Primer Seating in Progressive Press

First topic message reminder :

I took my S&W Model 14 to the range today, shooting some of my rather old reloads, and then my new reloads in Starline Cases.  All the new ammo worked perfectly, but two of the older rounds loaded ok, but the cylinder "tightened up" as it rotated to get the next round in place.

A friend of mine sitting next to me has had the same problem - his revolver has practically zero space at the forcing cone, and if one of his primers isn't perfectly pressed into the case, the cylinder "binds" like mine does.

Sitting those two rounds on a flat surface, it was obvious that the primer was not flush with the bottom of the case, but the case barely rocked back and forth.  I've never had this problem with any of my other guns, but the Model 14 apparently has tighter tolerances.


As we discussed this after shooting for a few hours, the answer seemed to be pretty clear - the primer wasn't seated all the way.  The group suggested that I remove the primers before or after cleaning, then use my S&W "pocket brush" to clean out the opening.

This also got me thinking to a previous discussion I had about setting up my reloading press.  The press has a screw and lock nut that can limit the travel of the press on the "up-stroke" to seat the primer - or, I can loosen that up and seat the primers by "feel".


I haven't done anything yet - when I first got the RCBS Pro2000 press, I selected seating the primers by "feel", and never had a problem.  I suspect I should loosen the travel stop, and just do this by feel, like I used to.

(I asked about cleaning primer pockets long ago, and the responses were that it wasn't necessary.)

(I don't like the idea of cleaning after removing the primer, with the remote chance that the hole in the case could be plugged with media, and I might not catch it.)

I suspect that with the my new Starline brass, this won't be an issue.

So, my question - for those of you doing something similar, to you seat your primers by "feel", or with a mechanical stop for seating depth?  The last sentence of the instructions is what I think I should do again......

james r chapman wrote:......
2.5 Bullseye blows up model 14’s all the time under 148 gr HBWC’s
.....

Are you serious?
I was told the Model 14 could use the same rounds that were loaded for a Model 50, 2.8 grains of WST or Bullseye.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/420183-38-special-loads-model-14-target-masterpiece.html

Even new Starline brass can have charred residue in the corner of the primer pockets after their first firing. So common sense tells me that it's possible for primers to not seat to their proper depth especially if you clean without de-priming first. Every now and then I uniform the pockets. I have a uniformer mounted on a small DC motor spinning at about 60 rpm and it is a very quick process (about 1000/hr)...and surprising to see what falls out. Builds grip strength too!

I just set up a new Lee Load-master for 9mm, .45, and .223. It has a somewhat "failsafe" design where the indexer bar locks up if you don't make a complete ram cycle.

Mike:  The primer system on the 1050 is at the back of the press and that helps.  What also helps is the fact that the priming function is done when the toolhead is down.  I’m not sure why but it seems the 1050 system has fewer issues.

mikemyers wrote:

james r chapman wrote:......
2.5 Bullseye blows up model 14’s all the time under 148 gr HBWC’s
.....

Are you serious?
I was told the Model 14 could use the same rounds that were loaded for a Model 50, 2.8 grains of WST or Bullseye.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/420183-38-special-loads-model-14-target-masterpiece.html

No Mike, it’s just something that’s been spread around with no known repeatable examples.
Kinda like primer tube detonations. Yes they both happen about the same frequency

james r chapman wrote:

mikemyers wrote:

james r chapman wrote:......
2.5 Bullseye blows up model 14’s all the time under 148 gr HBWC’s
.....

Are you serious?
I was told the Model 14 could use the same rounds that were loaded for a Model 50, 2.8 grains of WST or Bullseye.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/420183-38-special-loads-model-14-target-masterpiece.html

No Mike, it’s just something that’s been spread around with no known repeatable examples.
Kinda like primer tube detonations. Yes they both happen about the same frequency

Know what happens with a frequency of exactly zero? APS primer strip detonations. 

Everything is risk management. Some day the Pro2000 won't do it for me any more, and I'll buy a 1050 or one of those snazzy Mark7 presses. And I'll use primer tubes, and I'll have to see about what I can do to mitigate that risk. But I'll still wish the APS system hadn't died out, because it's simply superior to tubes.

Kinda like VHS and Beta ... the best standard doesn't always win. 

If you go with a 1050 and automate it, you don’t need to use tubes.

https://youtu.be/a6zLCPynZmQ

Ouch!  I loved Beta, and even bought an ED-Beta deck when it came out - but the drive belt broke, and nobody can fix it.  Now it's just a big fancy expensive and heavy paperweight.  But it captured video at 400 lines resolution, when VHS was  240 if my memory is right.  I bought an S-VHS camcorder, and used that all over the world.

I have no desire to buy a Dillon.  The Hornady looks like a reasonable choice, but it too has an aluminum frame.  The Pro2000 is cast iron, like my Big Max A1.  


As to "primer tube detonations", I've read about them far too often, just in this forum.  Doing a Google search found lots of posts and discussions.  

Until the next time someone posts a Star Reloader for sale in this forum, I think I'll forget about all this.  That's happened twice before, and maybe I should have acted on it.  I think there is a company somewhere that goes through the old machines and makes them like new again, but I'm scared to even search for this place.  In the meantime, I'm happy with what I've got.

I don't care to work with dirty brass. The cases that I pick up at the range for reloading are tumbled with stainless media, water and car detergent. After drying they are ready to be resized and de primed in two stages. Then they are ready to be tumbled again with the stainless media, car detergent, a little dishwasher detergent and lemishine. I'll tumble this time for at least two hours. The longer the shinier BUT also the more likely to have media stuck in a few case primer holes. This second cleaning is mostly for the primer pockets and there is a lot of dirt in the wash water. Now, with shiny brass and primer pockets the rest of the reloading process is lot more satisfying and less wear on the dies.
Involved process but I don't let fired cases build up so am working with only two or three hundred at most at a time.