SmallCaliberCentral

How important is it to uniform your primer pockets? I have done 40 cases so far using a RCBS primer pocket tool but have not hand loaded any of them yet to see if there is a difference. What are you guys using for this step or do alot of you skip this part? I have found that it is hard on the hand holding the case and that some of the cases I have to work on for a while to get to the bottom and others take no time at all. Also where can I get a flash hole deburrer in 204 cal. my local sporting goods store dont have them and the so called hand loading expert said that these two steps were a waste of time ( just his opinion I geuss ). I would like to make all my cases the same so that I could make my own decition on wether or not it is worth doing for my application. thanks for any info Ulen MN

Sinclair International has a flash hole de-burr tool for 204. Only place I've seen one so far.

This is what I use to uniform the pockets. A Forster base with Sinclair cutter.

While you're ordering the flash hole tool from Sinclairs, get a decent primer pocket uniformer. The ones from Sinclairs come pre-set to the proper depth. If you want uniform ignition, a primer pocket uniformer is the way to go. I bought some Norma brass a while back thinking that it was ready to load. A quick check with the plunger on the end of my calipers revealed that the primers would have been sticking out .003 above the case head. Not cool. After uniforming the primer pockets the primers were about .003 below the case head where they should be. TIP: Apply a little cutting oil to the uniformer with a Q Tip when uniforming brand new brass and you will be able to hold it in your hand.

After firing, I use the primer pocket uniformer to clean out the primer pockets. Case tumblers just won't clean the primer pockets. Here is a picture of a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer and a hand crack like Rick and Hawkeye use. I prefer to use mine chucked up in my cordless drill.

The forster (like mentioned above) is how I roll, too.... Don

ulen: How important is it? Critical, but only if you want all the accuracy you can get out of a given case in that rifle. Also important to deburr the flash hole, but again, only if you want peak accuracy. Any reloaded case will go "bang", but if you want to get all those bullets as close to the same hole in your target, then both of these steps are quite important for consistency (read: accuracy).

Here's my setup as mentioned by Skipper and huntsman. The black you see in the tray is carbon from running fired cases through the uniformer. It removes the carbon, and usually a tiny amount of brass each time, as brass moves about and flows under the pressure of the firing event.



Russ Haydon's Shooting Supply in Gig Harbor, WA sells .20 caliber flash hole deburring tools from K&M, another very good maker of precision reloading tools. I put an RCBS screwdriver handle on mine to make it more comfortable, and perform better.

Here's some cases that have been uniformed. You can see how fresh and shiny the primer pockets are. The other cases have had Federal 205 Match primers seated to the proper depth. As Skipper noted, many times in the past when seating primers in brand new cases from the factory, the primers were up to .004" higher than the case! Completely unacceptable! (And dangerous to boot.... Sorry for the low quality photo)



Although primative by Skipper's standards, here is my setup for flash hole deburring below. I wrapped a substantial amount of masking tape around the handle of my K&M 22 caliber deburring tool for comfort. I know a power drive would speed things up, but I prefer to be able to feel the cutting action in the bottom of the case....just a personal preference. That's an adjustable Pana-Vise with Delrin padded jaws, deburring virgin 22 Hornet cases prior to forming to either "K" or Ackley configuration.



The bottom line: make your cases as close to perfect and consistant as possible....IF you want the best possible accuracy out of that case in your rifle.

I havent been posting much lately but this post brings back a lot of memories. Skipper and Rick, and some others, were telling me to do this 2 years ago!

I use my uniformer in a cordless drill and have the sinclair deburring tool, funnily enough. wonder where i got that advice from

I am still awaiting my new 204 and a couple of competition rifles but i entered a varmint rifle class shoot at the weekend and won with my 223. Lapua brass (virgin) but pockets uniformed! Projectiles seated with the Redding Die Skipper and Rick (and others) told me to get way back then!

Great place to learn, this forum!

Way to go Trevort. You tear 'em up over there. It won't be long and we'll be reading about you in the Benchrest News.

Congrats Trevor! We knew you were an astute lad! Keep up the good work. It sure gives a good feeling to see those 'bughole' groups doesn't it?

good info on here!!

trevort way to go and yes your right there is alot of help to be had here. I only hope that some of the questons I ask are not taken as this guy is a complete idiot (LOL). I am going to invest in the tools mentioned by Rick and Skipper but they will have to wait till spring I run heavy equipment and in the winter time in Minnesota that is not a profitable occupation (thank god for unemployment lol), although that has given me alot of time for shooting and finding a decent load for my CZ 527 Varmint in 204, when the weather is'nt so blasted cold out. Thanks agian for all the info everybody has given me. Till then I will have to be content with the RCBS primer pocket tool I have now. Rick a.k.a. Ulen MN

if you wanna read some stupid questions, try finding my posts fro 2 years ago!