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Primer Pockets…to clean or not to clean?
- Thread starter Sniper King 2020
- Start date
I know what clean means. But what does dirty mean? A whole lot of variables in that.
(And I almost never clean my primer pockets. That has more to do with lazy than anything else.)
(And I almost never clean my primer pockets. That has more to do with lazy than anything else.)
I clean primer pockets every time!
But only because I clean my brass in an ultrasonic after I deprime, and it's just a side effect of the process.
But only because I clean my brass in an ultrasonic after I deprime, and it's just a side effect of the process.
Decap the spent primers before you clean your brass...Then it cleans the primer pockets, too... 2 birds, 1 stone. 
Get you a Mighty Armory Magnum universal decapping die. Worth the $60 I promise. I've been using Wayne's decapping dies since 2018, he's a good dude, too.
www.mightyarmory.com
Get you a Mighty Armory Magnum universal decapping die. Worth the $60 I promise. I've been using Wayne's decapping dies since 2018, he's a good dude, too.
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Unless you clean with rice in a vibratory tumbler. Then the rice just gets stuck and you don’t barley touch the primer pockets.Decap the spent primers before you clean your brass...Then it cleans the primer pockets, too... 2 birds, 1 stone.
OP, I don’t touch primer pockets.
Am I a good shooter? Meh
Is my time worth more than what I would spend cleaning primer pockets. Absofuckinglutely
My order is this... Decap, ultrasonic cleaner, then I rinse, dry, resize, then polish.
Honestly, I couldn't give less of a fuck about someone else's opinion of my process, and it's not up for debate. It works for me, and doesn't have to work for you. It has nothing to do with precision. It has to do with the fact that I'm not putting nasty carbon-coated (and other debris the carbon attracts) brass brass back in my precision rifle chambers. You can enjoy putting dirty brass back in your rifle if you want, but I'm not about to.
I basically do what FuhQ does, stainless tumble after decaping, I then do a 2nd round of tumbling after resizing to remove the lube. Primer pockets more than clean enough.
I don't like doing any brass prep, so other than drying brass and sizing I don't do anything.
I went back to wet tumbling, rice worked well but was annoying to remove and getting stuck in the flash hole was a PITA.
I don't like doing any brass prep, so other than drying brass and sizing I don't do anything.
I went back to wet tumbling, rice worked well but was annoying to remove and getting stuck in the flash hole was a PITA.
John uses new guccy caliber for F-OPEN which is 6.5mm PRC expanded to 7mm, so 7-6.5PRC or 7PRCW (PRC Wheller)
Heck I don't even deprime before tumbling. I got sick of taking a pick to remove walnut from 3 out of 4 flash holes.
Wonder if that's why my groups suck?
Wonder if that's why my groups suck?
I neither offered my opinion nor asked for a debate. I want to know what is gained from polishing your brass. You already said it was cleaned and rinsed so I don’t believe you that it’s about not introducing carbon into your precision system.
You do your thing, I’ll do mine. Easy enough? I like my end product to look professional…Even if it’s just for my own benefit.
1) FW arms decapping die. Best option out there, and the FIRST with the self centering decapping dies
2) Brass Juice for wet tumbling. No media needed, and cleans the brass better than anything else out there.
3) pistol, no one cares about primer pockets, precision rifle, I normally decap before wet washing, gives me best results.
As a matter of fact, I wet tumble pistol brass in a cement mixer, 5gal buckets at a time
2) Brass Juice for wet tumbling. No media needed, and cleans the brass better than anything else out there.
3) pistol, no one cares about primer pockets, precision rifle, I normally decap before wet washing, gives me best results.
As a matter of fact, I wet tumble pistol brass in a cement mixer, 5gal buckets at a time
I don't even clean my brass each time I reload it.
I read that cleaning brass saves wear on your dies, no idea if its BS or not but its the only reason I clean my brass.
Brass prep of any sort is aids.
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I like my brass to be somewhat clean before I start putting it in all my dies and all. I don't care if it's super shiny but I want it fairly clean when it goes in my dies and when it goes into my chamber too. I have found a simple and fast wet tumbling method I prefer and i do it step #2. Step 1 is always deprime, to get the dirty primers and other burnt primer compound out. As a result, my primer pockets get cleaned a little bit, though my cleaning method is specifically such that no media or anything used is small enough to fit inside the case or primer pockets, so the pockets only get cleaned by the water and soap in the wet tumble (15-20 min).
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I think there’s some value in having clean brass in my dies but clean to me means that the brass has spent a couple hours in Lyman Corncob media. I have no idea what the fascination with decapping is. That’s why there is a pin on the resizing die mandrel. FFS, why add any extra steps?
range
dry tumble
anneal (amp mate does this for me)
resize, mandrel, decap (one pull of the handle does all three, thanks SAC)
Trim, chamfer, deburr (one poke into the trimmer)
load
Reloading is aids.
Any tool that reduces the time or touches per piece is worth every cent.
range
dry tumble
anneal (amp mate does this for me)
resize, mandrel, decap (one pull of the handle does all three, thanks SAC)
Trim, chamfer, deburr (one poke into the trimmer)
load
Reloading is aids.
Any tool that reduces the time or touches per piece is worth every cent.
When wet tumbling you can ensure the primer pocket fully dries.
Also allows the pocket to get cleaned somewhat (again if that matters}.
De-prime
Wet tumble
Size (bushing only)
Wet tumble again (remove lube (sticky lanolin shit (I should try a different lube but iis easy to apply)))
Load
I guess could try a different lube and dry tumble with primers in to avoid media stuck in flash hole, but my method works fine and the whole de-prime, wet tumble and dry process doesn’t take long compared to the charging and seating process.
You are assuming all dies have a decapping pin . Even with the ones that do, some folks don't use the sizing button/mandrel assembly at all . Decapping as a separate step is a must .
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