Question for those that might know...

[Selena]

A certain unnamed idiot that shall remain my brother has a habit of "polishing" (for want of a better word) the primer pockets of brass before he reloads. He claims it gives a cleaner more dependable reload. Is this normal procedure or just one of my brother's many many faulty assumptions?

 

[Dan in MI]

Normal step in single stage reloading assuming he is using the little wire brush or similar tool. If he is actually polishing them, that might be atad overboard.


That once was an argument in the single stage versus progressive press reloading fans. with a rpgressive you don't get the chance to clean primer pockets.

 

[loaded round]

Can you say loose primers backing out?

 

[Selena]

It's not so much the pockets as the little hole to the main part of the case. Kind of like using a nipple pick on a caplock. Remember this isn't what I do so I don't know the terms used.

 

[powder smoke]

Cleaning the flash hole is a common practice for some.
Pinking ammo for my 45 and 44 revolvers I do not bother.
Just to darn many besides I never had a problem. My hunting
ammo I'm a bit more particular. ps

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I use to clean primer pockets and flash holes but found if you do too much the primers might not be snug. The most I do now is put the cases in the tumbler after sizing and de-priming and poke the flashhole with a toothpick if debris gets stuck in there. That gets them clean enough and the primers seat well and flash holes are clear.

Some folks like to uniform the primer pockets and flash holes but I have found that un-necessary especially if using all the same headstamp on the brass.

 

[Chief 101]

I do this on occasion, not sure it does anything, actually, it has done nothing for me. The imagination and the power of suggestion turns a lot of rumors into truths...

 

[WIL TERRY]

IT does not hurt a darn thing doing so and let us not forget : CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GUNNYNESS.

And so it goes...

 

[Bucks Owin]

Clean primer pockets and uniform flasholes are a GOOD thing... :shock:

Find me a benchrest competitor who doesn't know this! :wink:

Class dismissed... 8)

PS: Having the same headstamp means absolutely nothing in regard to the topic at hand... :roll:

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Need more info before comment. What's his whole workflow up to the point of priming the cases?

If he's decapped and sized before tumbling, then poking the flash hole makes sense. Some folks tumble twice: once before decapping and sizing and again after. Media can get lodged in the flash hole, unless you use the real fine stuff.

Some folks decap, tumble, then size and let the decapping pin on the sizing die poke out any tumbling media stuck in the flash hole.

Uniforming the flash hole (from the inside of the case) can make sense. I've often seen quite a "hanging chad" of brass from the flash hole not being cleanly punched.

 

[gramps]

I don't tumble, but I do "ream" out the primer pocket to remove carbon deposits that may interfere with seating a new primer. I don't need to do it as much since cleaning with citric acid/dish soap.
gramps

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

The more consistent the brass prep is, the better the final result, all else being attended to in similar fashion. It's pretty hard to argue otherwise. So... someone's brother would be correct if he's doing what it sounds like he's doing, which would be normal practice for a lot of reloaders.

Rick C

 

[OldePhart]

I could see doing that reloading small lots of ammo for an application where great consistency trumps time invested. But, when I'm shooting handgun matches I'm shooting a lot of ammo and not concerned with MOA accuracy (though reliability is still important). I've always tumbled / sized & deprimed / hand primed yada yada. The hand-priming offers a chance to examine the pocket and flash hole as well as great feel for how much effort is required to seat the primer. Anything abnormal when seating the primer I stop and find out why. Most of the time it's just a primer that wasn't sitting perfectly flat on the punch but once in a while I find a pocket that is tight because of carbon or a bur and a quick twist of the pocket reamer fixes that.

John

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Clean primer pockets and uniform flasholes are a GOOD thing... :shock:

Find me a benchrest competitor who doesn't know this! :wink:

Class dismissed... 8)

PS: Having the same headstamp means absolutely nothing in regard to the topic at hand... :roll:

I don't know any benchrest shooters but I have read a lot and I know when it comes to uniformity you are more likely to find it with all the cases from the same manf. You must have skipped class that day. :roll:

 

[Bucks Owin]

Clean primer pockets and uniform flasholes are a GOOD thing... :shock:

Find me a benchrest competitor who doesn't know this! :wink:

Class dismissed... 8)

PS: Having the same headstamp means absolutely nothing in regard to the topic at hand... :roll:

I don't know any benchrest shooters but I have read a lot and I know when it comes to uniformity you are more likely to find it with all the cases from the same manf. You must have skipped class that day. :roll:

Well that was totally uncalled for, but for your enlightenment I will simply say that regardless of headstamp, boxer primers were standardized at 0.175" and 0.210" many many years ago. If you have brass with a different pocket dimension, I'd be interested in seeing it! :shock:

 

[cadillo]

All rifle ammo that I load has the primer pockets cut to uniform depth, the flash holes reamed to uniform ID and the chads removed. In my experience, bullet quality is the number one factor in accuracy followed by case prep, and then powder charge consistency.

Case prep is VERY important!

 

[375supermag]

Hi...

I have always cleaned my primer pockets after re-sizing and de-priming.

I used to use my RCBS case prep center, but lately I have just been washing them in a Dawn dishwashing liquid/citrus juice/boiling water solution.
Seems to clean the primer pockets at least as well as the motorized tool and cleans out the inside of the case at the same time.

I plan to buy a progressive press soon and probably will dispense with cleaning primer pockets at that point...at least for any loads that are done in batches of 500 or more.

I have done small batches of ammunition without cleaning the primer pockets and can discern no difference in accuracy or reliability.

 

[oyeme]

All rifle ammo that I load has the primer pockets cut to uniform depth, the flash holes reamed to uniform ID and the chads removed. In my experience, bullet quality is the number one factor in accuracy followed by case prep, and then powder charge consistency.

Case prep is VERY important!

I agree completely and do the same for all rifle ammo. However, I only shoot 20-30 shots each time I shoot a rifle. I have seen quite a bit or irregular primer holes with the "chads" being quite noticeable (you can feel it when they are cut off internally) when they are removed. However, I now prefer Lapua brass and don't see it in that quality brass but I still do it. I only uniform the primer pockets internally once as after that it is not necessary. Handgun ammo I believe would not benefit as the accuracy is not comparable and therefore nothing would be gained.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

What is out of place is what Bucks Owen and DixieBoy say in some effort to diss me. It happens more often than not anymore. Does anybody else feel I was wrong or didn't know what I was talking about or even rude to anyone?

I use to clean primer pockets and flash holes but found if you do too much the primers might not be snug. The most I do now is put the cases in the tumbler after sizing and de-priming and poke the flashhole with a toothpick if debris gets stuck in there. That gets them clean enough and the primers seat well and flash holes are clear.

Some folks like to uniform the primer pockets and flash holes but I have found that un-necessary especially if using all the same headstamp on the brass.

I don't know any benchrest shooters but I have read a lot and I know when it comes to uniformity you are more likely to find it with all the cases from the same manf. You must have skipped class that day. :roll:

 

[Bucks Owin]

For the benefit of he who thinks matching headstamps means uber precision, here's a little taste of how case prep is done by those who shoot 1/2 MOA at a THOUSAND YARDS... :shock:

We'll leave annealing cases for another day.. :wink:

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/complete-precision-case-prep/