Who has the best method for cleaning primer pockets? It seems there needs or is an easier way to complete this part of reloading.

rcbs case prep center, or the new hornadys

I use the little RCBS primer pocket cleaner, the stiff wire bundle bit, chucked in a 3/8 electric drill. Cheap, simple, fast.

I use the rcbs hand cleaner for both large and small pockets.

Gents!

I use an ultrasonic cleaner which does the job nicely.
Normal dishwater detergent and 50 cases (.375HH) + 2 pints of water and 480 seconds of cleaning makes 8 out of 10 cases as new or better than that.

No rubbing, grinding or polishing. Just soak and let the cavitation begin.
Extra dirty cases can have a squeeze (tablespoon-ish) of liquid household de-calcifier (for coffee machines, teapots etc) into an extra tour with fresh water in the cleaner. The last step really makes the cases shine better than new. 90-180 seconds are more than enough to give the extra shine.
Just rinse under water and allow to dry on a towel.

The machine i have looks identical to this
cleaner
from Hornady.
I paid around half the listed price as compared to Hornady´s website, but then mine is white without their logo...

Sincerely
Daniel

I use a primer pocket uniformer. Got it from Sinclair. Just put it in an electric drill & go to town. Doesn't take much time at all and it does 2 jobs at 1 time. Cleans & uniforms.
I suppose it doesn't really make much difference but I'm kinda anal about my reloads and I do have spare time.
Bear in Fairbanks

After I deprime and resize my brass, I toss it in a tumbler for a while to clean the lube off of it. That cleans the primer pocket. There is usually a bit of stain left in there but no residue.
Cleaning primer pockets is just another of those busy work things that some people do with their time.

I don't uniform, so I use the Lee tool. As I de-cap (Wilson system), I clean the pocket. Then it goes through the dishwasher.

www.midsouthshooterssupply.com...m.asp?sku=0000690101

Nothing cheaper.

+1 for the Sinclair primer pocket unifier.

Von Gruff.

quote:

Originally posted by Von Gruff:
+1 for the Sinclair primer pocket unifier.

Von Gruff.

+1 more, or maybe even +2, use it for large and small primer pockets!

+3 for the Sinclair primer pocket uniformer.

quote:

Originally posted by hvy barrel:
+3 for the Sinclair primer pocket uniformer.

+4 Actually I use a lyman primer pocket uniformer but the idea is the same.

i have a small craftsman screwdriver i use to scrape the crud out my primer pockets with..... one quick turn on each one and they're done!!



LIFE IS SHORT.....

I like the Sinclair Primer Pocket Uniformer.

But I also use the RCBS type pocket brush and Lee cheapo pocket cleaners chucked in a portable drill.

quote:

Originally posted by tasco 74:
I have a small Craftsman screwdriver I use to scrape the crud out my primer pockets.....

Do you use the screwdriver for both large and small pockets?

I don't clean primers pockets of pistol cases as I load them on a Dillon XL 650. For rifle rounds, which I handload one by one (generally match prepped cases and Redding Comp' dies), I depend on the Sinclair uniformer. I heard some say that pocket uniforming needs only be done once, at the beginning of the case life. Nothing is further from the truth, I have found that cases grow and lengthen in every direction, not only in the neck but also in the case head. Proof is, as the number of firings goes up, the pocket uniformer will regularly ream more out of already formatted pockets.

BTW, nr. 3 in Daman's pic looks more like a flashhole deburring tool than a pocket uniformer...

As mentioned, the Sinclair tool works fine and I also would agree that using the tool is for each time the brass is reloaded. If you will notice the black residue inside the pocket after firing, that material if left untouched can result in the primer not being seated as deep as it should be. A high primer in one of the self loading firearms, M1Garand, M1A/M14, AR15, etc. can cause serious problems, as in slam fire, but in any firearm you would want the primer to be seated to the right depth.

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
BTW, nr. 3 in Daman's pic looks more like a flashhole deburring tool than a pocket uniformer...

Good eye, Andre! I had Sinclair "Primer Pocket Uniformer" on the brain after reading the five posts above.

I've corrected the captions on the photo above. It IS a primer flashhole deburring tool!

