Awesome Primer Pocket Repair

[@jessewerner4067]

Ok, here's some links to the tools I was using: Ball Bearing: www.amazon.com/Ten-Chrome-Steel-Bearing-Balls/dp/B008M33XP6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1538610362&sr=8-5&keywords=5%2F8+steel+ball+bearings .210" Pin Gauge: www.amazon.com/Vermont-Gage-Steel-Tolerance-Diameter/dp/B0006JC8JQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538610466&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=.210%22%2Bpin%2Bguage&th=1 .209" Pin Gauge: www.amazon.com/Vermont-Gage-Steel-Tolerance-Diameter/dp/B0006JC82S/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538610466&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=.210%22%2Bpin%2Bguage&th=1

[@wyattzain5486]

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[@josuecamdyn6902]

@Wyatt Zain Instablaster ;)

[@wyattzain5486]

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[@wyattzain5486]

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[@josuecamdyn6902]

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[@mostrogolf22]

Outstanding, you have solved a lot of headaches for reloaders. The issue now is the 6mm ARC brass. Hornady may have made that round a bit too hot and people are writing about loose pockets after the 1st through 3rd reload.Thank you.

[@lutherprice637]

Hey Jesse, I was using the RCBS swaging tool a few days ago and oversized my primer pockets and thought I lost 90 or so 308s. I ordered the 5/8” steel balls from Amazon, picked up the 5/16” grade 8 bolt, took .010 or so off diameter and the rest was easy. Using a go/no go gauge fixed them all. Thank you very much for the tip, I do hate to lose brass.

[@gregrn779]

How did you remove the .010"? What was your process?

[@lutherprice2062]

I used a 4” grinder with a 400 grit disc, all you’re really doing is knocking down the threads a little, just take your time and polish the bolt until it fits in the casing. Jesse did a good job explaining it. Good luck

[@johnisgoodjohnisgreat5449]

Did you use the go/no go gauge from Ballistic Tools? I already have that, was thinking I could use that instead of buying individual .209 and .210 gauges like he has in the video

[@lutherprice2062]

@@johnisgoodjohnisgreat5449 I use a Wilson go/no go gauge that works great

[@dmo7815]

I use a Allen wrench for a go no go gage.

[@K0ester]

What a great idea. Im just getting into reloading, have a bunch of 5.56 and .308 brass. Needed to remove the primer crimp. Well i had bought a tool for doing just that. The resulting primer pockets were way to big and loose for my liking. They fit, but just weren't snug snug when i put primers in a few of them. I sidelined them all(200+ 5.56 and 100+ .308) and chalked it up to an amateur mistake. Im definitely trying this

[@G-man45444]

Love it !! I have a handful of 45-70 starline brass from HSM bear loads that oversized the primer pocket from their factory loading that I have kept because I’m too cheap to toss them…. now I know exactly how to save them and fix them !!! Thank you

[@208bowmaddnneess]

So glad I ran across this. I’ve got 5 firings on my lapua 6.5 cam brass and yes it’s at the top end but definitely not hot. The brass is in perfect shape minus the pockets. I will be trying this out as soon as I get through these 100 loaded pieces. Thanks for sharing!!

[@Lucysdad66]

I like it i got brand new brass that won't hold a primer.

[@tommyj7087]

Awesome find. I am starting to get into rifle reloading and hope to be going through many reloadings per case. I am going to invest in an annealer and will pick up these tools that I don't already have. Thanks!

[@jessewerner4067]

Great! If you buy high quality brass and run safe pressures you really shouldn't need the repair tools. Usually poor quality brass is the cause for loose primer pockets.

[@moushunter]

There was a mail order reloading supply house that had a tool set that would push primer pockets back to size. I'm not sure if it was Wideners or Lock, Stock, and Barrel. If I remember correctly the device looked similar to the Lee hand deprimer set up with the steel holder for the brass and a tool looked like the hand primer punch that Lee uses. I'm not sure if the entire outer rim was swaged back or if hitting the punch into the case just distorted the primer pocket back. It looked easy and was fairly inexpensive. You put the case in the holder, dropped the punch into the case and whacked it with a hammer. I don't know if that tool is still made or who actually made it.

thanks. I made some wax bullet loads for practice in my .38 snubnose, using only primers for propellant. they work fine but the primers backed out and locked the gun up. I suspected loose pockets and have been wondering how to resize them. the go-no go pin gauges and ball and bolt homebrew forming tools saved me a lot of time. I had decided to use a turned down bolt but hadn't considered the ball.

