Removing Primer Pocket Crimp in Military Brass

K

kbm6893

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
6,782
Reaction score
7,239
Location
Pennsylvania
Been reloading for 6 years now but only pistol. Getting ready to take the plunge with .223. I’ve been saving my brass for a while which has been mostly Federal bulk pack from Walmart. But I also have been picking up range brass.

So what headstamps should I be looking for to isolate military brass? And how do I remove the crimp? I’ve watched a few videos but they’re not really zoomed in and I don’t see a whole lot of difference between crimped and non-crimped pockets.

I have dies on the way so all my brass will be re-sized and then measured. I plan to eventually get the Frankfort Arsenal Case Prep Center so I can do all my trimming and case prep at once. Would the primer crimp tool be able to attach to the FA station in place of the primer pocket cleaning tool?
 
Register to hide this ad
I guess there are tools you can use to remove the crimp on military brass but I've always just used a good knive with a sharp edge to remove them. Never had a problem doing so.
 
If you have picked up any military surplus brass with the NATO cross on the headstamp it will have crimped primers for you to compare with commercial brass. Look for a ring around the primer pocket that may even be a little off center. How you choose to remove the crimp will probably depend on how much brass you have to process. If only a small amount you can remove the crimp with a dedicated reamer or I started out using the reaming end of a standard chamfer/reaming tool. If you are going to be processing increasing amounts of brass you may want to look into one of the swaging tools that swages the crimp out of the pocket. I used the RCBS swaging die set for years but was never really pleased with the operation. Finally broke down and purchased a Dillon Super Swage. While it is expensive, it makes the chore effortless and to me it was worth every penny.Dillon_mount_1.jpg

Dillon_mount_2 (1).jpg
 
Last edited:
Dillon Swager

May be expensive but easy to use and you get 5.56 and 7.62 swaging ability.

You should also consider acquiring small base dies to resize the brass shot in military full auto sloppy chambers.
 
If you don't want to spend a lot and don't have thousands of cases to remove the crimp from, the RCBS primer pocket swager works very well. I suspect most who criticize this tool never had it properly adjusted.

It takes a bit of trial-and-error adjustment to get it set right, but once done, it never has to be changed and will work on any .223 or 5.56 case with a crimped primer pocket.
 
I'd examine any brass that isn't commercially marked (Remington, Federal, Winchester, etc) for crimped primer pockets. I've used the little RCBS tool for years. Just a couple twists in the primer pocket and you're done. I think the tools are around $20 now.
 
diyj98 said:
I'd examine any brass that isn't commercially marked (Remington, Federal, Winchester, etc) for crimped primer pockets. I've used the little RCBS tool for years. Just a couple twists in the primer pocket and you're done. I think the tools are around $20 now.
Click to expand...

So military brass has certain markings? I know a lot of my brass is marked FC. Federal I presume?

I’m not gonna be doing tons of brass. I doubt I have more than 700 pieces. But I pick more up every time I go to the range. Truth be told, I only have one .223 and I only shoot it once a year or so. This is more of a preparation for later just to be immune to shortages in the future. Also, I like being self-sufficient. I haven’t fired more than an occasional magazine of carry ammo in 6 years. Everything else is my hand loads.
 
US military brass will usually be marked with year and LC, WCC, RA, TW, then you have Taiwan TAA, South Korea PMC, Canada IVI, British RG, Belgium FN and others, German MEN and others Israel IMI and others. Then Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France and others all load their own. All military 5.56 and most bulk and defense commercial loads 5.56 and .223 loads will have crimped primers so even if marked FC it likely will be crimped. As a matter of fact it is pretty rare to find a non crimped .223 factory load, I am sure there are some out there but none of the stuff I see is.
 
Last edited:
Mack said:
US military brass will usually be marked with year and LC, WCC, RA, TW, then you have Taiwan TAA, South Korea PMC, Canada IVI, British RG, Belgium FN and others, German MEN and others Israel IMI and others. Then Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France and others all load their own. All military 5.56 and most bulk and defense commercial loads 5.56 and .223 loads will have crimped primers so even if marked FC it likely will be crimped. As a matter of fact it is pretty rare to find a non crimped .223 factory load, I am sure there are some out there but none of the stuff I see is.
Click to expand...