I deprime my cased before I polish the in media. So in addition to deburring and uniforming flash holes, the flashhole deburring tool also knocks out ant media stuck in the flash hole.

If there is carbon in the primer pocket, I then use the Lee or RCBS brush to knock that carbon out for proper primer seating.

The best method for cleaning primer pockets is a pocket uniformer not the brush. Brass flows into the primer pocket at each firing therefore the pocket uniformer re-uniforms and cleans at the same time. I like the Whitetail Design (lg & sm sold by Russ Haydon or Precision Reloading) and the Sinclair pocket uniformer if hand-driven. I use the RCBS Case Prep unit for high volume.

Pick-up a K&M Precision Flash Hole Uniformer used inside the case as well.

RCBS case prep station.

Reloader

I quit cleaning primer pockets 30+ years ago after a benchrester friend of mine told me it made absolutely no difference in his groups.

It hasn't hurt the accuracy of any of my loads either.

Rifle accuracy is the mundane consistent shot-to-shot sustainable delivery system. Uniform primer pockets that allow the exact seating depth pressure makes a difference. Reference the K&M gage primer system.

quote:

Originally posted by Huglu:
Gents!

I use an ultrasonic cleaner which does the job nicely.
Normal dishwater detergent and 50 cases (.375HH) + 2 pints of water and 480 seconds of cleaning makes 8 out of 10 cases as new or better than that.

No rubbing, grinding or polishing. Just soak and let the cavitation begin.
Extra dirty cases can have a squeeze (tablespoon-ish) of liquid household de-calcifier (for coffee machines, teapots etc) into an extra tour with fresh water in the cleaner. The last step really makes the cases shine better than new. 90-180 seconds are more than enough to give the extra shine.
Just rinse under water and allow to dry on a towel.

The machine i have looks identical to this
cleaner
from Hornady.
I paid around half the listed price as compared to Hornady´s website, but then mine is white without their logo...

Sincerely
Daniel

I am also in Europe. Can you tell me where you purchased your ultrasonic cleaner?

I clean 'em with my pencil-sharpener hand lathe and the RCBS wire brushes. It's just something I feel I have to do. Not doing it makes me feel I didn't do all I could...

What about using white Viniger with the ultrasonic cleaner?

And using normal dishwashing soap cleans the primer pockets as good as the rest of the case?

Thanks,

Dennis

Gents!
I bought mine ultrasonic cleaner from a Swedish company a few years ago, now it seems like they only have the small model for sale. I think mine has a 1,4 litre capacity, I can wash around 50 .375hh cases each round. I paid 500 SEK for it, or roughly €50.
swedish site in swedish of course... :-P

In Sweden these cleaners are available in most electonic/hardware/general stores as they can clean anything that survives water contact.
Price ranges from € 30 and up to several thousands depending on make and size & customer group.

The electronic company chain Conrad

http://www1.uk.conrad.com

has branches in Sweden as well as in Europe. The link above goes to the UK section but I believe there are French and German sections too.

I guess that household vinegar would work as well, be careful if You clean blued gunparts though. Organic acids do the trick too. Ascorbic acid (lemonjuice) or phosphoric acid (coca cola) can clean efficiently, but can also make the brass look like copper on the outside due to a shallow migration of ions (I think???).

I like the idea of using ordinary household and kitchen stuff instead of heavy chemicals, and as it gets the job done with minimal elbow-grease from my part I am happy with it.
I have used ordinary olive oil during calibration for a few years with the same results as when I used the specified calibrating lubricants...

Since there is a product for cleaning, there are also numerous solutions sold to give better results, hornady have their own cleaning solution for instance.
I have not tried it since I get "better-than-new" results with "fairy" detergent and teapot de-calcifier. The result is good enough for me, so far...

The cavitation in the sonic bath will clean all areas below waterline. I might have to run it 2-3 times in the machine, but the results are striking where it is hard to clean manually. It is very important to keep the water/liquid line between the min-max levels, or otherwise the ultrasonic transmitter will be destroyed, atleast thats the case with my unit. I dont know if I have any before-after pictures, but this topic has been up before on AR.

Sincerely
Daniel

I missed something... What's what's with putting the cases in a dishwasher?

