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Poll: Do you ever clean primer pockets?
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Your reloading blog with reloading videos covering .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, 9mm luger, 45 ACP reloading primers and more. All content on this site is copyrighted.
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I de-cap my brass and then clean with stainless steel media, so the primer pockets get cleaned during the tumbling. Makes for a very nice looking case, inside and out. You should try it!
It’s the ONLY way to go…
went to tumbling about 2 years ago, would not even think about cleaning any outher way.
Hello Gavin,
Hey just a thought, you have a good following and always seem to come-up with interesting projects, so I think it’s time for a “Wet Tumbling” with stainless media project. I went that route few months back…very addicting, all that shiny brass, clean primer pockets and clean insides too!
You might want to differentiate (or specify) what type of brass.
I don’t know many who clean primer pockets for pistol.
Know many who do for rifle.
So your results might be misleading.
Actually, like Justin says, if you de-cap first, and use stainless steel media in a wet tumbler, it all comes out like new..
De-cap, tumble… THEN start loading?
No thanks. For pistol, you’re really not gaining anything. I”ll just tumble and then sit down in front of my press. I *am* using a progressive, no way I want to add that extra step for NO benefit.
What if your life depends on the pistol rounds you are reloading? I keep the same standard
for all the rounds I reload. ONLY an observation.
Thanks, TL
I fire my rifle round 8 to 10 times and neck size only. I fire 223, 308 and 300 Win, I deprime my rounds and then clean in my vibratory cleaner, primer pocket are always clean at completion. Pistol I don’t clean.
I do not clean for pistol but do sometimes for rifle and always for black powder. Keep up the good work!
Pistol virtually never, except when playing with the Chronograph to see how uniform can get test loads to perform. Also ream flash-holes think may “enhance” results ?
Rifle for bench, yes but no for “bulk” 5.56 used in various “gun games”, etc.
Gary- that’s pretty much my mentality verbatim
I clean my primer pockets for my 22k hornet pistol . but not for my other pistols
I don’t load on a progressive or turret press. I do everything on a single stage – I feel more in control that way. I’m not out to make large amounts of ammo at one sitting. I actually enjoy my time at the reloading bench, so I do all the detail things that many people don’t. I’m well aware of the fact that some of them haven’t been proven to actually do any good, but I do them anyway. I’ve been handloading since 1984 and that’s the way I’ve always done it.
I finally found that other person in this world thatuses a single stage! I’m with you 100%. I have not been reloading as long as you, I’ve been doing it only for 6yrs.
Well there are three of us using single stage presses. Started reloading in 1984 or 1985 for better accuracy and have been hooked ever since for all of the reasons stated here.
So far I’ve only loaded pistol ammo (.45acp, 40s&w, 9mm, and .380). I don’t clean primer pockets because I’m going for volume. Rifle would be different.
I’ve only been reloading for about a year. And I use the tumble method and when I tumble I use a 50/50 mix of Walnut and Corn cob media and add 4 capfuls of Dillon’s polish. As for the primer, I don’t remove it until after I’ve tumbled because the primer hole tends to end up getting media stuck in it. then after tumbling I de-cap and then clean the primer pocket. And I clean the primer pocket for both pistol and rifle because I think it’s a good habit to have.
And it might not be the best or easiest way, but it works. However, I’m more then willing to try something new providing it works better without costing more. I mean, if it costs more but you don’t need to replace it as often, then it’d be worth it. And in reading about it here, I’m curious to know more about it and where those of you who use it, get the stainless steel media you’ve mentioned and use? And does stainless steel media play hell with the tumbler? Does using stainless steel media require a specific tumbler?
And does anyone use, or has anyone tried the ceramic ball media? And does it play hell with your tumbler?
Thanks in advance
Stainless media requires a specific tumbler. It is a wet media so you add water and dish detergent. It also takes about 3-4 hours to clean the brass.
I bought the kit from here… http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/
Here are directions from a guy that did it on the cheap with a harbor Freight $50 tumbler.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/367311_Wet_tumbling_on_the_cheap___Yes___It_can_be_done_.html
I find it interesting that many of you say NO to clean primer pockets on handgun brass but YES to rifle brass. Having spent time on both handgun & rifle competitions, and having been an avid reloader for quite a few years, I gotta ask why to the NO on handgun? I realize some (like me) are willing to donate more time to produce quality ammo,,,,and then some just want to pump out volume to go bang.
In my opinion, it’s a good idea to clean primer pockets on ANY brass, as crud tends to build up in the pocket often causing a real issue with proper primer seating. Considering the tolerances between primer pocket and primer are pretty much non existent (exact fit) why would anybody close their eyes to a crud build up?
Justin, thanks for posting the link to the stainless steel media,,,,,I am seriously going to ask Santa for that one!
When I first started loading/reloading I never cleaner primer pockets and I had occasional problems with seating primers. Harder to seat, sideways and crushed, they prompted me to start cleaning brass in a tumbler, then cleaning primer pockets. At first I used a hand tool and found that too difficult when doing large numbers. Next I began using either a hand drill or drill press with a pocket cleaning brush in the chuck, better and faster but still tedious and tough on the hands.
