Flash Hole Deburring

N

ninosdemente

New member
I am loading .223....

I have deprimed, sized, trimmed, and will be priming soon. But I forgot to check if flash holes need deburring (need to make a checklist). Now I don't have a tool yet for this caliber but if one is to skip this process, what consequences can occur is a flash hole is not deburred if needed? I have gone online to see what to look for and see if the brass I have needs it. I will be loading 60 Remington brass. They are not new brass. Some picked up from range and some are mine.

I do have a bore light to assist to look inside, so I hope so.

Also, is this something that has to be done every time one reloads the same cartridge again? Given that it is still good to reload to begin with.
 
Unless you are going for what I call extreme Precision or you have fired them alot if you don't deburrer a flash hole once or twice nothing horrible let will happen ...in my experience. If the flash hole looks jacked up or very jagged then I would say put that piece aside until you can clean it up. Some brass prep steps are subjective and others are necessary. I personally have begun deburring flash holes since I am forming a habit and would prefer to have all the anal retentive steps in that habit VA not doing enough. YMMV lol
 
"...what consequences..." None at all. If there is a burr, it was there right out of the factory.
"...picked up from range..." That stuff is totally unknown to you. You have no idea what has been done to it or how many times. Isn't unsafe though.
 
I agree with Bfglowkey , unless you and your rifle are capable of shooting very well and I mean VERY well . Deburing your flash holes is not needed . If you do choose to do so it is a one time thing . Once it's done , it's done .


I've personally never came across a plugged flash hole yet or one that IMO restrict the flash enough to significantly effect powder burn but that does not mean those pieces of brass are not out there .

This is what I commonly see as far as flash holes needing deburring . As you can see there is some metal turned up around the edges but the flash hole it self is still clear of any blockage and open enough to allow the full flash of the primer to enter the case with out interference . FWIW these are 2-223 & 1-308 case
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It depends on what you are trying to achieve.Someplace I have "Precision Shooting" guide to loading competition ammo.
The book had a message that at some point,"Pretty good" ammo is good enough.You will gain more in smaller groups by loading and shooting more ammo due to less time/effort per round.

That said,this book did recommend burring flash holes because common brass has punched flash holes.You can have a "hanging chad" or significant burr.

If you do it,it only needs to be done once,and set your tool to just barely break the edge.

A contributor we don't hear from anymore went by Bart. He was a world class competitive shooter that had Navy shooting team resources and they tested many ideas.As I recall,Bart said burring flash holes was a waste of time.

A visual inspection for off center flash holes and "hanging chads",which you can break off,is probably more than good enough.

I quit deburring flash holes,myself.
 
In 30+ years of reloading, I think I may have "deburr" or chamfered the flash holes once. I was trying to make some 308 reloads extra accurate (dreamin', I'm always dreamin') and tried it. I couldn't see any difference and my best groups were with LC brass, trimmed and loaded only, were 7/8" at 100...
 
I deburr/ uniform my flash hole on all my rifle cartridges. Both inside the case, and ever so lightly under the primer.

One tool does em all, no separate tool needed for different calibers.
It's amazing the amount of burrs inside some of these casings!
 
Unnecessary.
You won't notice - especially if using mixed brass.


Me? Yea, I do it to everything where I'm hoping for high precision. ...But mostly because I have the tool. If I didn't have the tool, I wouldn't even think about deburring the vast majority of the cases that currently get treated to it.
If I forget to deburr when initially prepping a new lot of brass, I just make a note with the load data and get it done before the next loading. But, again... it's mostly because I have the tool.

That may beg the question for some people, "Why did you buy it, if you don't think it's necessary?"
...Because I had several large lots of Remington and Winchester brass (mostly .270 Win and .30-06) that had REALLY terrible flash hole burrs and 'hanging chads'. I wasn't about to give up on 1,200+ cases just because of the flash holes, so I spent $16, or whatever it was, on the tool.

*I don't think I've ever needed to deburr Starline, Norma, or Lapua flash holes; and I rarely need to do so with Hornady and PPU brass. It's also rarely needed with LC cases, since the flash holes are drilled (though not as well as Norma or Lapua).
 
I do not deburr flash holes on .260 brass because it uses the SRP and has the small flash hole and the manufacturer reccomends against it. On my .223 I do, in particular the LC stuff.

On LC brass last summer I ran a of test, 25 rounds of LC brass deburred, 25 untouched shot in 5 shot groups. The deburred groups had a average of 3 FPS improvement in SD's over the untouched. That was just one test though.

If you are not going for some form of long range or benchrest though I say don't bother. It won't make a noticeable difference in your shooting
 
I started reloading in 1967 , I reload for ever revolver , pistol , rifle and shotgun I have ever owned. Shot NRA Bullseye Match well enough to win a few trophies with my reloads and I must confess......Have Never Deburred a flash hole....I think you will be alright !
It's one of those little things you can do or not do depending on your Anal-OCD level.

Gary
 
I reload for 223, among other calibers, too. I agree with most posters...accurate and consistent resizing and trimming are much more important than deburring flash holes. Just check prior to priming to ensure the flash hole is clear and load away. I have never deburred flash holes and my loads are more accurate than commercial loads.
 
I have never had to check a flash hole to see if it is clear since I just stuck a depriming shaft through the hole to remove the spent primer and anything else that might have been in the way. The new primer goes in on the up stroke.
 
As far as flash hole deburring, I am not a precision shooter and so have never found the need to do it even once in the 40+ years I have been reloading. My reloads still feed. They still go bang. And the bullet ends where I aimed the gun (within the limits of my own abilities).
 
I went thru that de-burring faze ONCE. And for a very short time. In my shooting, I saw zero benefit.[22-250]. Still have the Lyman tool. Haven't used it in about 25 years.
 
I'm in the "If you wanna, go ahead" camp as there is no harm no foul if you do. I find my reloads are sometimes processed by how I feel, and if I have much to do (but never rush, if I don't have tie to finish, I won't start). If I'm bored and have plenty of handloads, I'll do some "not really necessary" things just to keep my hands in reloading stuff. Once I even measured and deburred some 45 ACP , high polished brass...
 
I'm with everyone here , I'm a benchrest shooter ,wish I could say precision but I've tried everything . It's not bad to deburr if you have the time but not necessarily unless your a 5 shot one hole shooter . Uniforming your primer pockets once on each case will make priming trouble free . Picking up range brass you have to be careful , it could be a guy who left his last reload brass on the ground , your thinking once fired non reloader . Wet tumbled brass with SS Pins will look new even at the last firing so be careful .
 
BIG fan of checklists!

You can sure tell the difference between drilled & punched flash holes!
Only bench rifle brass gets champfered on my bench.

I do check the flash hole size, some are REALLY small, undersized gets drilled if the brass is worth enough to me.
 
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