
 
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