Now, many years later I load several different pistol and rifle calibers and have developed a step by step process that has eliminated most primer pocket problems. First is to deprime fired brass using a simple single stage press with a universal decaping die. Second I tumble the brass and third I use a Casemate Prep Center. Using the correct size primer pocket cutting tool and flash hole deburring tool takes care of primer pockets and a bore brush on another station cleans residual residue on the inside if necessary.
((Extra info as a caution: Over cleaning and overworking cases may cause serious problems.
Next, if necessary I can deburr and chamfer the case mouth while I’m at it although when I first started I overdid the case mouth treatment and experienced bullet set back with jacketed bullets as they couldn’t bite or catch purchase. And applying extra crimp only reduces the case mouth size which is another problem as most popular pistol cartridges headspace on the case mouth. I found that pistol cases rarely need to be cut back as they tend to shorten if anything rather than lengthen, again due to head spacing on the case mouth rather than the rim. Relatively low pressure pistol cases like 45 acp will last for many reloads without much prep other than cleaning which protects your dies and removes a little friction in the magazine and a small amount upon chambering.))
I bought some stackable bins (three for each caliber sized as necessary) and separate my brass by stages with fired brass in one, deprimed in the second and fully prepped in the third. I put cardboard cut to size with the appropriate labels written on them in the slots provided for simple identification which prevents confusion.
If loading on a single stage press this completely eliminates excess force and crushed primers. If using a progressive press, this combined with cleaning of the priming mechanism plus any required adjustments due to switching primer size and careful loading of primers into the magazine allow trouble free loading. One in a while if the particular combination of cartridge components seem to be a little sticky or I’m loading a smaller batch I just use a hand priming tool or a single stage press to prime and then remove the decapping tool from the press tool head and primers from the magazine before starting to load allows efficient loading without problems.
I don’t think the priming process on any progressive press is ever 100% trouble free but you can develop techniques and tricks to make your particular combination of loading tools and cartridge components as trouble free as is possible. I suspect even commercial reloaders with quality equipment screen out some mistakes and so of course we rarely see them.
Clean primer pockets allow for deliberate case to case uniformity. Isn’t that what handloading is all about? My most recent press is the Lee Classic Turret Press. I went nuts with it at first loading handgun cartridges. I then tried it on rifle cases and compared bullet seating uniformity between it
and my Forster Co-Ax Press……no difference. Checked rounds with Hornady’s concentricity gauge.
Had good results with both. This press is unique in that it allows the user to interrupt the process at any point. I chose to do this after size and decap and the primer is in the seating tool. I lower the ram to just short of the priming operation, remove the case and clean the primer pocket. After doing this for a time, I realized that it would speed things up if the primer pocket cleaning tool were mounted to the press near the ram. I made a small mount from a piece of steel tubing with an ID just
larger than the diameter of the upright columns. I cut out a piece of the tubing so it will just slip
over the column. This piece is about 1.5″ long. A hose clamp will slip over the top and hold the piece to the left column. On the lower portion of the tube, I made cuts so as to facilitate a 1/2″ tab
to be bent out about 30 deg. I drilled and tapped this tab to accept the primer pocket cleaning
tool that normally screws into the hand held handle from Redding. Now cleaning the primer pockets has been easily integrated into the operation for each case. I also taped a 35mm film
can to the column just below the cleaner to catch the abrasive crud that falls from the pockets
as they are being cleaned.
God Bless, TL
I actuallly just started cleaning the primer pocket for all my handgun rounds. And always have for rifle.
I only use a single stage press. I have a progressive setup for 38 special 148 gr WC. But haven’t been shooting them for a while. Just bought a SP101 so will start it up again. Been thinking about using it for my .380 auto since I reload this the most right now. Every Tuesday my wife and I go to the range.
Until today I did all my loading on a single stage Forster Coax. I just finished setting up my Dillon 650. I don’t load pistol yet but I cleaned primer pockets for both my rifles.
what is the best way to clean brass sonic or tumbling ?
All Rifle for hunting – do everything
Semi Auto .223 for production sake i clean about every other load
Pistol – do not clean but i shoot alot in the yard here and i am not a competion guy YET (have been thinking that way lately).
Strickly for carry rounds are just like rifle – do it all
Good luck
Sorry guys most of my brass is cleaned with vineger. Doesn’t have to be that shinyfor me.
to each his own.
I am having trouble loading new Remington 9.5 primers in new Winchester 30-06 cases. The primer pocket does not appear to be deep enough to accommodate the primer. Any comments or suggestions
I recently bought the stainless steel media cleaning kit. GREAT STUFF! Primer pockets come out shiny brand new looking as well as the entire inside of the case. I have some Wolf primers which are big (compared to WSP or Fed 100s) and the ONLY way I can get good seating is to clean primer pockets.