do you clean your primer pockets?

[acemisser]

I load a lot of 308 for f class shooting..One thing I hate
is brass prep..I seldomclean the pockets unless they are really
crudy..Do you guys clean your's everytime?
I can see no difference in accuracy with my loadings and
dirty pockets.All primes are seated with a RCBS bench
priming tool...John

[darkker]

No difference IME.
I have a lee tool, but don't use it much.

[M.O.A.]

Me nether as long as the hole is open its good too go ;-)

[earl39]

I will run a uniformer thru the pocket first time i load then if it looks really bad i have a 1/64 allen wrench i scrape the gunk out with.

[Luckus]

I use a small screwdriver and just twist it in the pocket and knock the big chunks out.

[MZ5]

If I'm trimming with the Redding (unusual; don't need to for most of my brass or most loadings) I might put the brass across the pocket cleaner on the frame, or not. I have the Lee tool, too, but rarely use it.

[jimbo88mm]

For my semi-autos with a floating firing pin, I use a uniformer to ensure the primers are seated below flush. For my bolts, not always but sometimes I'll use the little lee tool.

[John_M]

Here's my long answer to a "short" question:
Hornady Primer Pocket Cleaner is used on all cases after each firing. Couple of twists is all it takes to remove most of the large crud.
Does this small step take a lot of time? No
Is this small step a pain in the arse? Not to me.
Does this small step provide better accuracy? I don't know.
Does this small step allow primers to be properly seated a few thousandths below the base of the case? Probably yes.
Does this small step cause any harm to the case? Probably not.
Does this small step improve the performance of the primer/case interface? Probably yes.
Will I continue to conduct this small cleaning operation? Yes.
Will I feel guilty if I do not conduct this small cleaning operation? Yes.
When, at the range, I shoot the occasional flyer, will I think it might have been caused by a not-so-thoroughly-cleaned primer pocket? Probably.

Assuming every action we take in life has either a positive or negative outcome, or both, (I suspect some might challenge me on this statement) I would suspect primer pocket cleaning has more of a positive effect than a negative one.

Best wishes and good luck to all.

[acemisser]

that sounds like a lot of work for nothing..lol

[scope eye]

Thank god for dirty primer pockets or else how would you keep the primer from falling back out, LOL

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

For my semi-autos with a floating firing pin, I use a uniformer to ensure the primers are seated below flush. For my bolts, not always but sometimes I'll use the little lee tool.

Ditto.

[wbm]

Good post. Read a test on tumbling brass and accuracy a while back. No difference in accuracy could be shown between tumbled clean brass and "dirty" brass that had been fired several times.

[BigHorn]

I use the rcbs brush in there handle, along with a neck chamfer and a neck brush

[82boy]

I have found that in precision reloading the primer pocket is THE most overlooked part. Cold ignigtion can wreak havok on small groups, and this is why consistant primerer seating depth is crutial. Cleaning primer pockets can help but it is not enough, the primer pocket needded re-cut and uniformed after each firing. With this it will ensure that the primers are set at the correct, and uniformed seating height. It only takes a second to do. Seating a primer on a dirty primer pocket is only asking for trouble.

[nsaqam]

82Boy, I'm going to disagree with you to a certain degree. Questions like these always make me laugh a bit because everyone has different expectations of accuracy. I shoot with a lot of match shooters including some anal BR guys and most of them do not bother with primer pocket cleaning. They do uniform new brass but only during initial brass prep. Some of the guys do not clean their brass at all. I wouldn't say that primer pockets are "overlooked", I would say they are ignored. It is an absolutely unnecessary step that is done purely for aesthetics. Guys like shiny brass.

Seating a primer on a dirty pocket is looking for trouble??? Seriously?

Agreed.

[acemisser]

It's like painting an older car to make it run better..lol When I was shooting the Pennsylvania 1000 game
few cleaned the pockets and few weighed the powder charge and they still shot excellent scores..
I seldomtumble the brass...Unless it is real dirty..You can only seat the primer so deep..My RCBS
bench tool seats themgood everytime...Iam just glad to see I am not the only one to not clean them..

[Nor Cal Mikie]

If someone looks at your crappy looking brass, might make them wonder about the rest of your gear?
Clean brass keeps the crud off the inside of the chamber and for anyone that see's it, might make them think that you really know what you're doing?.
Clean primer pockets makes for the same seating depth all the time.
If you can't bother to keep the pockets cleaned out, what else are you letting go?
But factory ammo, shoot it and throw the brass away. That way you won't have to worry about the dirty primer pockets!