[@jonathanrogers9961]

You don't have loose primer pockets. The primer causes enough pressure to unseat itself, and without the powder to push the casing back into the face and hold it there the primer has room to back out. Has nothing to do with primer pockets being loose.

[@razorbak6783]

Good work man, I really appreciate you posting this up....you're not kidding about RUM brass or RUM anything for that matter...a year ago I had to pay 80.00 for a box of 20....now it was 180gn swift sirracos in power level 3 and it was Gander Mnt. too.... but that was all I could find at the time. Hunting 200 lbs whitetails with a dag gone grizzly bear cartridge. LOL

[@eriklambert4692]

Glad to find it, trying to extend the life of my warbird brass, saving me $5 a case

[@jessewerner4067]

Awesome! I've heard Lazerroni is pretty soft brass too

[@eriklambert4692]

@@jessewerner4067 ya they went from crap brass (who ever made it first) to Hornady brass which is just soft in general

[@marknaglreiter9330]

Good trick that tool makers use. Drill a .5 diameter hole in round bar stock after you've faced it off and use this to fixture your ball in the vise.

[@Welder6131]

Fantastic, i have some federal 7mm rem mag brass that was loooooose from the start. Going to machine some stuff to work on my hydr. Press! Thanks for sharing!

[@Prairie7777]

I really like what you've presented here. I had one thought concerning the inside surface of the web that houses the flash hole. I would think that if the "burr" that sometimes is formed by the "punching" out of the flash hole at the factory isn't removed by a chamfering tool, there might be a tendency for the flash hole to be obstructed after the primer pocket had peen "peened". Of course, after that flashhole is trued up the first time, that would no longer be an issue. Other than that, I think your method is very logical and useful. Thanks for the thread!

[@jessewerner4067]

You could be right about this if you're starting with a rough flash hole. I chamfer the flash holes in all of my brass so this would be a non issue.

[@yojimbo05]

Os you ball bearing modified by anyway. I just wnated to know because if i have yo modify the besring it will help

[@scottdegenaer6322]

well clear video, congrats on that. 10 mins alittle lengthy. BUT this process been around more than 20 yrs. How I been swagging in primer pockets on berdan to boxer conversion.

[@jessewerner4067]

Thanks for watching Scott. As I mentioned in the video, this wasn't my idea nor was I taking credit. Just wanted to produce a better video. Also, I'm not concerned with the length of the video as I'm not looking for likes and subscriptions for income. Just wanted to produce a video that would help people save their brass.

[@bobd8553]

Stop complaining, he is giving you free knowledge and experience. Lame

[@gregrn779]

If you could expound on your process for doing this it would be appreciated. How do you remove the anvil, ect. I'm sure with the scarcity going on it would be appreciated. Thanks

[@worksonjunk]

Great video, very smart and informative. Hit it with your purse next time lol

[@adamlong54]

Good stuff sir

[@kimbennett2750]

I wonder if you use a small base die instead of the regular base die, that it wouldn't swage down the head a bit and tighten the primer pocket?

[@jessewerner4067]

No, it wouldn't effect the primer pocket dimension. Only the outer portion of the case

[@garycraig4277]

Just a little reminder handling the pin and case a lot will change tolerance. Try to only handle it as less as possible this will give you a better fit. Just an FYI

[@jessewerner4067]

I suppose. We're probably only talking about a couple ten thousandths though. The pin size isn't so much critical to that degree. It's just a reference to gauge your progress on the repair process. Thanks for watching

[@poellot]

I made a go-nogo gauge, i made my own because i sized it perfectly for the specific primers i was using. Loading 1000 used military brass i ended up with quite a few loose, because making the gauge was trial and error, mainly because i knew the diameters i was working with, but not how much interference i wanted , after going by feel of my priming tool i figured out what i wanted and my tool properly sized for my batch of primers. I did notice a few that i thought, maybe, i set them to the side. After i was all done i checked one again with my gauge, i felt it would probably be ok. Primer went in with enough force that i felt ok about it being in a semi auto. Grabbing another , it felt the same with the gauge. Decided weather i really should use these dozen or so brass, i messed with the gauge for a bit, just kinda taking a break and almost mindlessly messing with the gauge at that point. Decided yeah ill load it. Well the primer went in very loose. Not acceptable to me, but it previously felt exact the same as the last one. Then i realized i had been playing with the gauge and brass for probably 5 minutes.