And how do you talk your wife into letting you put your rifle cases into the dishwasher to begin with?

Gents!
Trying to post some pictures below.

Before 1



Before cleaning 2


After 1


After 2


.22Hornet case to the right is brand new. .375HH case has been discarded due to fatigue signs after ca 12 reloadings, cleaned just to show what the ultrasonic does. Excess water from firing hole wiped away with cotton top to allow photoes. All settings in camera identical between shots.

James260
Dishwater is for cleaning lubricants & other stuff from the brass, nothing has to be put in the dishwasher. Just take a bowl and fill it with water and detergent and soak the cases...
Or do as I do and let the ultrasonic cleaner do it all...
For family peace, do not use wifeys cake bowl...
:-P
The missus might be happy to know that her jewellery can be cleaned there as well.

Sincerely

Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by James260:
I missed something... What's what's with putting the cases in a dishwasher?

And how do you talk your wife into letting you put your rifle cases into the dishwasher to begin with?

Gets 'em clean. What wife?

quote:

And how do you talk your wife into letting you put your rifle cases into the dishwasher to begin with?

No need. Just get a big, one-gallon plastic jug that had pickles in it (gotta be pickles-- a mayo jug just won't cut it), throw in some old rags, a squirt or two of Dawn dishwashin' liquid, cover your cases with hot water, screw cap on tight and shake, shake, shake your booty for about five minutes. Let the cases soak maybe 15-20 minutes (loosens the carbon inside the case), thrash 'em around again a bit, then drain and rinse copiously with warm water. I dry mine in a thin-bottom stainless steel skillet on low gas heat until the poppin' and spittin' stops. I know not to let them get too hot so as to keep from softening the brass. I can dry a whole skillet of about 150 .223Rem in about five minutes. Another way is to put 'em in your oven on a 12-inch pizza platter (bigger if you have one) or the louvered broiler platter and set the temp to WARM or LOW. I have found in my oven this is right around 150 degrees-- plenty cool to avoid any half-assed annealing of the brass. Keep 'em under the heat for maybe an hour and let cool. Just a suggestion...

The high-phosphate dishwasher detergent does a much better job on the deposits than a hand-softening compound that smells like roses. When the cases come out of the dishwasher, they're dry. Why go to so much trouble? Do you feel intimidated? Might there be a price to be paid? Will someone extract her pound of flesh? Am I having fun at your expense?

quote:

Originally posted by Winchester 69:

quote:

Originally posted by tasco 74:
I have a small Craftsman screwdriver I use to scrape the crud out my primer pockets.....

Do you use the screwdriver for both large and small pockets?

mine are all the same size as i reload .38 spl, .357 mag, and 9mm.... i don't see why a guy use the tool on bigger primer pockets....


LIFE IS SHORT.....

I also use a small screwdriver, but I have sharpend it a bit through the years....it is now a small scrapper not a small screwdriver. The ammount of loads I do a year (200 less) doesn't require me to use anything faster.

I use the Factory Tool.

A toothpick, at the same time I clean the corn cob out of the flash hole.

flaco

I don't guess I could just sneak some cases in with the pots and pans? What do you put the cases in to keep them from going everywhere in the dishwasher?

I'm gonna try it this weekend, as I have a few 100 rounds of 223 brass to clean.

I'll let ya know if I had to sleep on the couch.

quote:

Who has the best method for cleaning primer pockets? It seems there needs or is an easier way to complete this part of reloading.

BEST is a matter of opinion.

In my opinon, since we won't be doing surgery in the pockets, pretty clean is plenty clean and I can do that with a lot of things. All we need do is make sure the hard carbon crust won't interfer with primer seating.

quote:

Originally posted by JD Miller:
I use the little RCBS primer pocket cleaner, the stiff wire bundle bit, chucked in a 3/8 electric drill. Cheap, simple, fast.

Ditto

+1 for ultrasonic cleaner it takes 5minutes. You can also clean bolts,glasses, jewelry.

Mine costed 700sek = 90$

How much is a good ultrasonic cleaner cost.. and which is a good one?

Primer pocket uniforming/cleaning.

My old set-up.


My new set-up.


My "finger saver" is not patented....but works.

Kevin