Help Needed for Swaging Military Primer Pocket

[deltecs]

Well, for those who think I know everything, I don't.    I've never used a primer pocket swager on military brass.  Recently, a friend gave me 1,000 rds of 5.56 military brass that I want to use in my Handi .223 Ultra.  I have an RCBS pocket swager die set with both mandrels and all the attachments.  When I tried to follow the directions for setting the swager, so the primer pocket powder side backed up against the mandrel so the ram could swage the pocket, I found the mandrel was too large in diameter for the bore size in the neck of the case and would not go inside the case.  I was using the smallest mandrel in the kit and smallest swager in the press.  What am I doing wrong?  Did I read or misunderstand the directions correctly or am I missing the correct mandrel?  A little help, please.

[ihuntbucks]

I hate to tell you this,but I had the RCBS one also and I never could get it to work right.I bought a Dillon 600 and all my problems went away.........Rick

[blackpowderbill]

I use GI cases, 9x19mm, 7,62x51mm and Greek .303. They all have crimped in primers. To remove the crimp I just put a slight chamfer on the primer pocket with my chamfer tool. After that I have no trouble seating primers.

[Graybeard]

Ya must be doing something wrong cuz I've swaged thousands of .223 brass with the RCBS unit I have. It's been several years since I've done it but all I did was read and follow the instructions that came with it and it worked fine.

Call RCBS and discuss it with them and I'm sure they can set you straight and if you need something different they will ship it out to you free I'm sure.

[calvon]

Many years ago I bought one of L.E. Wilson's case trimmers and the primer pocket reamer accessories he makes for it. You need a .175 reamer for military 5.56 brass and a .210 reamer for military .06 and 7.62 brass. They have worked flawlessly for all those years.

[Graybeard]

Yup I have one of each size of the reamers also and they do work fine for small lots of brass but if doing hundreds of them at a time the arthritis in my hands prevents me using it for long. The swagers don't seem to bother my arthritis. I think mine are Lyman brand rather than Wilson but might all be made by same folks.

[Old Syko]

Just prepped 6500 5.56 LC a few days ago.  Try using a reamer on such a number of cases and you'll either end up crippled or in a straight jacket.  The RCBS swager works just fine as per the instructions.  Only thing is you have to be careful to not over adjust the pressure as you will bend the shaft.

The 3 I have measure .219 on the shaft that goes inside the neck which is .005 less than bullet dia. and I've never needed more than .003 to get proper neck tension.  Either your shaft is too large dia. (needs dia. reduced) or you're over sizing your brass.

[blackpowderbill]

 That is alot more than I mess with. last time I saw that much brass was doing ammo admin for Uncle Sam. That was long ago.

[deltecs]

I feel so stupid.  I measured the diameters of both mandrels.  One measured .249 and the other measured .245.  That's right.  Just a .004" difference.  It appears like these are the same mandrels with variations in machining them.  My kit came with these 2 mandrels.  Either a mistake was made in packaging them at the factory or someone has switched them at the store.  Either way, I don't have the .223 mandrel in the kit.  I see on RCBS website parts list, the .223 mandrel has a part number.  I'll call and see if I can get one from the factory tomorrow.  Thanks for the help.  This is not normal thinking for me.  Should have checked earlier and saved the post.

[Gun Runner]

Deltecs, give them a call 1-800-533-5000, explain to them the problem. You will probable have a new one by Fri or Sat, free of charge. I live close enough I can drive there when I have a product problem.

Gun Runner