Primer pockets and flash holes

[Alibiiv]

I read a lot of threads that address bullets, primers, annealing, neck sizing, BCs and just about anything and everything about reloading. I am curious about what others are doing to prep their primer pockets and flash holes? Presently I use an RCBS deburring tool for removing the burr from the flash hole on the inside of the case. I use a Lyman, carbide primer pocket reamer that I have removed from the plastic handle Lyman provides and chuck the reamer into my DeWalt drill to make the primer pockets uniform. I seem to have read where some reloaders are drilling out the flash holes to keep them uniform as well?? One of my biggest concerns when using the RCBS deburring tool is that it will be set too deep and the brass will get ruined because of drilling through the wall between the bottom of the primer pocket and the inside base of the case. I have read a couple of threads addressing primer pocket and flash holes, however they are a bit old. What are others doing for primer pocket and flash hole prep?

 

[ARlife4me]

In just over 40 years of reloading all I've done is make sure there's no media in the case, flash hole or pockets after tumbling brass. After 24+ reloadings of the same brass i have yet to change. With the 2015 and newer brass i haven't reloaded anything other than virgin brass. I might just use a pocket brush for now.

 

[RichCoyle]

I do what you do with the carbide. I turn the flash hole tool lightly until it turns smoothly. Almost no down pleasure.

 

[SPitty]

I use the Sinclair primer pocket tool in my drill and their flash hole deburring tool both inside and outside the flash hole. I also put very little pressure when doing the flash holes.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I read a lot of threads that address bullets, primers, annealing, neck sizing, BCs and just about anything and everything about reloading. I am curious about what others are doing to prep their primer pockets and flash holes? Presently I use an RCBS deburring tool for removing the burr from the flash hole on the inside of the case. I use a Lyman, carbide primer pocket reamer that I have removed from the plastic handle Lyman provides and chuck the reamer into my DeWalt drill to make the primer pockets uniform. I seem to have read where some reloaders are drilling out the flash holes to keep them uniform as well?? One of my biggest concerns when using the RCBS deburring tool is that it will be set too deep and the brass will get ruined because of drilling through the wall between the bottom of the primer pocket and the inside base of the case. I have read a couple of threads addressing primer pocket and flash holes, however they are a bit old. What are others doing for primer pocket and flash hole prep?

Greg from "Primal Rights". Was a long time LRH Member has a lot of information on "Primer Pockets". You might pull up some of his Post on LRH or going on the internet and reviewing his Website.

 

[MarkInPA]

I use a Sinclair flash hole deburring tool for new brass only. I use a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer chucked into my drill and uniform the pockets until the uniformer bottoms out. When reloading fired brass, I use the same set-up to clean out the primer pockets.

 

[WapitiBob]

I uniform every pocket for depth initially with the 21st Century tool. When reloading I clean the pocket with the little wire brush in a drill then dust both sides of the flash hole with a #1 center drill.

 

[MarkInPA]

I don't take credit for the following. I have had this saved for sometime now by someone I don't know on Snipershide. I posted only part of his post here but, I can post the whole thing if interested.

BRASS PREP:

There has been much written and discussed regarding the need for or lack of need for brass preparation. I tried most of the various methods and processes from nothing to weighing and all manner of other things. I even went so far as to test each phase to determine if there was a real benefit by doing it. These steps either by themselves or in combination have shown me some benefit in consistency or repeatable results through testing and observation. These are the steps that I do in the order I do them in, you may find a better method, but this works for me. Since most of the preparation requires some form of rotary cutting I have found that a drill press is a huge asset in this process. I have put a drill in a vice and used a battery powered screw driver but they are more effort than they are worth. The scream of a hand drill for several hours will wear on your nerves pretty quickly and changing batteries every 20 minutes isn't fun either. You don't need a floor model or a high horsepower drill press, a $40.00 bench top press works just fine for this and is very quiet.

Case Prep Tools: The Drill Press Way.

From Left to Right: Sinclair LG & SM Primer pocket uniformer, Lyman LG Primer Crimp reamer, Lyman SM Primer Crimp Reamer, Lyman Flash Hole Deburrer set up for the Outside Flash Hole, RCBS Flash Hole deburrer to do Inside Flash Holes, Possum Hollow .308 Case Trimmer in a Sinclair Power Chuck, Lyman VLD Chamfer Tool, RCBS Case Deburring Tool (Outside end) in a Sinclair Power Chuck, 30 Cal bore Brush.

1. Uniforming Primer Pockets. Sinclair makes the best system out there that I have found and you can buy it as a set for large and small primer pockets with the power adaptor. Chuck this little gizmo into your drill press and press the primer pocket up into the cutter TWICE. Press once, dump. Press twice, dump. There is no mechanism to remove the chips the cutter makes as it is cutting. You have to do it by dumping out the chips to make sure it cuts flush and all the way down. The benefit from this step is simply a uniform depth and seating for the primer so that the fire will enter the flash hole the same way every time. It also prevents a primer from being seated too high or low, potentially creating a slam fire or no fire condition.

1.a. Primer Crimps. If you need to remove primer crimps from military brass, there are several options. (NOTE: The Sinclair uniformer mentioned above WILL NOT remove a crimp for you, you will need a reamer or swager) There are press mounted tools, bench mounted tools and rotary cutter type tools. . I never liked the bench or press mounted swaggers. Things may have changed since I played with them last but they seemed to be hit or miss on removing the crimp when I tried them. Lyman makes a nice primer pocket reamer that has worked well for me for many years on both rifle and pistol brass of many flavors. I unscrewed the reamer from the wooden handle and chucked it in the drill press. I've heard some others complain about it not removing the crimp completely but that has not been my experience. The cutter head is also chamfered at the bottom and can only side cut so there is no worry about deepening the primer pocket.

