Question on Hornady Brass and Priming

[runshort]

Recently had a long time friend stop by and asked if I would reload a couple boxes of ammo for him. He had some factory Hornady brass in .223 Rem. and some .308 Win. also in Hornady. He had saved the fired brass from this past year and was having problems finding any more. We don't reload for other people mainly because of the liability thing but thought what the heck. I already load for these calibers and had components at hand.
We started out with our normal case prep routine full length resizing, deburring, case length. etc.
Started with the .308 Win first and got out a box of Fed. 210 primers and filled the tray on the RCBS hand priming tool we use and got started. Primer would not go into the pocket. We tried about 8 to 10 more cases with the same results so we pulled the priming tool apart to see if something was wrong and it seemed to be working properly. Switched to a box of CCI 200 primers thinking maybe a different brand would work, but ended up with the same results again. Starting to pull hair out now.
That was this past weekend so today we got the .223 Hornady brass out and started over with the same case prep. Changed out the hand priming tool to accept the small rifle primer got started. First case primer wont go in the pocket. Tried 6-8 more cases with the same results. Pulling out more hair.
Started looking at the Hornady case heads and noticed that there seems to be a double step on the edge before you go down into the primer pocket itself. Looking at the Winchester, Lapua, and Remington brass I have on hand I do not see that double step on the edge like the Hornady brass has. I might add this is the first time for reloading Hornady brass. We would appreciate input from other members here that could tell me what I'm doing wrong or there experiences with this brand of brass.
Thanks

 

[Gunpoor]

These cases need to have a primer swage tool used on them to get rid of the primer crimp. That is the only way to get new primers in them. Most hornady ammo does not use crimped primers but unfortunately your friend has some that are basically mil-spec.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

These cases need to have a primer swage tool used on them to get rid of the primer crimp. That is the only way to get new primers in them. Most hornady ammo does not use crimped primers but unfortunately your friend has some that are basically mil-spec.

Agreed. I just use a pocket uniform tool and it seems to work OK. Primers go in a little tight first go around and are find after that.

 

[runshort]

Gunpoor-MontanaRifleman

Thanks for the reply.
We already tried the primer pocket uniformer without any luck.
How does a primer swage tool work and where can you find one.
Seems to be really hard to find brass and other components right now so I really hate to just chunk the stuff.

 

[westcliffe01]

Hornady started crimping the primers on their superformance ammo at some point. I know the first I bought was not crimped and later batches were.

You can actually remove the tight spot using the chamfering tool provided by Hornady in their reloading kit or get a proper primer pocket reamer. I have bought a swaging tool, but I did not find it to be satisfactory on the 308 brass (LC) I tried it on, so I stopped using it. My swaging tool did not open the entry into the pocket sufficiently and so starting the primers was a bear.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Gunpoor-MontanaRifleman

Thanks for the reply.
We already tried the primer pocket uniformer without any luck.
How does a primer swage tool work and where can you find one.
Seems to be really hard to find brass and other components right now so I really hate to just chunk the stuff.

Here are a couple of pocket reamer options.

WILSON PRIMER POCKET REAMERS | Sinclair Intl

Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer Tool Large

Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer Tool Small

Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer Package

 

[reeldawg]

I had the same issues with Hornady .308 match brass. I had a good source for it. Fortunately my source changed brands. I went through the exact process with the primers as well.

 

[runshort]

Hornady started crimping the primers on their superformance ammo at some point. I know the first I bought was not crimped and later batches were.

You can actually remove the tight spot using the chamfering tool provided by Hornady in their reloading kit or get a proper primer pocket reamer. I have bought a swaging tool, but I did not find it to be satisfactory on the 308 brass (LC) I tried it on, so I stopped using it. My swaging tool did not open the entry into the pocket sufficiently and so starting the primers was a bear.

The chamfering tool worked well enough to seat primers. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Same issues with some hdy 44 mag brass some chap gave me at the range last year for helping him with a rifle issue; got it home and wth, no go on a primer. Take a closer look and the stuff's crimped.... who crimps 44mag primers????? The pockets are also very shallow and the cases are a bit short (I think they had flex-tips in them).