Reloading

[Sergeant Smokepole #29248L]

Unless you are trying to eak that last 1/8 inch in group size ay 100 yards or more, I don't feel it necessary, especially at our distances and target sizes.

[Bart Solo]

I brought my old habits to CAS. I made a comment in another thread that it was important to clean the primer pocket. Phantom disagreed. After a while, I took Phantom's advice to heart. I don't clean pockets unless the primer won't insert easily. I will admit it. As far as cleaning primer pockets for SASS reloading is concerned, Phantom was right and I was wrong. There is just not enough time.

[John Boy]

The CAS 45 Colt BP reloads are decapped once a year before they go in the rotary tumbler with the burnishing solution and media. All calibers that I shoot for groups are decapped after every firing before they go in the rotary.

The 2mm media I use does the cleaning of the pockets

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

The only time I clean primer pockets for pistol ammo is when I'm doing load development using fired brass (which is rare, I prefer to use virgin brass for load development). I also trim all the test brass to the same length but that's just me being anal retentive- I prefer to make the only variable in my load development be the powder charge in every way possible. (Yes, I've been tempted to sort the brass by water weight but I haven't because the ranges shot aren't great enough to warrant that kind of effort.) As an 'every time, all the time' step in the reloading process for CAS, it's a waste of effort. You won't be able to tell the difference on the target and you are gonna waste a LOT of time for no real purpose.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Only cartridge that I need to clean primer pockets on is .44-40 shot with BP. Those tend to get enough crud build up that about every third reload I clean pockets. This prevents a high primer seating on my turret press, which does not have much leverage on the primer arm. If I were to load that cartridge on a Dillon 550 or 650, I probably would not need to clean even those.

 

Smokeless loads - never.

 

So, it just Depends on your load and your loader and your primer. GJ

[Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363]

I think it depends on what kind of powder you're shooting and how you pre-clean.

I shoot 777 primarily, and always give my brass a good soak in hot water & dish soap. Rinse and dry either in the sun or the oven (if it's cloudy). Toss in tumbler and reload.

 

Was finishing up reloading for the season today, and noticed some primers were harder to seat than others, and a few were right at flush instead of recessed. Took a look at the pockets, and they were pretty crusty. Apparently that brackish bathwater had to settle someplace, and it flowed thru the flash hole into the pocket and stayed. A quick swipe with a small screwdriver cleaned the old carbon out, and added a whole 3 seconds to the process. These were all cases that were on about between their 4th to 7th reload.

[Lefty Wheeler]

Howdy:

I am usualy to busy stuffing my pie hole to wory about it.

Lefty

[Rev Willy Dunkum, SASS # 61027]

Only cartridge that I need to clean primer pockets on is .44-40 shot with BP. Those tend to get enough crud build up that about every third reload I clean pockets. This prevents a high primer seating on my turret press, which does not have much leverage on the primer arm. If I were to load that cartridge on a Dillon 550 or 650, I probably would not need to clean even those.

 

Smokeless loads - never.

 

So, it just Depends on your load and your loader and your primer. GJ

 

 

I agree. I shoot BP in my 44 mag cases and spent the last evening in front of the tv cleaning dirty primer pockets (about 500) because they were not seating completely in my Rockchucker. I don't know how many rounds of BP per brass before I clean them, I just clean the pocket if it seems to seat harder.

 

I'm setting the Dillon 550 up for BP so I will see how that works later this year.