[John_M]

Trent, with respect, I am going to disagree with you a teensy bit. You state "...It is an absolutely unnecessary step that is done purely for aesthetics...." I do not clean primer pockets for aesthetics. I clean them so the primer is seated solidly against the base of the primer pocket. When so seated, the primer will absorb the full impact of the firing pin and not be "cushioned" by crud at the bottom the primer pocket. That's all.


Continued best wishes and good luck to all.

[acemisser]

I never had primers get that crudy in the first place.What kind of primer are you using?
I clean them once in awhile but not everytime..Ihave to see prove that it is reallyneeded.
until someone can give me the proff that it is absulutly nesseary I aint gonna worry about..

[Dennis]

I asked 82 boy basically this same question. It only takes a second to hit the brass with the uniformer and you don't have anything to worry about, HOPEFULLY

Dennis

[82boy]

82Boy, I'm going to disagree with you to a certain degree. Questions like these always make me laugh a bit because everyone has different expectations of accuracy. I shoot with a lot of match shooters including some anal BR guys and most of them do not bother with primer pocket cleaning. They do uniform new brass but only during initial brass prep. Some of the guys do not clean their brass at all. I wouldn't say that primer pockets are "overlooked", I would say they are ignored. It is an absolutely unnecessary step that is done purely for aesthetics. Guys like shiny brass.

Seating a primer on a dirty pocket is looking for trouble??? Seriously?

All I can say is the "anal BR guys" your talking about must not be competitive, I cant think of a competitive Benchrest shooter that doesn't uniform their primers. When I went through Jack Neary's tuning clinic, he also stated that unifrorming the primer pocket after every firing is one of the most curtial things that can be done for accuracy. When it comes down to wining and loosing by a couple thousands of an inch, I cant think of a single BR shooter that would be willing to risk loosing on the possibility that they seated a primer on a dirty pocket. Also consider that most benchrest shooters will pay between $75 $120 dollars just for a priming tool to garentee that each primer is set to the proper deeph, I can imigine then using it, and saying that it dont matter if you seat a primer on a dirty pocket.

[acemisser]

All I can say is the "anal BR guys" your talking about must not be competitive, I cant think of a competitive Benchrest shooter that doesn't uniform their primers. When I went through Jack Neary's tuning clinic, he also stated that unifrorming the primer pocket after every firing is one of the most curtial things that can be done for accuracy. When it comes down to wining and loosing by a couple thousands of an inch, I cant think of a single BR shooter that would be willing to risk loosing on the possibility that they seated a primer on a dirty pocket. Also consider that most benchrest shooters will pay between $75 $120 dollars just for a priming tool to garentee that each primer is set to the proper deeph, I can imigine then using it, and saying that it dont matter if you seat a primer on a dirty pocket.

I guess I was not aware that uniforming primer pockets was the same thing as cleaning them..My mistake....My bench priming tool will seat a primer in a dirty pocket with ease..And I understand that maybe a hand primer will not do the same job..And as far as careing what someone thinks about my brass not being shiney,,I could care less what they think..You can clean it untilthe cows come home and still not be a good shot...You do your thing and come on over and show me your accuracy..Do a simple test yourself..Load some with uncleaned pocket and some cleaned..Then do some shooting and see if they is a difference.I think you will be surprised...Like I did the same thing with inside neck cleaning..I found the inside clean necks shot some what worse than the dirty inside necks...Only thing I could figure was that the risidue was like a lube..The bullets even seated easier...So go figure..

[Deerhunter 28]

Yes every time


PSE EVO 57 Lbs.
Blacked out

[jhelmuth]

+1 with Patrick's comments - I'm 100% with him on this....

[Admin]

I cant think of a competitive Benchrest shooter that doesn't uniform their primers. When it comes down to wining and loosing by a couple thousands of an inch, I can't think of a single BR shooter that would be willing to risk loosing on the possibility that they seated a primer on a dirty pocket. Also consider that most benchrest shooters will pay between $75 $120 dollars just for a priming tool to guarantee that each primer is set to the proper depth, I can imagine then using it, and saying that it don't matter if you seat a primer on a dirty pocket.

I know one person who doesn't - and he's usually sitting in the seat next to you on the way to and from matches. Can't say I've ever seen Fred clean or re-uniform a primer pocket while reloading between relays at a match (unless he's just recently started doing it). And from what I hear, he's still whipping up on you and that fancy new-fangled "Spruce Goose" of yours. LOL



As for me, I'll uniform the primer pocket when I first get the brass and ream the primer passage hole, but that's it. If it's Lapua or Norma brass that lasts awhile I may end up cleaning them once or twice over the course of 20-30-40 loadings, but usually don't bother with the cheaper Win/Rem/Hornady brass.