Reloading once fired Hornady Brass

[wuzuprad]

I bought some factory Hornady 88gr match ammo and went to reload the brass after using it once.  I sized and deprimed the brass and that went well.  However upon trying to re prime the brass with small rifle primers I noticed a lot of resistance to the primers going back in.  Some more so then others.  They all looked like they were squished in the primer pocket instead of being seated in it nicely.  Sometimes even little shavings of primer pocket brass would come off or shavings of actual primer steel.  Ive reloaded a few years now and never had this issue before.  Using an RCBS universal hand priming tool.  Is there maybe like a primer crimp or something like that from the hornady factory rounds?  Does anyone have experience with this brass?  Thanks all!

[highside]

I assume you cleaned the primer pockets? I really can’t see Hornady crimping the primer pockets on these. Maybe some sealant.

[Hammerhead]

+1 on cleaning the primer pockets. Also Ive noticed with mine it's necessary to rotate the case a little with your fingers if you feel
a lot of initial resistance. They will go right in when you hit the sweet spot.

[Xaddo]

What the .....? I have 200+ pieces of Federal and 250 Starline brass and ALL have sloppy loose primer pockets . A couple of the Starline wouldn't hold a primer on first loading! Now Hornady is going in the other direction! Never had this issue with any other brass. I have had primer pockets wear out after multiple firings but never start off feeling like they're already wore out.
Anyone know of a knurler to fix loose or a reamer to fix tight pockets?🤓

[Hammerhead]

    Knurling primers would sure draw a crowd. From a safe distance of course.

[highside]

You could always use a crimp remover like I use on 5.56 crimped brass. Worth a shot.

[Xaddo]

I was thinking of knurling the inside of the loose pockets to help the primers get a grip but I was really just joking. What I really want is someone to make some descent cases for the Valkyrie!

[PA Valkyrie]

I was thinking that the media hype during/after SHOT Show in January might have developed more of a demand for all things Valkyrie than the manufacturers were ready for. When production is ramped up in a shorter time frame than planned, quality suffers. It doesn't seem to matter who the particular manufacturer is. We are at the tip of the spear, my friends. Those that get their Valkyries for Christmas probably won't see these problems so much.

[wuzuprad]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  So actually i clean brass, and then size and deprime (I hate running dirty brass through the sizing die)  So I actually got a hand depriming tool, and will try using that before cleaning.  Maybe that will help.  But like I said, have never had this issue before.  Always just reloaded with dirty primer pockets.  Rounds didnt seem to mind.  Ill report back and maybe get some pictures.

[r.tenorio671]

... a Lee Universal Deprimer die will allow you to deprime "dirty" brass before you clean so the primer pockets get cleaned at the same time (assuming you are using "wet tumbler" w/SS pins).  The Lee Universal Deprimer inner diameter is large enough that the case walls don't contact the die walls like a normal sizing die does.  It does add an additional step to your process but could be well worth it.

[wuzuprad]

Yeah I ended up getting a Franklin Arsenal depriming tool.  Will give that one a try.  I think it works pretty much in the same way that the Lee one does.

[wuzuprad]

So finally got to test out the hand depriming tool, (worked very well).  Then ran them through the cleaner and got all the primer pockets shiny clean.  Then sized, and started priming again.

No good.  Within the first 20 done, I had 4 that were smooshed and deformed pretty bad as the primer tried to get seated.  I took some pictures this time.  With the rest, very few of them went right in, most had to be forced in but ended up not getting deformed as much or very little.  Not normal squeeze and it slips right in though. 

After closely inspecting the cases that had the worse trouble, it looks to me like the primer pockets were cut off center.  So you have the priming hole that the primer goes through and the primer pocket hole that are not lined up.  Hence the deformation of the primers.  I have just contacted Hornady about this issue and will see what they say.  Not super impressed.  Will probably end up buying some starline brass.

[highside]

Have you tried treating them like once fired mil spec brass? The Hornady's have a crimped primer and you need to remove the crimp prior to priming them.

[Mtbugle]

Don't know that those look crimped or some dinging from your priming operation. Sure looks like a crimp removal tool to bevel the pocket edge may be helpful.

[highside]

http://www.224valkyrieforum.com/index.php?topic=119.0

Look at the photos on the second page. They looked crimped. I have done several thousand rounds of Lake City 5.56 brass and the crimp needs to be removed or your primers will get smashed. At least they won't fall out like Federal.