Primers Not Seating

[mrkurtz]

In my limited reloading career I have only done large bore rifles. I have decided to work up some really accurate loads for my 223. The problem I am having is that I cannot seat the primers. The brass is as clean as a new. I am using the proper Remington 7 1/2 small rifle primers. I am using an RCBS hand primer with the small white primer feed and the small seating rod. It is taking a tremendous amount of pressure to get the primer to seat even partially. When I finally managed to get the case out they are at an angle. I am using Federal American eagle brass not military. I have never encountered this problem loading British 303, 30-06, 45 -70 or 308. I guess I have never used small primers before they have always been a large rifle.
Any ideas as to why I am having this problem? I could see if it was military brass the primer pockets might be too tight but it is not.

[sargenv]

I do believe that Fed Am Eagle 223 has crimped primer pockets.. you likely need to swage the primer pockets and that will solve your issue. The only non crimped 223 these days that I've found is Remington..

[Divernhunter]

^^^ ding-ding-ding We have a winner. Seems as if all 223 brass is crimped or staked.

[pacrat]

For small amounts of cases. A regular case deburring tool easily removes the crimp. For a lot of cases. Get a swaging tool.

[bruce381]

I do believe that Fed Am Eagle 223 has crimped primer pockets.. you likely need to swage the primer pockets and that will solve your issue. The only non crimped 223 these days that I've found is Remington..

+ 1 that's it get a reamer

[hambam105]

https://youtu.be/oFD3jJ9AEXk

You don't need the coax reloading press. The typical O or C type press will do just fine.
If you just got to have the RCBS swager kit I'll make you a deal.

The reason for using the crimp removal swager tool is not just for small batches, but for producing uniform primer pocket results.

Ask about 'Pin Gauges' from reputable sources such as the folks at Redding or Forester.

[troysland]

Just enough to remove the crimp.

[divingin]

Just enough to remove the crimp.

Takes about a turn if doing by hand. If using a power drill just a touch of the brass to the tool. Best to do one at a time and try and seat the primer until you figure out how much to remove - Less is better than more.

[Sir Toast]

Get the Lyman case prepper machine. It is about $120, comes with all the attachments and works amazing. The only thing it doesn't do is trim the case to length. I've used it to prep thousands of cases and it works great. It removes crimps and cleans out the primer pockets really well. (Oh, and it doesn't uniform the flash hole, which I have to do by hand, but only on precision brass.)

[NoHeavyHitter]

I have set of the primer pocket swagers from RCBS. I also have an RCBS de-burring tool. I've found that it's far easier (and faster) to use the de-burring tool than the swagers that have sat idle on my bench. I especially like the de-burring tool when removing primer crimps from bulk quantities. Been doing it this way for well over 35 years and my drill just won't die...

[hambam105]

The response to deploy Harbor Freight class power tools against the frustration of crimped primer pockets
cause may appear justifiable.

However, if the Reloader seeks a upper level of uniformity to his assembled cartridges then properly
sized primer pockets are required.

The practice of using sharpened non adjustable tools of any kind on primer pockets is antithetical to the reloading
practices that the professional shooters & Reloaders that I know commonly use.

[pacrat]

I have set of the primer pocket swagers from RCBS. I also have an RCBS de-burring tool. I've found that it's far easier (and faster) to use the de-burring tool than the swagers that have sat idle on my bench. I especially like the de-burring tool when removing primer crimps from bulk quantities. Been doing it this way for well over 35 years and my drill just won't die...

That looks like an old SEARS branded Black and Decker.

[hambam105]

Pacrat

You know it's a real Sears power drill when you plug it in and see the sparks fly out from the drill motor air vents.