Military brass can kiss my A**

[Wisconsinner]

I was saving up most of my military head stamped Lake city brass, as well as the federal ar .223. A range officer at the range has the dillon super swage, and let me use it one weekend, so I went through and resized de-primed and swagged all the brass I had on hand.. I am now trying to reload the cases and most if not all the primer pockets are way too loose... Anyone else deal with this?

 

[foxC]

You really don't have to swage as deep as you might think. Set up the swager and do five cases, then go ahead and size/ trim etc and prime them. Adjust the swage as necessary if needed then rinse and repeat.

You get the feel for it after a bit and it will come naturally. You don't need to swage the whole pocket but just enough to remove the crimp.

 

[bigedp51]

Order some pin gauges as Go NO-GO gauges for adjusting the swager depth so your primer pockets do not end up over sized.

I use a simple Lee depriming tool to test the primer pockets, if I can push the primer out with one finger the brass goes in the scrap bucket.

Also be fore warned the newer RCBS swaging die has oversized swage, the diameter of upper section of the swager is larger than the majority of primers. The swager on the right is what the newer units look like and will ruin the primer pocket.

The RCBS primer pocket reamer designed for their cartridge prep station is tapered and only removes the crimp and has a positive stop to prevent over reaming.

 

[Mad_Charlie]

I think he was using a Dillon...

The pin guage is a great idea, I copied it and it has saved me some time.

 

[Wisconsinner]

You guys are Godsend! I wanted to get the tool back to the guy at the range asap because I barley knew him, I just bought one online, I don't recall being able to adjust the depth of the swageing mandril?

 

[918v]

You should read the instructions.

 

[JW21]

If you loosen the nut on the back of the swaging rod you can thread the rod in for more swage or back it out for less. Then just tighten the nut

 

[Pinecone]

It is really hard to over do it with a Dillon. As was mentioned with the RCBS, the swager is sized for the proper size of the primer pocket, and it only really swages the mouth.

There is a chart floating around, not all primers are the same size, so you can salvage the looser cases with one of the primer brands that runs a bit larger.

 

[Wisconsinner]

It was someone elses I borrowed. Thanks for the input. I never got an instruction manual.

 

[Wisconsinner]

Order some pin gauges as Go NO-GO gauges for adjusting the swager depth so your primer pockets do not end up over sized.

I use a simple Lee depriming tool to test the primer pockets, if I can push the primer out with one finger the brass goes in the scrap bucket.

Also be fore warned the newer RCBS swaging die has oversized swage, the diameter of upper section of the swager is larger than the majority of primers. The swager on the right is what the newer units look like and will ruin the primer pocket.

The RCBS primer pocket reamer designed for their cartridge prep station is tapered and only removes the crimp and has a positive stop to prevent over reaming.

Thanks pal, the best help yet!

 

[Wisconsinner]

You should read the instructions.

Thanks for the post. I am happy with 30 round mags and the liberty to change them without a bullet button. thanks for the smart ass comment!

 

[chefcam864]

It is really hard to over do it with a Dillon. As was mentioned with the RCBS, the swager is sized for the proper size of the primer pocket, and it only really swages the mouth.

There is a chart floating around, not all primers are the same size, so you can salvage the looser cases with one of the primer brands that runs a bit larger.

Russian primers come to mind...

 

[918v]

Thanks for the post. I am happy with 30 round mags and the liberty to change them without a bullet button. thanks for the smart ass comment!

You know what? The instructions are there to prevent people like you from ruining a bucket full of brass. Thank God you still have a fully functional weapon because if your neighbors are as smart as you that won't be the case for too much longer.

 

[Wisconsinner]

Could have been said that way the first time. No need to get smart... just looking for help..

 

[hkguns]

OP, the instructions tell you to swage a bit at a time on a test cartridge checking the primer seating with each adjustment until it is correct. They warn you about over swaging and that case to case variance can cause issues if you take it too far. Sounds like your cases were different than your neighbors and the adjustment was too far for your brass.

I'd try it again as I've found the Dillon swager to be a great tool and I certainly wouldn't swear off military brass because of this one instance which was likely entirely your fault.

 

[bigedp51]

Wisconsinner

Shit happens, I have been reloading for over 46 years, I bought the second RCBS press mounted swager because the older unit pictured below was very rough and "pushed" brass "INTO" the primer pocket and not outward or to the side. (NFG)

I bought the second unit not knowing it was oversized and ruined more than a few cases, almost half the brass in the bucket below is from the new swaging unit. So shit does happen to everyone no matter how smart they think they are, or how long they have been reloading.

I have every reamer type primer pocket tool and two different type/makes of press mounted swagers, if I had just bought the Dillon super swage first I would have spent far less and been money ahead of the game.

You learn from your mistakes and "EVERYONE" makes them. Good luck with the new Dillon unit, you now have the best and a few pin gauges will help adjusting and checking your primer pockets.

 

[Queequeg]

The only brass that can kiss my ass is that Berdan primed shit! Even sounds funny when it hits the concrete floor!

I bought a RCBS trim station years ago and got the two primer crimp cutters at the same time. Works well but is slow. To speed things up I took a rod from a RCBS hand tool(Primer pocket scraper), screwed it onto the cutter and chucked it into a cordless drill. That made things go faster.

Even so, the Dillon 600 Super Swager just appealed to me and I bought one about 5 years ago. Any new mil brass, and a fair amount of other brass as well (Federal GMM has been coming with swaged primers!) goes on the 600. Occasionally, when I'm priming cases, some of the swaged cases are stubborn and I will hit them with the cutter which is nearby rather than pull down the 600 for one or two cases.

Sorry for your trouble OP but it's probably good that you learned to proceed cautiously down the learning curve here rather than ruining a bucket full of brass by over cooking it on your first annealing attempt and only finding out after the kaboom!

 

[pmclaine]

I cut the case head of my brass in half so I can view a side profile of the case interior at the base.

Having the open view makes setting the swage on my S1050 an easy process. I can see when the backer rod is snug to the base of the case and how deep the swage is entering the primer pocket.

If you have a dremel its easy to mod cases and save them for reference when you are next loading that headstamp.