Bought 75 factory fired .308 cases on AR, Know they were factory fire as the still had factory primers. They were a tad dirty so cleaned them in my Lyman vibe.
resized them and low and behold they would not accept a 210 Fed, or a 200 CCI, or a number of others such as WW and Rem..in each case I tried the primer stuckk up into the case silly milimeter or two, so out of mind I used a punch and hammer to knock the cases I tried out of my bench seater, scary so wore a welder helmet, welding gloves and gave the cases a few healthy wacks, and no explosion, but gave up, Anyone had this happen to them before me, or am I a first..Also I thought at first that these were target rounds for small primers but not the case. The primers were sealed primers of a brass color if that is a clue, but Im pretty sure they are factory base on years of reloading..

Now understand Im not blaming the seller at this point and don't believe he had a clue as he sold them to me as once fired brass and Im sure thats what they are..

Ray,
The only thing that comes to my mind is a crimped primer pocket, but those are usually pretty easy to spot.

quote:

Originally posted by Gundog 64:
Ray,
The only thing that comes to my mind is a crimped primer pocket, but those are usually pretty easy to spot.

That is what it sounds like.

Take a pocket knife and cut out the crimp. Or if you have a primer pocket sizer, use that.

If that does not work, then the pockets are too small.

What law is there that factory ammunition has to have primer pockets that are neither too big, or too small? It would be unusual, but, production lines do get out of whack, and things do get shipped.

Details first; What is the headstamp on them? Were they 308, or 7.62 NATO? The commend about brass colored primers is a clue, but let's get the make of the cases first.
This might avoid an lot of guessing and misguided advice.

Lapua makes .308 brass with both large rifle and small rifle primer pockets. Could this be the issue? I don't know if there are others who offer both options.

Ray, I think this is what's going on. I've run across it before.

https://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37507

Sent you a PM.

Brass colored primers doesn’t mean they are factory. I have several boxes of WLR primers that are brass colored. The old primers were silver.. I still have several boxes of these too.

These are HOrnady stamped .308 and its Match ammo for the military. it seems and they need the primer pockets swaged, as they were crimped for a special target bullet..Reference rcraigs post. Its a first for me..apparantly its the best brass you can find, but a bit of a pain in the butt for a hunter which I am..

Ok, if they were crimped in, then you have the answer. The crimp has to be removed by either swaging or cutting it out. Routine for those who use Military brass; you only have to do it once.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
These are HOrnady stamped .308 and its Match ammo for the military. it seems and they need the primer pockets swaged, as they were crimped for a special target bullet..Reference rcraigs post. Its a first for me..apparantly its the best brass you can find, but a bit of a pain in the butt for a hunter which I am..

That makes sense. Of the military ammunition I have used and shot, only the National Match ammunition was not crimped. The issue stuff, even ammunition made in short runs for sniper/special forces, was crimped.

And that makes sense as a blown primer will gum up most mechanisms. Had one get down into the trigger mechanism of an AR15, due to the oil on the parts, the primer would not shake loose. Had to quit the match, disassemble the trigger mechanism in the lower, and of course reassemble, before the trigger mechanism was functional.

A second inspection of all the cases I find that I have 10 speciall match cases, the rest are just Hornady brass with too small primer pockets, same stuff maybe?? I have an RCBS tool to open the primer pockets up but its a royal pain and very time consuming..I can't really understand the directions on how to use it, but I getting the cases done, but having to wiggle the cases off by hand from the little stud that opens them up, got to be a better way but damned if I can figure it out other than how Im doing it..

Ray,are you using the tool that uses your press or the one that uses a hammer? The one that uses the reloading press should have a cup shaped piece that slips over the ram. On the down stroke it pops the case off the die. I have both tools and the hammer tool is a pita for sure.
C.G.B.

All this hurts me to read. Having used a few thousand 7.62 cases with crimped in primers, without issue, I find the better way is to cut the crimps out rather than swage them.
Send your brass to me and I will fix them for you.

quote:

I find the better way is to cut the crimps out rather than swage them.

Has been my experience also.

thanks dpcd really appreciate the offer, but I about have them fixed and your right, cutting them would be the best way for sure..So when you cut them out do what is the best way, can you use a case trimmer, drill press or some special tool..

Ray,

I and some buddies had the same problem with 17 Hornady Hornet brass. And yes, it was a PITA, but ya only gotta do it once.

Well its been a learning experience, can't believe that in my near 70 years of reloading that I have not come across this problem more often..I only recall this happening one time long ago with some Lake City 06 match brass as I recall, I borrowed a punch type tool, thats been in the 1950s..

I've done them with a regular countersink, but the best way is with a special primer pocket reamer made to radius the pocket edges.

dpcd,
So where does one get such a primer pocket reamer?? I have one that works for depth of the primer pocket, but can't recall one that fits the primer pocket to std primers??

You shouldn't need to mess with the depth.

Just a slight cut on the outer edge of the
pocket with a counter sink. I chuck one in a
small drill press on the loading table. Quick
and easy. I use a two edged countersink as the
4 & 6 edge type seem to chatter and screw up
the cut.

Just don't cut too deep with it. Same as the military brass since the 50's we used to scrounge out of the scrap barrels at the salvage yards by the buckets full for 15 cents a pound.
Damn I miss the old days!

Once done, they never have to be touched again.

George

i chuck a case mouth reamer pointy end down in a drill press and touch the primer pocket to it for a split second as its spinning. i have done literally thousands since the 70s when military brass was cheap. i can hold five in one hand and do them all at the same time then grab 5 more. childs play.