Priming 38 spl cases

Nick S., A LOT of .223 brass has crimped primers, almost all of it that is not commercial civilan ammo.
 
.223 crimped?

I'm aware that 5.56mm, military, & any Nato stamped heads are crimped but a friend told me that as long as it's stamped .223 REM it's not crimped. Is he wrong?
 
His info seemed like a fairly safe bet at one time. These days... there are a GUJILLION ammo makers spitting out .223/5.56, and all bets are off.

Your best bet is to learn what a crimped pocket looks like and go from there.
 
Thanks guys. I just used a counter sink, hand held, in addition to drilling them with the #17 drill on 19 more cases. They all took the primer with moderate to heavy pressure. Should I invest in either a primer pocket uniformer, swedge, reamer, or all 3? I'll do what ever is easier on my hands.(I'm using 2 hands to squeeze them in).
 
I recently got a bunch of given-to-me-for-free 38Spec brass, which had a bunch of Herters brass in it.

I had the same issues with the Herters brass as you. I solved the problem with the Herters brass by using my LE Wilson chamfering/deburring tool to put a bevel on the mouth of the primer pocket.

It now takes a primer just as well as any other headstamp brass.
 
I just Googled the deburring tool. It says it's for deburring case mouths, not primer pockets. Is there a special one for priming pockets? Otherwise I was thinking of grinding down a #16 drill bit tip to a slight taper.
 
Sometimes reaming the pockets still does not yield a solution. Then the best bet is to change to a different brand of primer. Some has a smaller diameter than others.
 
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