Looking for recommendations for "favorite" hand tool for removing the crimp from military primer pockets.

I'm loading for .223 and .308 and have a fair amount of military brass available.

Suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

I've always used a hand neck chamfering tool.

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Lee makes a unit that just requires you and a hammer!

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I've always used a 60 degree HS Steel countersink. It can be used in a drill if watching what you are doing so as not to cut too much. Better yet if you have a drill press available, set the quill stop to the required depth and hold the case while you plunge cut the pocket.

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Lee's chamfer/ deburing tool is what I use

Okay, Thanks guys. I have all of the items you suggested... except the one that needs a hammer... do have several hammers though. Guess I just need to experiment a bit and find the one that works beat for me. Kind of like the drill press idea.

Mike

I'm a bit surprised no one mentioned the RCBS primer pocket swager. It's mounted on the reloading press and consists of a "die" that supports the cartridge base from the inside and a swager button that fits on the ram. The empty case and ram is raised until the case is stopped by the "die" but the swager button continues into the primer pocket rolling back the brass crimp. No material is removed from the primer pocket so no cleanup is necessary after swaging. Swager buttons are provided for both large and small primer pockets. The "die" is adjustable for both rifle and handgun cases.

If the primer pocket crimp is especially tight, it may be necessary to run the swager two or three times in and out of the pocket but it's all mounted on the press anyway so no big deal. The last time I used my swager, I took the crimp out of 500 .308 cases without ruining a single one.

You can swage the pocket, which will give you the nice, radiused lip found on commercial brass that hasn't been crimped, or you can use some type of cutting tool to trim away that sharp lip of brass.

Personally, I prefer the fast and effective method of chucking up a counter-sink bit in a cordless drill or a drill press. This is as fast as any other method but doesn't cost much, presuming you already have the drill or press. If doing thousands, a dedicated bench-mounted tool from RCBS or Dillon may be in order.

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The bench mounted swaging tool is IMO, best for large amounts of brass as it will do the job quickly. I don't work with crimped primer pockets very often so I find the press mounted tool a more affordable fix. I won't use the drill or countersink as I've seen way too many primer pockets deeply gouged by uncaring commercial reloaders but see no reason why a careful reloader couldn't do a decent job using the same tools.

I have used the Lee chamfer tool before and it did alright. Was going to get the Lyman reamer but tried this Dremel bit first and it did a nice job. The bit is about .30" dia. I ran it in a cordless drill and it took about 1 second of cutting per case. Hold a constant pressure and listen to the sound of the drill turning. Rrr ,rrr ,rrr. I counted three revolutions(?) and the results were pretty consistant.



Of course this doesn't do anything to the pocket itself as a swager might. Some of the pockets I've primed are on the snug side. Hopefully not too much so.

I have the Dillon Super Swage, it's quick and easy but it's not cheap, maybe $100. I've heard of some buying when they maybe don't have to use regularly and de crimping then turning around and selling it when done.

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I tried the drill and the hand tools, then bought the RCBS swaging system. It's great. Then I used a buddy's Dillon Super Swager, and if you are doing several thousand, it would be worth the extra cost. Like someone else said, buy it, use it, then sell it.

As you can see I don't write very often, but i recently bought the RCBS tool and I find that it is very simple to use, very quick and very effective. I have lots of Dillon 'stuff' but cannot figure out why you need to support the case the full length of it when simply swaging out the primer pocket. I have had no problems with my reloads.

Fletch

The Dillon tool is about speed. There is good video on You Tube where a fellow hooked a string and a rubber band to one to automate the raising and lowering of the anvil. All he has to do it put cases on and off with one hand and run the handle with the other.

One thing to watch out for with swaging is the anvil can flatten inside flash hole burrs down over the hole. So be prepared to inspect and clear a few with a drill bit. If you deburr flash holes anyway, this isn't an issue.

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I think RCBS took that into account when they designed the press mounted primer pocket swager. The anvil that extends into the case has a ball shaped indent at the end which "cups" over the flash hole. Unless the flash hole burrs are pretty large, the anvil isn't prone to crushing the burrs over the hole. Not having the new swager which appears to be a licensed copy of the Dillon, I don't know whether that anvil has the same feature.

I didn't know that. Is this one of the old or newer improved version? Is the recess wide enough to avoid crushing burrs on off-center flash holes?

I'd been thinking of turning my own anvil with a short inside radiused teat on the end to splay the burrs outward and crush them flat, thus accomplishing swaging and deburring in one stroke. But the drilled military flash holes are often a little off-center, making that a bit problematic for speed. I'd have to take my time getting each one centered over the teat, and whenever I missed I'd have a spoiled piece of brass. Still, the careful feeding shouldn't take more time than separate deburring, so it might still be worthwhile.

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"First contemplation of the problems of Interior Ballistics gives the impression that they should yield rather easily to relatively simple methods of analysis. Further study shows the subject to be of almost unbelievable complexity." Homer Powley

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not looking at mass production here. The RCBS swager looks interesting and inexpensive so probably that's the way I'll go. I already have everything I need [including drill press] to go the other way.

Mike

Mine is one of the older ones. If you're considering this swager, I'd suggest you check the anvil(s) for an indent first to see if it meets your needs. The tool comes with two anvils. A "universal" and one for .223 cases. There are also two swager buttons for large and small primers. I do mostly handgun brass with mine and other than PMC brass, the flash holes are pretty well centered in the primer pocket so I haven't been crushing any teats.

You likely couldn't use this tool to deburr off centered flash holes as the anvil and swager button are in alignment. If you centered the anvil over the off centered flash hole, the swager button wouldn't be aligned with the primer pocket. You'd need to use a teat remover first before swaging the pocket.

Marshal,

Thanks for the info. I don't see a need to own another swager in addition to the Dillon, but I like to be aware of what's available and how it differs. The Dillon's threaded anvil stem allows a little wiggle room if you don't tighten the jam nut on it. It's bottom stop, if set correctly, won't allow lowering off center, but if you put the case on the anvil so the radial from center of its primer pocket to the actual flash hole center is horizontal, you could then swage with the anvil slightly askew.

That said, there may be other issues with my idea. Have to try it to see.

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"First contemplation of the problems of Interior Ballistics gives the impression that they should yield rather easily to relatively simple methods of analysis. Further study shows the subject to be of almost unbelievable complexity." Homer Powley

where can you even get military brass anymore?