Well, It's been a couple of weeks since I started anything, and I believe it's my turn again so... How many of you deburr primer flash holes and uniform primer pockets? (I do, but I'm not really excited about it) Do you feel it really helps accuracy any? I shoot mostly revolvers and lever actions and am not convinced of it's merit for my uses. What do you think about it?
Primer pocket uniforming & flashhole deburring
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Pourboy; I still do, does it help,cann't hurt. When I use to reload alot for load testing off the bench with rifles I did. Tryed to get everything out of it I could. If you're looking for the "perfect" load it's one step in the right direction. It's a pain sometimes, but it's all the fun of reloading! Have a Happy New Year!
I would have to say that the "Jury" is still out on this one. I started this practice with Norma brass for the 6.5x55 Swedish in the M96 Rifle. Trouble is i made a switch to Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tips @ the same time. Groups were already pretty good and tightened up even more. I cannot say what was more responsible for the improvement without furthe experimenting. Take care all and hope we all have a great Year ahead!
Scott in Vermont
Scott in Vermont
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7,768 Posts
Most cases don't need deburring and uniforming, but then there's those that do. I couldn't seat primers flush, let alone full depth, in half of a batch of new Winchester .222 brass. A Whitetail Primer Pocket Uniformer paid for it's self right then & there. Another batch of Winchester .30-06 batch was OK, except for two, and I cut & cut & cut on them. This was a while back, but some fellows over on the Accurate Reloading Forum had problems with Winchester brass this fall.
Some cases have a real burr on the flash hole and a few still have the slug in them, bent over like the lid on a open tin can. I use the Lyman tool. As Mr. Gates said, you don't need to countersink the flash hole, just clean it up.
A few commercial primer pockets have a bit of a military crimp. A twist with an old Lyman Primer Pocket Reamer cleans them up.
Note to newbies. A reamer cuts the sides of the pocket and a uniformer cut the bottom.
The Whitetail tool is carbide and don't wear out. It's the slickest primer pocket cleaner made. Mr. Wright turned them over to Sinclair International.
<a href="http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=RECPUN&type=store
" target="_blank">http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin....tore
</a> Since handgun cases last for dozens of reloads and having them cut makes cleaning easier, I do them to. If nothing else, I never have a high primer waiting to slamfire.
Bye
Jack
Some cases have a real burr on the flash hole and a few still have the slug in them, bent over like the lid on a open tin can. I use the Lyman tool. As Mr. Gates said, you don't need to countersink the flash hole, just clean it up.
A few commercial primer pockets have a bit of a military crimp. A twist with an old Lyman Primer Pocket Reamer cleans them up.
Note to newbies. A reamer cuts the sides of the pocket and a uniformer cut the bottom.
The Whitetail tool is carbide and don't wear out. It's the slickest primer pocket cleaner made. Mr. Wright turned them over to Sinclair International.
<a href="http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=RECPUN&type=store
" target="_blank">http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin....tore
</a> Since handgun cases last for dozens of reloads and having them cut makes cleaning easier, I do them to. If nothing else, I never have a high primer waiting to slamfire.
Bye
Jack
I had a 375 Whelen built as a cast bullet only gun. I got Redding to make the dies and decided that if I'm doing the rest I make as well go all the way and uniform the cases. I wanted a few variables as possible, so I turned the necks also.
I wanted to isolate all potential problems to me or the cast bullets. I get good groups in the fire forming stage but I get wonderful groups after the uniforming the primer pockets and turning the necks.
I've not shot a jacketed bullet in this rifle. Nor have I lost a case neck splits, I've crunched a few in the press.
I'll vote for uniforming. I'm now doing it with my 25-06.
Jim
I wanted to isolate all potential problems to me or the cast bullets. I get good groups in the fire forming stage but I get wonderful groups after the uniforming the primer pockets and turning the necks.
I've not shot a jacketed bullet in this rifle. Nor have I lost a case neck splits, I've crunched a few in the press.
I'll vote for uniforming. I'm now doing it with my 25-06.
Jim
Pourboy
I do both on most any rifle cases. As the great sage has observed, "can't hurt". Mostly I uniform to make primer seating more consistent.
All of us have had the case that it took all the pressure we could muster to get the primer seated flush, which can't be doing anything good to the primer. I do this so the primer can be seated below flush by feel to bottom it in the pocket without excessive strain on either me or the primer.
Once the case is uniformed then flash hole chamfering isn't that big a deal, so I do that too.
I use B&M tools for both operations. There are several other good items out there, but there is some real junk too, including the RCBS chamfering tool. The B&M chamfer tool has a stop sleeve on the cutter itself so the stop operates against the interior of the case head and results in a consistent chamfer. The RCBS stops against the case mouth. No matter how precisely you trim the case you cannot guarantee that the mouth-to-head distance is consistent to even several thousandths.
Just something to think about brass. We have been told that we should always buy a supply of brass from one lot for consistency. Even within a lot the cases are made with a set of dies which does the same operation on several at a time. What guarantee is there that all of the dies in the set have identical dimensions at any time during the production cycle? Just check the differences in primer pocket depth in the next box or bag of cases you buy to see only one possible variable.
I do both on most any rifle cases. As the great sage has observed, "can't hurt". Mostly I uniform to make primer seating more consistent.
All of us have had the case that it took all the pressure we could muster to get the primer seated flush, which can't be doing anything good to the primer. I do this so the primer can be seated below flush by feel to bottom it in the pocket without excessive strain on either me or the primer.
Once the case is uniformed then flash hole chamfering isn't that big a deal, so I do that too.
I use B&M tools for both operations. There are several other good items out there, but there is some real junk too, including the RCBS chamfering tool. The B&M chamfer tool has a stop sleeve on the cutter itself so the stop operates against the interior of the case head and results in a consistent chamfer. The RCBS stops against the case mouth. No matter how precisely you trim the case you cannot guarantee that the mouth-to-head distance is consistent to even several thousandths.
Just something to think about brass. We have been told that we should always buy a supply of brass from one lot for consistency. Even within a lot the cases are made with a set of dies which does the same operation on several at a time. What guarantee is there that all of the dies in the set have identical dimensions at any time during the production cycle? Just check the differences in primer pocket depth in the next box or bag of cases you buy to see only one possible variable.
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