I recently bought some very nice unfired .223 brass from wideners.com and it has smaller than normal flash holes (Guatemala Military, headstamp IMG 04). When I resized and deprimed the initial 20 cases, some of the flash holes were enlarged by my standard Hornady decapping pin and they required excessive force to deprime. Should I attempt to ream the flash holes to standard size? (I found a tool that will work, but it is like $30 by the time you add shipping), and I also would like to try the smaller size flash holes, as some say they enhance accuracy. (The 6mm PPC case has a smaller than normal flash hole, 1.5mm, and it is probably the most accurate cartridge in the benchrest game) any suggestions as to how to economically deal with this dilemma?

I'd be tempted to try some of them as is, with the small holes, to see how they shoot. You can always drill them larger later.
But, it is a royal PITA getting your decapping pin stuck in every case. I had that issue and found an undersize pin.

Don

I had some of the IMG 10 brass in 5.56 and loaded for my AR15 and did not have any issues, I never messed with primer hole, It is a smaller flash hole than Fed, LC, and Rem brass.

I did keep load tuned down due to being military brass but it actually had a little more internal volume than the Fed or LC brass and the IMG bras was very accurate using Varget, I could never get the Fed or LC brass to shoot as good with same load.

First solution: Chuck your decapping pin in a drill and reduce its diameter with sandpaper or emory cloth until it clears the flash holes.

Second solution: Drill out the flash holes with a common drill bit that is just large enough for your unaltered decapping pin to clear.

But if the brass is "unfired", why are you depriming to begin with?

The first solution only requires you to alter one item; the second requires that you alter as many items as you have cases. Neither solution costs as much as the $30 tool you mention.

Thanks for the suggestions. I loaded 20 cases before I realized that my decapping pin was too large to cleanly deprime the cases. Luckily I only loaded 20 cases as a test run. I have 480 more to deal with. I think I will try Stonecreek's suggestion, since I have several extra decapping pins for my RCBS neck sizing die. I also emailed RCBS to see if they have any undersized pins available. Thanks again. I really do want to try the brass with the smaller flash hole. I just don't want to "tear it a new one" each time I go to deprime.

Use a .0625 drill.
Butch

I'd use a PPC decapping pin.

muck

quote:

Originally posted by muck:
I'd use a PPC decapping pin.

muck

Way to go.
- mike

quote:

Originally posted by muck:
I'd use a PPC decapping pin.

muck

As it so happens, I contacted RCBS with my problem, and they are shipping me a 22 PPC decapping unit. RCBS customer service is second to none, as they replied to my email within 24 hours. I hope to receive the new unit by the end of the week. Once it arrives, I can see if it fits, and if it does, I can replace the pin in my neck sizing die, and I should be good to go. Thanks, everyone for your helpful suggestions. I wasn't sure if RCBS offered a smaller pin, but apparently they do.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
But if the brass is "unfired", why are you depriming to begin with?

I loaded 20 cases before I realized that my decapping pin was too large to cleanly deprime the cases. Luckily I only loaded 20 cases as a test run.

I was still hoping to try them with the small flash holes. Now with RCBS sending me one of their 22 PPC decapping units, I may be able to do just that.

quote:

I can replace the pin in my neck sizing die

I assume you mean, replace the entire decapping unit. If you try to put that smaller pin in your de-capping unit, it will probably fall out as the hole drilled in the bottom of the de-capping rod is diameter specific for the larger de-capping pin.

You could just buy a pin punch that fits through the flash hole and manually deprime by sitting the shells in a shell holder and tap out the primer a bit like the method used in the Lee hand loading kits.

Remove the decapping pin from your sizing die and carry on as normal and leave the flash hole size alone.

I see you have a new decapping rod coming from RCBS so this is probably now unnecessary.

Lyman make a flash hole deburring tool that also uniforms the flash hole and would allow use of normal decapping pins. Over her it costs NZ$29 which is about US$20. Allowing for NZ retailer mark up (gouging) also that tool is probably even less over there.

quote:

Originally posted by Kiwi Vince:
Lyman make a flash hole deburring tool that also uniforms the flash hole and would allow use of normal decapping pins.

Vince, I don't think that is quite correct. 1) the Lyman tool is set up for standard size flash holes (FHs), and would not work for PPC sized FHs, say. You can get a uniformer for PPC size FHs from Sinclair and K&M, say. 2) the flash hole uniformer is not actually intended to ream FHs in size, rather it is intended to remove (potential) burrs. If you really want to enlarge the FH size, a drill bit of the right size would be the correct tool.

- mike

Mike is right. I already have the Lyman flash hole deburring tool. It doesn't fit the smaller flash holes. I used to have an RCBS tool that would have fit, as it had a very sharp point that would have easily fit the smaller holes. However, I managaged to lose one of my boxes from storage that contained several of my neat loading tools. Having to repurchase them is kind of a drag. Still hoping that RCBS will save the day. Their newer decapping pins actually have a knob on the end to help retain them in the neck expander. I recall the older pins were squeezed into a collet and could be pulled out on tight flash holes. I don't think the newer ones could be. But "tearing a new flash hole" with the standard sized decapping pin certainly isn't the answer for consistent accuracy.