military crimp question

[fireman 108]

I recieved about 3000 .223 cases from a friend who is serving in Iraq. I want to reload them and was told watch out for the military crimp?? If I am to use these shells for my encore and my Marlin bolt, what is the crimp??, and I see MidwayUSA has a crimp remover for sale on line I do not see a dimple on any of the cases, should I treat them as normal or is there a trimming process I need to follow ? Fireman 108

[Autorim]

I would assume that your friend is referring to the crimped primers. After depriming, tbe case crimp can be removed by swaging or reaming. After sizing, you should trim to correct length.

[charles p]

RCBS make a tool for this.  You can also use a properly sized screw driver or even a pocket knife, I'm told.  The RCBS tool is not expensive.  I have one for large rifle primers but I am sure there is one for 5.56mm as well.

[hillbill]

just ream out the primer pocekts with a deburring tool. do it about a 100 cases at a time and reload them. yull git a feel for it trust me.

[necchi]

Here's apic;
The one on the left still has the Mil Primer crimp,,
The right has the primer crimp removed with an RCBS Crimp removal tool,,
 It's basically a counter sink with a stop so it only cut's to a certain depth.



That LC stuff is NICE brass once all the prep work is done,,you have a good freind,,,tell him to keep his head down

[Catfish]

I would recomand a swedge tool to remove crimps. I have used both and with the reamer I get alot of cases with loose primer pockets.

[fireman 108]

Thanks men, catfish what is a swager tool and where does one get one. The pic's helped alot

[securitysix]

Also, silly note, since I don't see it mentioned...:  You only have to remove the crimp the first time you reload the case.  Once you've reamed or swedged out the crimp, you won't have to ream or swedge the primer pocket on that particular case again.

Granted, you've got 3000 cases to remove the crimp from, so it'll be a chore....

[Grumulkin]

Get the RCBS primer pocket swager; I got mine from MidwayUSA.  It's much faster and less hassle than using a primer pocket uniformer or a pocket knife.

[necchi]

 For that quantity, 3K, and the cost of'm, free, I'd hafta aggree the swager would be the best bet. But it also depends on what a guy's shootin.
 I got 400 cases and shoot a NEF single shot, those 400 will last me a LONG time. I can process 100 and be happy. And ya know, with a few of those pockets, the primer slides in a little on the easy side, but I haven't found it to be a detriment.
  But, if a guy is shootin a black gun,,,,,the swager will pay for it's self pretty quick.

[fireman 108]

Thanks Guy's this info will really help   now who wants brass LOL