newbie seeks advice on primer pocket cleaning

F

Frankly

New member
Hello folks,

I am new to reloading and have been taking it slowly to make sure I don't blow anything up.

Finally got my reloading station completed and my press put together.

I own and have read (more than once) both the Lee and Lyman reloading books, so I do have some theoretical knowledge on this great new pastime, just no practical experience as yet.

First thing I did after getting everything set up was to decap and resize nearly 600 once-fired 44 magnum shells salvaged from factory ammo I had bought and fired over the years. That took awhile—and my arm is sore.

I am writing to get feedback from experienced reloaders on the matter of cleaning the primer pockets. Is this something you routinely do with each case, or only upon inspection and as indicated by.... ? I am including a representative sample picture of what my decapped once-fired shells look like, hoping that may help you to advise me. Your feedback is most appreciated.




decapped.JPG
 
Many people don't bother--the line of reasoning being that there are other factors that will have more effect on the accuracy of the load before that's a factor.

I always clean mine and clear the flash hole as well. The key thing is to not overdo it and remove metal which can affect how well the primer seats. Never once have had a primer fall/blow out or fail due to seating (had a few that were simply defective and would not ignite).
 
I'm not nearly as experienced as many here, but I've been reloading for a good few years now. I don't bother cleaning primer pockets on pistol ammo. It seems that they kind of 'self-clean' themselves when fired, and the loose stuff in there gets knocked out when the primers get punched out. I do it out of habit for rifle ammo, however. Not sure that my level of shooting notices the difference, but since I'm doing brass prep on rifle cases anyways, a few turns of a primer pocket cleaner gets added into the steps. It's probably more peace of mind than anything FOR ME.
 
By the time I'm done cleaning mine they's shinier than fake gold.
Just kiddin' I remove the carbon and move on,life's too short.
 
Your primer pockets in the pic are clean enough to reload.

I clean mine because I like mine clean and I have the time to do it.
Click to expand...

^^ I'm in this camp. ^^

Always have been. I've been loading for 30 years and historically, I've always cleaned my primer pockets by hand with a primer pocket cleaner - one of these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/467111/lee-primer-pocket-cleaner?cm_vc=ProductFinding

I have since evolved to wet tumbling my brass with stainless steel pins. Primer pockets come out looking like new. The entire piece of brass - inside n out, actually - comes out looking like new.

But that's just me. It's actually personal preference. For the most part, primer pockets for pistol (I only load for pistols) need not be cleaned; barring an obvious obstruction or whatnot.
 
I cleaned the primer pockets when I wanted to eliminate variables, mostly in rifle ammo. But when I shot a lot of .38 wadcutters, I used a Dillon tool and never bothered. I never had misfires and it never seemed to make any difference whether the pocket had been cleaned or not.

Jim
 
Primer pocket cleaning is an emotional thing.

Many rifle match winners and record setters don't do it. That's proof it's not needed as far as reality is concerned.

Others are convinced it's necessary, so they do it.

And some do it for other reasons.

My advice is to do what you think is best; both for you and your ammo.
 
Shoot a bunch with, and without.... You'll notice no difference in accuracy. When I started I always cleaned 'em, but later I ran a bunch without... And, how about that, shoot just as well. Anyway, that's my experience. It's an individual thing.
 
If you de-prime the brass and then tumble with stainless steel pins, your brass will come out like factory new.

The whole case is clean inside and out, that includes the primer pockets.
Regular vibrator type's just clean the outside of the brass (they do a great job) but the inside and primer pockets are still dirty.
 
Wow-- that's quite a flurry of good feedback in short time. Got my money's worth outta this post for sure.

Still, nobody has yet touched on the "theoretical" reasons for cleaning them that I have read about. Supposedly not cleaning the pocket will prevent the new primer from seating properly. In theory, one of the consequences is gas leak, which could have a number of consequences including damage to the gun.

Can you folks please speak from experience to these theoretical concerns in particular?

Thanks again.
 
I only clean primer pockets on rifle brass when the carbon buildup is much worse than those in your picture.

I would like to know if the primer flash hole in this picture:

attachment.php


Is it as small as it appears or is that an optical illusion?
 

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I'll comment on the "theoretical" reasons for cleaning them that one may have read about. Supposedly not cleaning the pocket will prevent the new primer from seating properly. In theory, one of the consequences is gas leak, which could have a number of consequences including damage to the gun.

If that were true, then all the people winning matches and setting records with uncleaned primer pockets would have noticed it and started cleaning out their primer pockets. The facts are, none of that stuff happened.

I never cleaned out my primer pockets after comparing cleaned and uncleaned ones in accuracy tests. No difference in 1000-yard test group sizes; a distance where any dirty one's influence would easily show accuracy differences.

Maybe there is a .002 MOA difference. Anyone with a .005 MOA at worst rifle and ammo combination want to do a test with statistically significant results?
 
Allen, that's gotta be a photographic anomaly. I do notice the ones with more carbon residue than others "appear" to have bigger holes, but that seems to be an illusion too upon closer inspection. Another thing is these shells are not all the same make. The cleaner looking ones tend to be the cheaper imported crap. I don't understand why. The Remington and Winchester cases seem to have more carbon residue... weird. Also, the cheap foreign shells went through the resizer a whole lot tighter than the American made stuff... interesting also. Thinner walls? Thus stretched more when fired? Opinions on this?
 
the "theoretical" reasons for cleaning them
Click to expand...

If the primer pockets are nice n clean, the primer tends to insert with a more positive "feel." At least, this is true for me with my Lee hand primer.
 
Bart, I am all in favor of less tedium in reloading. Just trying to get a complete picture as I proceed into this. I would rather learn from the thousands of years of collective experience of y'all than from my own mistakes...
 
I can't tell you how many hundreds of thousands of rounds I have shot that I did not clean the primer pocket.

My best advice is to take 5 rounds and get the pocket as clean as you can, then take 5 more and just poke the old primer out and put in a new one, then go shoot them.

If your results are like mine you won't waist the time anymore.
 
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