[@AA-fg3wj]

What size ball bearing would you recommend for small rifle primers?

[@jessewerner4067]

While I haven't personally resized any brass with small pockets...I would guess 1/2" should be fine. That's where I'd start

[@dennistaylor6486]

Once you reform the primer pocket do you have to worry about your flash hole closing up any?

[@jessewerner4067]

It's not a bad idea to do a quick visual on it. But no, this hasn't closed the flash hole up. That's why having a nice square bolt end and a good fitting shank in the case neck keep you from damaging the inside bottom of the pocket. This can decrease primer pocket depth, so I do run a primer pocket uniformer in after this repair

[@dennistaylor6486]

@@jessewerner4067 I have a lot of 45-120 Sharps and 50-95 Win.express brass with loosened primer pockets so I'm going to use your idea to repair them and put them back in use,they cost and arm a leg and a lung to buy new ones so this is going to save me a bunch of money. Thank you so much!!

[@yojimbo05]

Do you have a good link for the pin guagea to buy from?

[@jessewerner4067]

@@yojimbo05 go to Amazon or ebay and search .209" and .210 pin gauges. There should be a bunch

[@yojimbo05]

You ball bearing has it been modified a certain way to fit pressed into or arouns the primer pocket?

[@jessewerner4067]

Not at all. Just a round 5/8" ball for large primer pockets

[@yojimbo05]

So basically the brass base sets on the ball as you tap the screw bolt to force the pocket to size back into spec. Is that correct

[@jessewerner4067]

@@yojimbo05yes. The ball swages the edges of the primer pocket inward

[@yojimbo05]

Oaky so just hammer the casings down onto the ball bearing to bring in the primer pocket

[@yojimbo05]

I seen your ball bearing looked different then the ones on Amazon. Did you modify your ball bearing?

[@mikebrewton59]

Thank you for the video!! What size pin gauges would you use for small primer pockets?

[@jessewerner4067]

Mike B the spec on small primers appears to be .175”. So I would suggest gauges in .1745” and .174”.

[@mikebrewton59]

Awesome, thank you Jesse.

[@jessewerner4067]

Also, you may want to decrease the ball size to 1/2” since the primer pocket is smaller.

[@mikebrewton59]

Ok, thank you Jesse.

[@mikebrewton59]

I just ordered the pin gauges and bearings for both calibers, approximately how many more firings before you have to redo this process Jesse?

[@sallyann8971]

That's Freakin rad sir

[@looloo6322]

I'm going to use this process on my soft Federal 308 brass, I've only been getting 3 or 4 reloads out of them. I don't load hot, the brass is just soft.

[@jessewerner4067]

That's the point i tried to make in the video. A lot of brass is inherently soft and can benefit from this repair. Thanks for watching

[@charlessalsman7709]

R W Hart in Pennsylvania has made a tool for this process for thirty years..... good diy information though.

[@jessewerner4067]

I actually started with their tool years ago and it was very poor quality. I had to have a machinist make mods to it for it to work halfway decent. Even then, the metal was so soft it was rolling the corners of the tool over after use. The ball method has worked far better. Thanks for watching!

[@charlessalsman7709]

@@jessewerner4067 i took mine and machined an anvil from a 1/4 ratchet extension. And pressed the punch in an old reloading die. Been using it for years like that...

[@jessewerner4067]

@@charlessalsman7709 nice! Would like to see pics of that

[@charlessalsman7709]

@@jessewerner4067here's my setup

[@charlessalsman7709]

@@jessewerner4067 trying to upload picture but it won't let me

[@stephenbaker7499]

How come the ball bearing, being round doesn't open up, the primer pocket? I'm going to try this and if it works it'll be the greatest thing since the invention of the reloading press lol

[@jasoninglehart3923]

Great information here. Thanks for making the video. Just out of curiosity, what RUM brass do you like?

