Federal Brass primer seating problems.

[jbonnette]

I'm having severe problems seating primers into Federal brass. I'm using a Hornady Lock N Load Progressive. After 4 failures to seat, I started taking them out... after that I reloaded about 80 rounds without any failures to seat. Its like whole is just a little bit too small...one side starts in and the other side gets a little smashed because it didn't make it into the whole. Any thoughts?

 

[peterf225]

What primers are you using? I have never used federal brass but have loaded winchester, remington, and lapua brass with wolf, federal, winchester, and CCI primers. Is the brass new or once fired?

 

[jbonnette]

I'm using once fired and CCI 400 primers. They seem to work fine in everything else that I've tried.

 

[dmiculek]

It's not a crimped primer pocket? ie, military brass?

 

[jbonnette]

Nope, no crimped primer pocket... I'll post pics soon to see if that helps.

 

[Richard in LA]

I'm having severe problems seating primers into Federal brass. I'm using a Hornady Lock N Load Progressive. After 4 failures to seat, I started taking them out... after that I reloaded about 80 rounds without any failures to seat. Its like whole is just a little bit too small...one side starts in and the other side gets a little smashed because it didn't make it into the whole. Any thoughts?

I got a bag of brass from you, and ended up doing the same thing. I just went and checked, there is 2 different headstamps of Federal brass (FC and the year 05,06,etc.., and FC .223 REM) one has red sealant, and the other is a bluish-green and they are all lightly crimped primer pockets. Every one of them crushes the primer, either CCI 41's+400's, Rem BR 7.5's or Winchester WSR. I pulled them out, and will swap them with my buddy who has a 1050.

 

[tactical723]

What caliber brass??, depending on exactly what federal case it is and headstamp, the very edge may have a crimp and hard to see, I reload both commercial and military .223 and have this problem, need to swagg

WHATEVER. you do, do not shoot the ammunition that does not have the primer seated just right, if the side wall of the primer is crushed, it could expel gas and cause explosion causing the chamber and bolt to explode, my friend did this by not properly swagging a military crimped brass case, the gas came backwards through the primer pocket hole into the bolt and cracked the upper receiver in half,

this is what the case looked like after it was removed from chamber by a gunsmith

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj174/tactical723/100_2429.jpg

 

[BayouSlide]

The NT brass can cause problems like that, IIRC.

 

[jbonnette]

 

[jbonnette]

I got a bag of brass from you, and ended up doing the same thing. I just went and checked, there is 2 different headstamps of Federal brass (FC and the year 05,06,etc.., and FC .223 REM) one has red sealant, and the other is a bluish-green and they are all lightly crimped primer pockets. Every one of them crushes the primer, either CCI 41's+400's, Rem BR 7.5's or Winchester WSR. I pulled them out, and will swap them with my buddy who has a 1050.

Dang, if you want to swap them out, I'd be happy to...

 

[Request Dust Off]

looks crimped in the pic

 

[Request Dust Off]

On some crimped it will take a primer. I was told this by a guy that I wouldn't doubt and it worked in a Dillon 550B. It depended on the brass but the LC worked just fine.
You can swage or you can chamfer the edge. The swage requires equipment. I hear Dillon is the way to go for swaging. Chamfering the edge requires skill, time & effort. It only has to be done once.

 

[jbonnette]

What caliber brass??, depending on exactly what federal case it is and headstamp, the very edge may have a crimp and hard to see, I reload both commercial and military .223 and have this problem, need to swagg

WHATEVER. you do, do not shoot the ammunition that does not have the primer seated just right, if the side wall of the primer is crushed, it could expel gas and cause explosion causing the chamber and bolt to explode, my friend did this by not properly swagging a military crimped brass case, the gas came backwards through the primer pocket hole into the bolt and cracked the upper receiver in half,

It's 223. I believe that you're probably right. I'll seperate all the federal out and swag the primer pockets...see if that helps.

 

[jbonnette]

looks crimped in the pic

... I guess I just didn't know what I was looking at.

 

[Richard in LA]

Dang, if you want to swap them out, I'd be happy to...

Nah, its not that many of them, maybe 75 or so. They are crimped, as you can tell from the picture, no doubt about it. I do not have a problem with crimped LC brass with my Dillon, but these just would not work. Also, when taking these pictures, I noticed that there is 3 different headstamps of it. FC and year, FC .223 REM, and FC NT .223 REM.

 

[jbonnette]

Well at least I know what the issue was... I was ready to spit nails, cursing federal well into my dreams last night. Thanks for the help folks!

 

[Request Dust Off]

... I guess I just didn't know what I was looking at.

Sometimes it is easier to spot after depriming than before.
It shows up better in Richards pics than yours. You can see the sharp edge better.

 

[jbonnette]

I was able to use the Lee Chamfer tool to remove the crimp.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=389104

I successfully seated a primer in one of the cases that I failed on last night.