2. Chamfer the OUTSIDE flash hole. You will need a flash hole chamfer/reamer for this operation. Lyman has one that comes with a stop that is supposed to be for the case mouth but can be set to stop on the primer pocket rim too. Once again unscrew it from the wooden handle, chuck it in the drill press and ream away. This step may be considered to be extraneous by some but I kind of like the idea of a tapered hole to direct the fire into the case. Used in combination with the next step I found the velocity spreads were reduced by about 30% compared to the un-chamfered flash holes.

3. Chamfer the INSIDE flash hole. Unless you buy Lapua or some other brass which has drilled flash hole most flash holes are pressed into the brass. This can create a burr on the inside of the case. The effect is rather significant in terms of consistency if you leave it there. The drop in my velocity variations simply by removing this was significant. For this step I like the old RCBS Universal or the current Midway EJS Flash Hole Reamer. I specify these because they index on the web of the case as opposed to the mouth. This is important because you don't have to trim all your brass to an exact length before hand to get the same depth of chamfer.

The first 3 steps only need to be done ONCE in the life of the brass. That being said I use the primer pocket uniformer to clean the carbon out of the pocket each time. It definitely works better than the little brush thingy for cleaning pockets on the 2nd and later reloads.

4. Case Trimming: This part is painful no matter how you do it. It is also the one part that can have disastrous effects if you don't do it. If the brass grows to the point where it begins to get crushed by the end of the chamber it will essentially add crimp to your round. Add too much crimp and the case will fail catastrophically due to over pressure. There are several choices equipment wise in how to do this operation.

Conventionally you can use a bench mounted hand cranked (or powered) trimmer such as a Wilson, Lyman or Forster. There are many variations on this tool as well as different adaptors to perform other functions. I have a Lyman and associated pilots that I keep around for doing small lots of brass or for brass that I normally do not load in quantity for. While the hand cranked versions get the job done well, they will significantly add to the dislike of trimming brass after not too many cases.

The most efficient method I have found is a little gizmo by Possum Hollow (a subsidiary of Sinclair) that has a cutter mounted in side a steel tube with a delrin insert that indexes on the shoulder of the case. I've used one with great success on 308's. The one I have for 30-06 is not as good since there are similar rounds chambered in larger diameter bullets and the cutters are designed to cover a spectrum of cartridges based on shoulder angle, hence it's a little sloppy. You simply mount the cutter in a power adaptor, chuck it in the drill press and push the case up inside. When the case stops vibrating in your hand it's trimmed.

On the high end price wise for mass production is the Giraud Trimmer from a fella by the same name down in Texas. This tool isn't cheap at ~$450.00 but it's fast and does this and the next 2 steps in one operation in about 3 seconds, I have heard nothing but great things about it from those that use it. Sinclair and Gracey also produce a similar tool and I have heard many positive things about them also. Trimming brass is a painful but necessary step, anything that makes it easier is a plus in my book.

Time Saver: I decided what the maximum amount I wanted my case to be and took that measurement to my local machine shop with a 3" x 1" x 1" chunk of steel and had them mill it into the shape of a "C" for that exact dimension. As I finished the inside flash hole ream I pressed the case into the gauge. If the case fit, I didn't worry about it. If it didn't, it got tossed into the trim pile. This simple fit check saved me bunches of time and pain in trimming all my brass, all the time or checking each one with a dial micrometer.

5. Inside Case Mouth Chamfer: Get yourself the VLD chamfer tool by what ever manufacturer you prefer and chuck it in the drill press. You may need a power adaptor to get it in the press depending on which type you get. It takes about 1 second and a light touch to get the chamfer. The reason for doing this step is to provide a nice smooth ramp when seating your bullet and prevents scoring the bullet if there was a burr from case trimming.

6. Outside Case Mouth Chamfer: On the bottom of most of the chamfer tools are three pointy ends, they are actually cutters. Use the same procedure as the inside chamfer, WATCH YOUR FINGERS!!!! Depending on how you are viewing the cutter it will appear that you are pushing the case into the back of the cutter, it's an illusion this IS the middle. If you miss the center you could potentially run your fingers up into the cutter points, this hurts and will make you bleed. This step simply knocks off any rough edges on the outside rim of the case mouth which result from trimming.

7. Polish your Neck: Chuck a bronze bore brush of the appropriate caliber into the drill press and polish the inside of the neck. Just up and down twice, slowly. The brass will get warm from this procedure. This step will get you a nice smooth neck surface and will aid in a more consistent neck tension.

At this point I generally throw the brass back in the tumbler for a half hour or so to clean off the lube and knock all the brass bits out of the case. There has been some worry expressed about media in the flash hole. The squirrel cage media separator fixes this and I have never seen any media in the hole after a good spin through there. As a second check when I pull my brass out is to put them in my loading block bottom up and ready for priming. A quick eyeball across the cases will verify clear flash holes.

Ready for priming after a trip through the tumbler.

That will get your brass prepped up into what I call "Full Match" and be ready for priming. After 18 - 20 years of reloading I find these steps to be the most beneficial and time/cost effective. Do you need to do all this stuff, NO. You NEED to check case length! If you have crimped primers you NEED to remove the crimp! Setting off primers while seating is BAD THING and VERY LOUD! The other steps each add to the consistency of your rounds but are not required. You have to make the decision as to which if any steps you want to do.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

I do both to my cases. It's a one time process. No big deal.