primmer issues

[longshooter86]

I have been having problems with loading primers in my .308 using fed, lc, and i think winchester brass. it shaves a little off the edges, sometimes disforms them a little, and just hard to seat. I have used federal 210 and cci bm2. but at the same time i have reloaded my .243 using the exact same setup using the cci's and works perfect. Loads just as smooth and easy as you could ask for. I figure its the brass but wut could be the problem? and yes I clean the primer seat good before I try and seat the primer. Thanks, Keith.

[soldierofchrist]

If it was military brass, you may have to swage the cases as they crimp the primers in. At least you know they have tight pockets, are you able to seat them flush?

[GaCop]

I can't speak for the 308 but, my bulk Winchester 223 Rem brass had extremely tight primer pockets. I had a difficult time getting my primer pocket uniformer to enter the pocket. It took me forever to finally get to the bottom of the pocket. Once cut though, I had no problems seating primers.

[longshooter86]

yes i am able to seat them flush

[longshooter86]

what do you mean by swage?

[dukeflr]

What kind of brass are you using? Not the brand but is it commercial, or military, range pickup? If it was manufactured originally for military or law enforcement then it likely has a crimp. You can remove the crimp by cutting it off or by swaging it. I swage mine with the Dillion superswage. Youtube a video of the superswage. It is expensive though. My buddy at work used to cut his crimps off with a chamfer tool.

[squirrelsniper]

It sounds like it may be military brass that's had the primers crimping in, especially since it happens with different brands. If it's mil-spec brass, the headstamp of the brass will just have two or maybe three letters (the manufacturer) and two digits (the year produced) something like...FC 07 (Federal, 2007), LC 05 (Lake City, 2005), or WCC 08 (Winchester, 2008). If it has been produced in modern times it will also have a small circle with a crosshair in the middle of it, signifying that it is NATO compliant.

If this is the problem, you can by cutters made specifically to remove the primer crimp and RCBS makes swagers that basically uses pressure to reform the entrance and sides of the primer pocket much like a die reforms a case body. As mentioned above, you can also use a standard case mouth chamfering tool to remove the crimp at the edge of the primer pocket, but you need to be a bit more careful doing this as you can get the pocket out of shape if you don't keep the cutter straight.

[longshooter86]

the LC brass are mil-spec but the federal case are from the Fed GMM rounds and the winchester are from some older rounds that I have had laying around.