Removing military crimp

J

Jsnake711

New member
Which is better to use to decrimp. forge swage, or trim removal tool. Im having a bad time using a trim tool and thinking of a forge type.
 
Another vote for the Dillon Super Swage. I use it when I've have a lot of brass to swage. If small amounts of brass, I use the reamer on my Lyman case prep xpress.
 
I've got a Mighty Armory decap/swage set up and like it a lot more than a reamer type crimp remover. Lots faster, easier on the hands, little to no adjustment after you get it set up the first time when switching between decap to swage. Just change the decap pin out for the swage pin, replace the cap and put the button on the ram.
 
Another user of the Dillon super swage, but alot depends on what kind of volume you're talking. The occasional case, or 100's/1000's of military crimped cases. The Dillon is a huge time saver and pretty easy. It does require some adjustments.
 
The Dillon Super Swage is the way to go. It is the easiest, fastest, most efficient, and cleanest way for us small time reloaders to get the job done. I have swaged over 4,000 pieces of Lake City brass in the last few months.
 
I have the RCBS knock off of the Dillon. I can't say enough good things about that tool either. If you set up a shallow bucket of brass that needs work on your left, then throw the swaged brass into another bucket on your right...

One can swage 10 rounds a minute/600 per hour.
 
I don't remove many crimps, so I use a hand held reamer. A swage just isn't worth the cost for me. YMMV. If you plan to use a large quantity of military brass, then a swaging set up would be worth the money.
 
As a life long machinist/mechanic when I first encountered military primer crimps 30 years ago, my first thought was a countersink. Some prefer "reloading only" tools and swage or ream the primer pockets. Of the thousands of cases I've done (9mm, 45 ACP, 7.62x51, 30-06, 7.62x54r, and 303 British) I have had zero problems, never was able to remove "too much" metal, and it takes me about .475 seconds per case. I often reserve the crimp removal for times when I have nothing else to do. I most often chuck the tool in my hand drill and cut the crimp out, quick, easy...

I use https://www.mcmaster.com/countersinks or this without the handle https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-VLD-In...1548607103&sr=8-4&keywords=lyman+chamfer+tool
 
Swage.

I used my RCBS to removed the crimp on some HXP cases.

While it looked like it was gone, my Forster sizer which will not tolerate a military crimp without breaking the stem (unique to Forster setup) broke as I got some HXP mixed in with civie brass.

I will look to see if I still have my swager.

Or avoid miltary brass.
 
i've been using a case chamfering tool chucked in a drill press to remove the crimp for over 50 years. Never had a problem.
 
Neither method is better. Swaging is quicker though. The issue is how often will you be doing it? It's a one time thing per case, so if you're not buying milsurp brass for resale, it really doesn't pay to buy the swaging tools.
Absolute fastest way is to not use milsurp brass. Milsurp brass isn't any better and doesn't last any longer than regular commercial brass.
 
Okay, a little more old guy delayed memory. Some cases i do cut away the crimp, and these are the 308 berdan primed cases. They are heavily crimped, and cutting the the crimp away leaves a noticeable bevel in the primer pocket. Some who look at this brass after firing back away in horror, as the primers start expanding into the bevel and give the appearance of overload from hell.
 
I used to use the RCBS die set, but never liked it, especially what I had to do to get swaged cases "loose" from the tool.

These days, since I don't do huge volumes of crimped cases, I just stick the nose of my RCBS deburring tool into the pocket and give it a couple twists. Works fine but I can only do a dozen or so before my hand cramps and I take a break. A better tool would fix that, but so far, I haven't bothered.

these are the 308 berdan primed cases.
Click to expand...
I have two questions..
#1, where are you getting berdan primers for those cases??

#2 WHY are you bothering??? :rolleyes:
 
Milsurp brass isn't any better and doesn't last any longer than regular commercial brass.
Click to expand...
Like most of O'Hiers posts, I completely disagree. The brass used, by Lake City for example, (cartridge brass) is stronger than Federal and Remington (softer Low brass), the brass is thicker, thoroughly tested to before acceptance. It is also typically around 1/2 the cost. Not only do I use military brass as much as possible, I only buy rifles that shoot military or equivalent cartridges, so that I do not need commercial brass.
 
Spend $10.00 on a countersink for your drill, or $100.00 on a good swaging tool. Either works fine. (Prices are approximated to make my point)
 
There's a "correct way" and then there's the "I found this on my work bench way".
If you have a lot of crimped pockets, get a Dillon swager.
 
"I have two questions..
#1, where are you getting berdan primers for those cases??

#2 WHY are you bothering??? "

#1,Am using Tula primers, that used to be commonly available, believe these were from Powder Valley. Got about 12,000 left.

#2, When i started using them, new 308 cases were almost impossible to find and had a stock of surplus 308 rounds. Thus the cases were free and last for 3-4 full powered loadings. Using 748 and Sierra 168 hpbt, the reloads are quite accurate in several scoped semi 308's. Still using the SA 80/81 cases , and still have some unfired Port left.
A lot of people couldn't find 308 reloading supplies during several shortages, but i kept shooting.
 
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