Primer Seating Issue

[Art]

I have a bunch of S&B .303 British brass that I have trouble seating primer in. About one out of five wind up just a bit high, not a huge problem in a bolt action but an irritant. This does not happen in any of the other brass I use (Remington, Winchester, Hornady/Frontier.) The press is a Rockchucker. Has anyone else had this problem with this brass?

[Johnny P]

If you have a dial caliper use the end to check the primer pocket depth on the cases that won't allow the primer to seat properly. When you said a bunch I suppose that there is enough that you don't want to toss the entire lot, but you could toss those that are shallow.

RCBS makes a primer pocket uniformer, but may be cheaper to toss the brass.

[joem]

I did the pocket uniformer on some brass. I put the tool in a drill press and held the case with a channel lock plier. Worked great and you only have to do it once.

[Art]

Thanks guys, I have several hundred once fired cases of this stuff. I did toss the high primer ones last time. The pocket uniformer sounds interesting!

[Matt Anthony]

[QUOTE=joem;430500]I did the pocket uniformer on some brass. I put the tool in a drill press and held the case with a channel lock plier. Worked great and you only have to do it once.[/QU

I don't believe I just read you used pliers to hold the case. I just can't believe it.
Matt

[psteinmayer]

Agreed.... YIKES!

[PhillipM]

I read one post on a national match shooter's forum once that said everyone knows brass gets longer and has to be trimmed, but few know the primer pockets become shallower with each firing.

It was like a slap in face to me because I'd been wondering why I couldn't get the primers to seat below flush on well used cases. I bought a uniformer and used a battery drill to fix them up.

One thing I realized though, the uniformer loads up with chips quickly and has to be cleared often. Don't try to muscle it, just back it out and let the chips fall free.

[joem]

"I don't believe I just read you used pliers to hold the case. I just can't believe it. Matt

If you haven't tried it, why knock it. Drill press speed set above 600 RPM and the tool is carbide and very sharp. I did a 1000 for my friend and he primed, loaded and shoots them all the time.

[Tuna]

S&B are well known for having shallow primer pockets. The brass itself is OK but the time to work the primer pockets does not make it worth while. You will find this also with ammunition made by S&B for Winchester like the 7.62x54 and .303 Enfield.

[Matt Anthony]

[QUOTE=joem;430580]"I don't believe I just read you used pliers to hold the case. I just can't believe it. Matt

If you haven't tried it, why knock it. Drill press speed set above 600 RPM and the tool is carbide and very sharp. I did a 1000 for my friend and he primed, loaded and shoots them all the time.

I use Lapua cases which are expensive and I certainly would never use pliers to hold them for any case prep. I use the Wilson set up to trim and uniform the pockets. Another point is I benchrest, and not having the case perfectly straight to the cutter would be a waste of my time. I read this forum sometimes for pure amusement, and this was amusing.
Matt