The Lee 50 BMG kit just got here from Midway. $159.00 (that's E-110 Edmond!) Sheeze! and Made in the USA which I like. I'm amazed, dies, BIG cast iron and steel press, priming system and lube! One quick question tho' What is the actual size of the primer pocket, depth and width, in thousandths please, I'd like to get a reamer that will "De-mil" the surplus brass I've got. TIA, Pictures follow.

You really don't want to ream the primer pocket. Just end up with loose primers. What you need, is simply a common countersink to remove the crimp from the primer pocket and give you a small chamfer. It's best to keep the chamfer very small.
You may also want to uniform your primer pocket depths. K&M Services sells a very good primer pocket uniformer, among other fine quality brass prepping tools. Just give Ken a call at 717-292-3175 Uniformer depth is adjustable, but comes preset at .220", which is right where is should be. Can also be used for cleaning fired, dirty primer pockets before priming. The cutter is carbide.

BTW, has your brass already been deprimed?

Here is a great .50 BMG site, complete with a reloading section. WR's site WR put a lot of work into it. He recommends to get a swage kit from CH4D for those crimps. Better than that is his advice to avoid crimped brass, but you seem to be past that point. :-) Seriously, there is a wealth of info there.

Thanks much! I'm shooting re-manufactured surplus from Cabelas and it comes crimped. Fortunatly, it's cheaper than new or never fired surplus brass. and it goes bang when I pull the trigger... OK, It's more like:
BANG!

(new) WR's site is very good. Since I'm shooting armor and glass with the Steyr I might be able to help him out with info, pics and video... Also, the primer pocket is 0.3125" or 5/16 exactly. I'll see how a commercial reamer works and report back

quote:

Thanks much! I'm shooting re-manufactured surplus from Cabelas and it comes crimped.

You're welcome. Just curious, what is the headstamp on that brass?

Also, have you been to River Valley Ordinance
or Pat's Reloading?

Since it was a FTF in two different rifles, I was thinking it that you might have pushed the shoulder back too far, giving the cartridge too much room to move forward in the chamber.

quote:

Originally posted by goneballistic:
You're welcome. Just curious, what is the headstamp on that brass?

DN43 TW43 TW52... and others
Anything I should be looking for?

Wow! that's old!

quote:

DN43 TW43 TW52... and others
Anything I should be looking for?

Are you sure that the DN is not DM? Since the crimp is intact, it appears that the brass has not been previously loaded, or at least fired, which is a good thing. The primers in military ammo were corrosive in those days(Hg). The corrosive primers were phased out in stages, up until something like '52.
The oldest brass I have is a score or so pieces of SL53 It's OK, but for accuracy work you are better off with something post '86. The manufacturing processes for .50 brass have been improved since the days of old. But there is still room for improvement, even the best .50 BMG brass lags behind match brass for the lessor calibers, with respect to quality.
Every now and then Wideners runs a special on TZZ (IMI) headstamped brass. I got 200 rounds for $160.00 a while back. I hear that they are currently out of stock now.

Headstamp Manufacturer and Location
DM Des Moines Ordnance Plant, Des Moines IA
FA Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia PA
KS Kelly Springfield, Allegheny Ordnance Plant, Cumberland MD
LC Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence MO
LM Lowell MA
M Milwaukee Ordnance Plant, Milwaukee WI
RA Remington Arms, Bridgeport CT
REM-UMC Remington-Union Metallic Cartridge, Bridgeport CT
SD Sparklet Devices, Dover OH
SL St. Louis Ordnance Plant, St. Louis MO
SMCO Stant Manufacturing Co., Connersville IN
TW Twin Cities Ordnance Plant, Minneapolis MN
U Utah Ordnance Plant, Salt Lake City UT - Late
UT Utah Ordnance Plant, Salt Lake City UT - Early
W Winchester - Prototype and test rounds
WCC Winchester-OLIN, E.Alton IL
WRA Winchester Repeating Arms, New Haven CT

Ya got me, I hope it was a typo amd mot ny eyesight!
It is DM
Thanks for the info. If you catch that IMI brass on sale again let me know.