Ok, I have just bought my third Cooper, a custom classic in 22 BR. According to Cooper, its chamber is cut for a case length of 1.515†and a neck diameter of .255â€. I have 100 rounds of 6mm BR Remington brass on order.

I have also decided to use the Redding three piece die set. I will start with the seating die first, then follow-up with the FL die. Then trim the length and neck as needed.

Now my question, I did not realize that the brass I ordered was primed. Can I form my brass primed or do I need to remove the primers? Can I safety remove a live primer with my sizing die or do I need to discharge them first? If I need to discharge them, can I use my .308 or will a hammer and punch do the job? If I can remove the live primers, can I reuse them?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Art

If you remove the decapping pin from the expander spindle you could. You never want to set primers off with a hammer and a nail or punch. The primer has enough explosive force to blow that cup out with a lot of force, possibly into your eye.

If you don't have any powder or primer on your reloading bench, especially in the vicinity of your press, you can decap primed brass. I've done a lot of these that way and personally have never had any go off. So have many of my friends. If one did let got, nothing is going to happen. Just make sure you remove the primer from the spent primer tray as to not let them accumulate.

I really don't see any harm, though, in forming them if you remove the decapping pin, I mean after all we reload cases that are primed and have powder in them. So long as nothing touches the primer.

Joe

Starmetal,

Thanks for the response.

Art

Yes, you can resize primed cases, just remove the pin that knocks the primer out.

You can even trim them to length if you use a trimmer such as the Hornady...

No big deal...