Progressive press people, Question.....

[Knarley Bob]

How often do you clean out the primer pockets on your brass? Or do you even bother?

 

Knarley

[Reuben McCoy Rankin # 34239]

never

[Captain Bill Burt]

Like Reuben, never.

[BLACKFOOT SASS #11947]

Don't clean pockets on cowboy and wild bunch ammo, I tumble it then it goes on the press. Station one deprime and resize, station two prime and drop powder. Only clean pockets on high power rifle ammo.

 

Blackfoot

[Krazy Kajun]

Wut they said. It has nothing to do with a progressive press.

 

Kajun

Edited January 8, 2017 by Krazy Kajun

[Sedalia Dave]

Haven't cleaned the primer pockets on the brass I use for SASS since I started.

 

Brass where accuracy counts is another story.

[Ace_of_Hearts]

Cleaning the brass using a wet tumbler will also clean the primer pockets if the primer is removed.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Never, and I don't use a wet tumbler because, among many other reasons, I often load right after cleaning.

 

Good luck, GJ

[G. I. Tarpicker, SASS #998]

Oh, I thought you were asking about the news media. -- GIT

[John Boy]

How often do you clean out the primer pockets on your brass?

Every piece of brass that I reload has clean pockets in addition to the rest of the case when they come out of the rotary tumbler. I do not reload dirty brass

[Smoken D]

Don't clean pockets on cowboy and wild bunch ammo, I tumble it then it goes on the press. Station one deprime and resize, station two prime and drop powder. Only clean pockets on high power rifle ammo.

 

Blackfoot

 

+1

[Pat Riot]

Don't clean pockets on cowboy and wild bunch ammo, I tumble it then it goes on the press. Station one deprime and resize, station two prime and drop powder. Only clean pockets on high power rifle ammo.

 

Blackfoot

Another +1

 

When I started reloading many years ago I cleaned primer pockets for my CAS brass and after a while I found I was just wasting time.

[Gold Canyon Kid #43974]

I have never cleaned primer pockets. Brass goes in cleaner with old primers still in place. After cleaning they get mixed with One Shot then go in 650 to be deprimed, sized, reprimed and loaded. I do not know anyone that cleans primer pockets for SASS shooting. I have brass that has been reloaded way more than 25 times with no issues.

[Isom Dart, SASS#8096]

+1 Ace of Hearts ,,,

shoot Holy Black, wet tumble with primers out,, pockets come out clean. No sweat !

Isom

[Judge'm All Duncan, SASS#67320]

 

I shoot BP only and never worry about clean pockets.

 

Never worry about one not going off either. When the deprime rod clears the hole it will ignite.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Blast'n smokeless ammo-never.

Match grade-Every time.

OLG

[wyliefoxEsquire]

I consider the pocket clean once the new primer is seated for 38spl 357mag 45acp 9mm 40s&w & 12ga

I deprime and wet tumble for all other cases.

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

With rifle brass I clean them every time. With pistol brass I don't bother.

[evil dogooder]

Never

[Matthew Duncan]

Never for 15 years. Then I started wet tumbling with SS. I thought why not so I Deprime before tumbling.

[Keystone, SASS # 47578]

Well,

 

The wife's 38's & 357's don't need primer pocket cleaning but the 45's using Trailboss & Federal LP primers get dirty. Recently started wet tumbling 45's with SS pins after removing primers. Nice clean cases with clean primer pockets. Wet cleaning is a little more labor but no dust or media residues left on the press is well worth it. Also, with wet tumbling there is no dust in the air or on the floor as it all goes down the drain. A lot quieter too. New primers press very smoothly in the pockets with a real firm feeling when fully seated.

 

Hasta Luego, Keystone

[Griff]

BP ammo get sonic cleaned after depriming. Rifle ammo gets pockets cleaned, smokeless pistol ammo, NOT!

[Lead Friend, SASS #53635]

I never do but my brother does. He's peculiar in all kinds of other ways too.

[MarkVII]

I didn't bother to clean mine for the longest time, but started having problems with high primers due to build up in the primer pocket. Consequently, I decap my brass with the Frankford Arsenal hand decapper while I'm watching TV, then clean the primer pockets.

 

I clean them any of several ways, depending on how big a batch I'm cleaning. The Lyman Case Care Kit (https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-7777793-Case-Care-Kit/dp/B000NOUEAY/ref=sr_1_53?ie=UTF8&qid=1483934549&sr=8-53&keywords=primer+pocket+cleaner) is a favorite for while I'm watching TV. For large batches, I use the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler and stainless steel pins. If you wet tumble, invest in their brass dryer or a cheap food dehydrator. Air drying brass takes forever. Also get a media separator. Wet tumbling with pins does wonders for the primer pockets.

 

HTH, Mark

[Ventura Slim, SASS #35690]

I do not bother doing it and I may pay the price someday, but until then...

[Blackwater 53393]

When a newer cowgirl was asking questions several years ago, she got around to asking about reloading. She told us that her husband, another newer shooter and an experienced reloader, had her cleaning primer pockets as well as several other accuracy promoting operations on their CAS ammo. My buddy, Will Reilly, told her that most all of that was totally unnecessary.

 

"I'll kill 'im!!"she fumed, "I'll freakin' KILL HIM!!"

[Yul Lose]

I never do but my brother does. He's peculiar in all kinds of other ways too.

You can say that again. LOL!!

[Red Cent]

SASS brass needs to be cleaned just enough to rid it of grit and grime. The stuff our brass lands in will scratch the interior of the die. I have never deprimed mine before cleaning. Any hand press has the power to overcome the carbon and should seat with a firm push unless the press is not rock solid. Any give when seating the prime will remove the power to seat the primer.

[Silver Sam, SASS #34718L]

BP ammo get sonic cleaned after depriming. Rifle ammo gets pockets cleaned, smokeless pistol ammo, NOT!

Griff, I didn't realize that they cleaned BP brass at Sonic,

I love their Super Sonic Double Cheeseburger.

 

Can they clean my brass while I'm having Lunch ???

[Bugler]

People actually clean their primer pockets? Never heard of such a thing!!

 

Bugler

[Chuckwagon McTaggart]

Another vote for Never.

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

Using full case loads of Goex 3F ,,, Yes every time ...

 

 

 

Jabez Cowboy

[Rancho Roy]

Never...that little bit of carbon is harder than brass and the pockets last longer....That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

Never for 15 years. Then I started wet tumbling with SS. I thought why not so I Deprime before tumbling.

I deprime before wet tumbling as well. An extra step that is probably not needed, but I got tired of the occasional wet pocket when I deprimed and sized at the same time. So now right after a shoot I just put in my universal deprimer, pop them all out, toss the cases in water, then get to work on cleaning the guns. Give the cases a rinse and toss them in the wet tumbler. It doesn't take that long. This is with black powder. I probably wouldn't even bother cleaning anything with smokeless if I ever used the stuff.

[Slowhand Bob, 24229]

KB, as per your original post, I heard many reports of the Blue Press leaving blue highlights in those primer pockets! For this reason I decided to go with the Hornady LNL and have never looked back.