[@jessewerner4067]

Jason Inglehart I’m using Remington. It requires more prep for consistency such as neck turning and flash hole tapering but I’ve found it has a pretty tough web/primer pocket area. I anneal every other firing and am getting about 12 firings out of it with stout loads.

[@jasoninglehart3923]

@@jessewerner4067 thanks

[@charlessarbacher2464]

Got a bunch of 6 xc brass this needs to be done to

[@MrGeoffois]

I saw another video a guy used the rcbs swager tool with the ball bearning and it worked the same way. I like your quick pounding so I'll compare both I guess. I wonder if the hardware store has the ball bearings also. It's basically giving it a crimp. How many shots does it last?

[@jessewerner4067]

I have a friend that uses the RCBS tool as well. It's doing the same thing, I just feel this method is quicker. The "crimp" typically lasts 2-3 firings before it's needed again

[@genemichael2359]

What size ball would you use on a SMALL rifle primer hole? Thanks

[@jessewerner4067]

I haven't sized any small primer pockets yet. If I was to try, it would be 1/2" or even 3/8" maybe

[@lovetoflylovetofly3843]

Do you ever need to redo the flash hole?

[@jessewerner4067]

There have been a couple times where I've ran the flashole debur tool in because it looked a little rough after repair. That's rare though, usually it's fine. It also can change primer pocket depth (makes it shallower) so I like to run my cutter in just to check. Honestly, with the good ADG brass I run now, I haven't needed to do this repair in years.

[@theroc495]

Used that trick closing many close tolerance holes, I never showed anyone how it was done

[@SuperSneakySteve]

Primer pocket repair kits have been widely available for shotguns forever. I'm not sure why it never caught on for rifles.

[@fermentis]

Check concentrity of neck case. After procedure that you propose at this video, case loose all parameters.

[@jessewerner4067]

It may or may not induce concentricity. I've never checked nor needed too. It has never affected accuracy in a negative way.

[@tymz-r-achangin]

WoW that better be some rare brass to want having to go through all of that just to reuse it. I shoot 32acp, 9mm, 45acp, 223, 270 Winchester, and 30-06 and none of them are worth that amount of time and work to restore a primer pocket. Just toss it to the scrap brass pile and continue with the cases worth reloading

[@mlunoe]

thank you :)

[@Thoseaboutto911]

Is the pin + or - .0005"

[@johnaustin6673]

I have case head separation before the primer pockets loosen... that's just the way my rifle likes it.

[@jessewerner4067]

This must be a belted case?

[@johnaustin6673]

@@jessewerner4067 ill-fated attempt at humor. although my 6.5x.284 and .284 both stress brass above the case head. after 7 to 8 reloads

[@savannahdennis9351]

Fire 😮

[@charlesfields7908]

That's beneficial if you only do batch shooting.

[@jessewerner4067]

Not sure what you mean by that 🤷‍♀️

[@charlesfields7908]

@@jessewerner4067 if your not out there mag dumping thousands of rounds and only shoot maybe a 100 maybe 200 a year it's beneficial. Anymore than that there would be more time spent repairing brass than at the range.

[@jessewerner4067]

That's true. But if you're losing that many primer pockets in a year there's other, more important issues that need to be addressed. I fix maybe 5 a year now mostly because there's much better brass available than there was when I made this video. And yes, I shoot year around

[@charlesfields7908]

@@jessewerner4067 that makes sense. At this point I'm skeptical of the quality of anything. I'm new to reloading, haven't got all my equipment yet but I'm doing my homework for any and all useful tips and tricks for reloading until then.

[@ewathoughts8476]

All you are doing is peening in the entry point, but not the whole length of the pocket cylinder. In effect you are crimping the primer in place without a primer. Gas can still leak around the primer and leave soot on the sides of the primer and a dirt ring on the bolt face.

[@KBell119]

I think I'll cut my losses at the loose primer point, and just skip the case cracks or head seperation part.

[@jessewerner4067]

Do what you want. You DON'T get case cracks or head separation as a result of this repair. If you're loading stupid hot or don't know how to properly resize your cases, then you probably will

[@KBell119]

@@jessewerner4067 I'm not saying this repair causes cracks, but after you fire and trim several times, the rest of the case will thin, and that's the next failure point.

