I was prepping some brass last night and had some that the primers were crimped. (Military brass) I have been thinking about buying a swaging tool and therefore had researched for one on the net. After looking at the design of some I wonder why not just use a Lee Hand Primer with out any primers and see if it would swag cases?
Well I tried it and it worked perfect. I just inserted the casing and held it firmly in place my bumping it against the edge of my reloading bench and preceded has if I was priming the case. It is a very quick process and the casing primed very nicely after completing the process.
As anyone else tried this before? Does anyone see any possible problems with swaging cases in this manner?
One last question any suggestion on how to get crimped in primers to deprime. About 25% of my NATO brass I cannot get the primers out. Thanks in advance.
Sounds like a neat trick. I'll have to try it.
As far as depriming them in the first place. Never had an issue with my Pacific dies but the new Lee dies can be a pain (can't seem to get the collet tight enough around the depriming pin for some varieties of surplus brass). I did some awhile back by using a hammer to tap the depriming pin stem (where it sticks up out of the die) to push the primer out. Probably pretty rough on the depriming pin but it worked.
I am using a Lee Die and had thought about using a hammer. However, I was scared that I would break or bend my depriming pin. I think I will prep all the 308 brass and then go back and try the hammer. That way if it breaks I can wait for a replacment without having to worring about not having rounds for the upcoming Appleseed. Thanks for the advice
You can order the Lee Loader in 308 Win. It has a manual punch and case holder to knock the primer out with a plastic hammer. They usually cost less than $20 and you can get them from Midway or Natchez. However, beware - this tool only neck sizes the brass so don't attempt to use it for resizing brass for your M14.
As far as primer pocket swaging, I use the Dillon swaging tool. Once you set it up, it is fast and effective. It is a little high though - I paid $85 several years ago. I haven't tried your method, but I'll check it out just for grins.
Quote from: wcmartin1 on August 17, 2007, 06:45:56 PM
As far as primer pocket swaging, I use the Dillon swaging tool. Once you set it up, it is fast and effective. It is a little high though - I paid $85 several years ago. I haven't tried your method, but I'll check it out just for grins.
I've got one of those Dillon swagers, and I have to say it's the best I've used so far, and I've used about every tool out there.
Quote from: wcmartin1 on August 17, 2007, 06:45:56 PM
You can order the Lee Loader in 308 Win. It has a manual punch and case holder to knock the primer out with a plastic hammer. They usually cost less than $20 and you can get them from Midway or Natchez. However, beware - this tool only neck sizes the brass so don't attempt to use it for resizing brass for your M14.
As far as primer pocket swaging, I use the Dillon swaging tool. Once you set it up, it is fast and effective. It is a little high though - I paid $85 several years ago. I haven't tried your method, but I'll check it out just for grins.
Lee also sells a universal depriming punch as base so you can just buy that instead of the whole Lee Loader. It will work for more calibers than one Lee Loader will.
Buckshot