So I should plan to remove crimp on all my brass.
 
Triggernosis said:
I use a primer pocket reamer chucked in a drill press. I can do about 10 per minute that way- basically as fast as you can pick the brass up.
Click to expand...

This is what I do. Very fast.

In response to the OPs other question, the crimp needs removed only once. You will not be crimping the primer back in place when you reload the case.
The original cartridge had the primer crimped in place to avoid the chance of the primer backing out during cycling in an automatic weapon (machine gun).
 
Just a heads up. I have relied on Federal bulk pack for quite a few years.
It has been necessary to remove the primer crimp. Good news is you only need to do it once. It has been very good brass. I cant employ my hands to use the RCBS hand reamer/deburring tool to do this anymore so now I use the Lyman Case Prep Express case prep machine to do the job.
Jim
 
If you get the FA Case Prep Ctr. you can get the crimp reamer tool that fits into one of the stations. That's the easiest thing to do. That's just going to be a reamer bit and will work very well.

YouTube

You don't need a swaging tool. I have an RCBS tool and never use it. Just too much trouble to set up and reaming works better anyway.

I've removed thousands of crimps with this drill bit reamer and a drill with a speed lock.

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NOAH2W2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]Amazon.com: Ryobi A10CS72 1/2 in. High-Speed Steel Countersink: Home Improvement[/ame]
 
Last edited:
I have the Lyman Case Prep center, the crimp removal bits that come with it (which looks just like the Hornady bit) gave me problems. Either not enough of the crimp was removed and I could not seat new primers or removed to much brass and the pockets were loose. I gave up and bought the RCBS small bit and have had great results with it so I went and bought the large bit as well.
I also trim my brass on it using the Lee threaded cutter and case length gage for the caliber, which can be set to trim to a desired length with trial and measuring. Start long and screw the length gage in until you get the desired trim length. It should not move as you trim brass, has stayed in place for me.
 
One of the problems with reaming the primer pockets is that with most methods, it's difficult to determine if you've done the correct amount. Too little, you can carve a little more off. Too much and you've now got a potentially dangerous condition.

While I reamed primer pockets for quite awhile, my first swaging tool made me a believer in the method. At least as they made the tool 30+ years ago, the only problem with the RCBS system was that the cup that pops the case off the swaging button is made for the RCBS ram diameter. This may or may not work well with other press brands.
 
I've never used a primer pocket reaming tool, but it's always seemed to me that reaming is a less precise method of removing a primer pocket crimp. Looks like it would be easy to enlarge the primer pocket if done incorrectly.

Using a swaging tool eliminates the possibility of enlarging a primer pocket. I've used this method intermittently with both US WWII surplus .30-06 brass in the '60s and more recently with 5.56 /.223 brass. I don't recall ever ruining a primer pocket.
 
If you use a swaging tool make sure to use a heavy duty single stage press. Frame flex , along with brass spring back , can cause incomplete crimp removal .
A universal depriming tool (Lee) will take the wear and tear off your regular depriming die ... use it on the military/crimped in primer stuff .
The best method I've worked out is :
1.) Deprime with Universal Depriming Tool
2.) Swage pocket ... twice
3.) Cut any remaining crimp away with Lyman Primer Pocket Reamer hand tool
4.) Finish up with Lyman Primer primer Pocket Uniforming Tool.

Yes it is 4 steps but when you are done all the cases will be simple to reprime and you only have to do it once .
Swaging alone sometimes doesn't cut it !
Gary
 
One thing to remember with the military brass is that the case walls are thicker than standard 223. Some loads become compressed or actually won't fit in the military brass that aren't an issue with 223 brass. This can of course affect bullet seating depth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

johngalt
primer pocket crimp removal
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
Dennis2149
D
rwsmith
Durned if I ever saw such hard, tight primers!
2 3
Replies
40
Views
1K
rwsmith
rwsmith
B
.38 Special Brass with large primer pocket
Replies
9
Views
1K
Reloader Fred
R
D
Fiocchi and GFL .357 brass and CCI small magnum pistol primers
Replies
16
Views
1K
M29since14
M
7
700x in 45acp
Replies
5
Views
178
STORMINORMAN
S

Latest posts

Back
Top