[@jessewerner4067]

@@KBell119 this is true. The question is... are you using quality brass to begin with and are you properly sizing (.001-.002" shoulder bump) with neck annealing? I can't hardly wear out a piece of brass when it's quality to begin with and taken care of. I used to have Remingtons (not great quality) that I was getting 20 firings out of. I run ADG now and cracking or case head separation is just not a thing.

[@KBell119]

@@jessewerner4067 sorry if I offended you. I'm in the camp that believes brass won't last forever, no matter what you do. I would just rather dispose of at the first sign of failure rather than the second or third, especially with 60,000+psi cartridges.

[@jessewerner4067]

@@KBell119 no offense at all! I just don't throw it out until it's truly ready to be thrown out. Thanks for watching!

[@SpudOutdoors]

Unfortunately this did not work on my brass

[@jessewerner4067]

Sometimes they're too far gone

[@SpudOutdoors]

@@jessewerner4067 I tried something different. Used RCBS swage die but did it upside down then used the ball bearing then swaged. That worked.

[@jeffo1960]

have you got a link for the pin gauges,as when i done my primer pockets with a uniformer they went a little loose

[@jessewerner4067]

The links should appear above in my pinned post

[@normanmcneal3605]

I’ve reloaded rifle and pistol cartridges since 1975. Never tamper with a primer pocket. Once the brass is removed?, it is gone. I just chamfer military brass enough for the primer to seat. Anytime brass is removed at the primer hole or the neck? It is thinner and more susceptible to weakness I check my resized cases every fifth reload. Haven’t found the brass draw to be dangerous either. Not trying to disrespect your video. Overkill is more dangerous to under kill. Incidentally , a “ loose” primer is not dangerous. It expands to seal

[@jessewerner4067]

Thanks for the comment Norman. I’m actually not removing any material from the case in this process. Just moving it around some at the top of the primer pocket hole. It doesn’t damage the case at all including the inside anvil area. I’ve been doing this for years using charges that are towards the upper end and have never had any problems with the case as a result of this procedure. I think for sure if someone used the wrong tooling or got sloppy you could cause damage and problems with the case. Thanks for watching!

[@6handicap604]

Depends on your definition of dangerous. When a primer falls out when transporting ammo, or a primer falls out in the chamber, one gets powder everywhere. I know a guy who lost a F-class match due to no fires. He lost a primer in the chamber, by the time he got the rifle cleaned he ran out of time.

[@cornerstoneweezylouise410]

Sir u need to becareful. When u file ur changing head space

[@jessewerner4067]

I understand the concept. However, this is a very light skimming with the file. I have checked case base to shoulder datum lengths before and after skimming with the file, it removes less than .0005" No concerns there at all. If we're gonna talk about headspace issues, how about the folks that are bumping shoulders back .010" in the sizing process? No one speaking about that.

[@amerbachaamerbacha1019]

💯🇵🇰🙋💯👍🇵🇰💯

[@crosstimbers2]

1. You can't really repair a primer pocket like this. All this does is raise a ridge around the open edge of the primer pocket. Once another primer is installed it is still loose except at the dinky little ridge. 2. The proper gage for primer pocket is a double D configuration. When primer pockets expand they are not necessarily still round. You can have an over size primer pocket shaped like a chicken egg. The small axis can still gage correctly while the large axis is oversize. But the chicken egg shape cannot be detected by a round pin. You need a Double D pin - with 2 opposite flats so you have to hunt for the oversize axis by gaging at 3 or 4 orientations.

[@jessewerner4067]

crosstimbers2 Hey, if you like to buy new brass prematurely by all means do so. Brass companies need us. For me this has proven to be a long term repair for the cartridges I've used it on. Proof is in the pudding with 12-14 stout load firings on RP RUM brass. I think you're trying to complicate something simple. I've also yet to see any kind of egg shaped primer pockets.

[@c.j.1089]

You'd probably have a point if you were shooting these out of a semi auto and your life depended on it. Worst case scenario you might lose a primer after extraction.

[@jimbauer6822]

Doesn't make it smaller just puts a chip on the edge

[@jimbauer6822]

Point 2 is not 2 tenths its 2 100ths

[@jessewerner4067]

I'm not sure what you're referring to here? But point two is .2 or two tenths. Not two hundredths. That would be .02