Crimped Primers

[JackEllis]

I've come across some range brass with two different Frontier headstamps. The 5.56 stuff is probably military and the primer pockets appear to be crimped. What surprised me was some Frontier cases with a .223 on the headstamp that also appear to be crimped.

Rather than speculate, here are some questions:

1) Is it safe to assume all 5.56 cases have crimped primers?

2) Similarly is it safe to assume no .223 cases have crimped primers?

3) Is it safe to assume all brass with a date and/or a NATO symbol is 5.56 brass?

[baih777]

#1 yes
#2 no

I shoot 223 bolt action a lot. I have buckets of brass sorted by headstamp.
I have same headstamp 223 that have mixed no crimp and some crimped.

[FLIGHT762]

#1 Yes, Military 5.56 has crimped (staked) primers because of Mfg. specs.

#2 No. Some 223 marked brass have crimps.

#3 Either it's crimped or not. No big mystery. Remove crimps for reloading. Manufacturers have crimped some and not others. No difference between 5.56 and 223 brass. There are some commercial 223 brass (GFL and Frontier) that are thicker cases than Military 5.56 cases. Deal with it accordingly for powder charges.

Winchester commercial brass is a good example, some will have crimps, some not.

['ol shooter]

I bought some LE brass in .223, the Win brass was lightly crimped, so light that I did not have to swage them. Mixed in were some Federals in .223, they were heavily crimped and I had to sic the Dillon swager on them.

[Divernhunter]

I have lots of range pick up brass that is stamped 223Rem and has crimped or staked primers.
No big deal. I just run all range brass thru my Dillon Super Swager. The added benefit is that I do not need to deburr the flash holes

[sigstroker]

The recent Frontier 5.56 supposedly uses Lake City brass, so I would expect it to be crimped. Maybe they're supplying .223 brass too.

[hambam105]

Sorry Jack,
I went to the Hellifeyeno dictionary and there wasn't a reference to your questions.

['ol shooter]

Sorry Jack,
I went to the Hellifeyeno dictionary and there wasn't a reference to your questions.

[MarikinaMan]

If you pick up range brass, it is just easier to swage all of them, rather than sort.

[Divernhunter]

^^^ I agree especially with my Dillon swager

[Fishslayer]

^^^ I agree especially with my Dillon swager

Had a chance to buy one pretty cheap some years ago & passed. Still kicking myself.

...but my buddy has one! It IS dah schizzle!

[kcheung2]

Those guidelines are unnecessary because when looking at the headstamp to identify it, I can see if there's a crimp there anyway. If there's a little stamped ring around the primer pocket, it's crimped.

In fact, my process is after the cases are deprimed (I deprime on the press so it's the same effort regardless of crimp), I insert the case headstamp-up into the loading block. That way I can do a quick visual inspection on the whole batch and ream the cases that need it.

I use a countersink drill bit on a power drill, a 1/2 second spin will ream out the crimp and adds a slight bevel so I can clearly see it's been de-crimped the next time I reload it. I've found that in a pinch, a philips head screwdriver bit works too.

[Dutch3]

Those guidelines are unnecessary because when looking at the headstamp to identify it, I can see if there's a crimp there anyway. If there's a little stamped ring around the primer pocket, it's crimped.

In fact, my process is after the cases are deprimed (I deprime on the press so it's the same effort regardless of crimp), I insert the case headstamp-up into the loading block. That way I can do a quick visual inspection on the whole batch and ream the cases that need it.

I use a countersink drill bit on a power drill, a 1/2 second spin will ream out the crimp and adds a slight bevel so I can clearly see it's been de-crimped the next time I reload it. I've found that in a pinch, a philips head screwdriver bit works too.

I also use a countersink, chucked in a drill press set to low speed. I just turn it on and hold each case up against the countersink for a second.

One of these days, I'll splurge on a swager.