What do you use to clean primer pockets?

Carlos88 said:

Title says it all. Do it by hand? Use electrons?

I started reloading by cleaning primer pockets for Dad about 1965. He used a small Grace hollow ground screwdriver. The handle is placed in the palm of the hand. Index finger on the stem. A quick turn of the wrist and carbon comes right out. It may not look pretty but it does short work of the chore.

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I used to use my son, but he moved out! SOL now. Lyman hand tool

There are 2 kinds of Lyman primer cleaning tools.One will take too muck material out if not careful but the Lyman pocket correction tool works great.
Amazon.com won't let me post the link as it just shows an A.
Impossible to ruin pockets with the correction tool and a great handle too.

Lincoln Hawk said:

Whoever promoted the K&M primer pocket correction tool.... kudos to you fellas. I'm new to reloading, and have been using a Lyman case prep multi-tool to clean out primer pockets. It did OK, but after 3x of Lapua 308 win. about 1/4 of the primers wouldn't seat properly (not deep enough). With an electric drill and the K&M tool, the pockets are as clean as ever. Thanks for the recommendations, folks!!

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All I've ever used is a Cheap knock off dremel tool from Harbor Freight
And a small bronze coated brush
The most important thing is the Harbor Freight rotary tool is extremely weak
So if you push it to hard or just bogs down and stops
I get the brushes off eBay for a few bucks a dozen
They look like small rotary brushes to put the spiral circles on a truck tool box except they are only 1/4 inch big around
They work great for me
I Load everything from 223 to 375 H&H

The best cleaner ever. I DONT EVER UNIFORM, CLEAN, OR DO ANYTHING OTHER THEN STICK A NEW PRIMER IN IT.

Cheap screwdriver that I ground the sides down to fit.

A primer go/ no go tool / gauge for large and small is a great help for primer fit

The answer is easy, ultrasonic cleaner does it all for you no probs.

Csbc4fun said:

Reloading is all about what not to do. Messing with primer pockets is causing damage to the brass and is not necessary.

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Then a good exercise for this creedo would be to "not" give advice outside of your base of knowledge like this...

I quit cleaning pockets 4-5 yrs ago and have not noticed any difference, one less P.I.A step.
I also really never try get more than 5 firings from brass, so we have that.
Lately I have been transferring BR size cases from rifle to rifle, and see one batch that may need it after 9 firings and I will go against all better judgement and sonic clean it. My sonic unit not the garden variety and my mix of Citrinox and Alconox really dries my brass out, I just need to polish tumble it pretty heavy and fire it once to get back to where it was.

Sinclair primer pocket uniformer.

Just a quick brush and done.

Old rooster said:

There are 2 kinds of Lyman primer cleaning tools.One will take too muck material out if not careful but the Lyman pocket correction tool works great.
Amazon.com won't let me post the link as it just shows an A.
Impossible to ruin pockets with the correction tool and a great handle too.

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Primer pocket uniformers usually are set from factory so those are safe unless someone resets them. But they are more expensive so I save those just for uniforming primer pockets. Otherwise I use eighter the Hornady or RCBS primer pocket cleaners. Getting them clean helps with seating depth and more reliable and consistent ignition. If the primers seat out exposed then it could become a safety issue.

Chas1 said:

Sinclair primer pocket uniformer.

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This x 1000. Primer pockets do become shallower with time and multiple firings. I use this initially and then down the line after a couple firings. They are solid carbide and will last a lifetime. MOST important for cases loaded for use in gas guns like Garand, M1a, AR, etc.

Clean primer pockets?!?