Reloading Equipment III (Case Preparation)

Case Trimmer

As cases are fired and resized, they will stretch and grow longer. The excess length of the case has only one direction to go and that is out the neck, so cases need to have their necks trimmed occasionally to keep the total case length within safe limits. A case that is too long will extend too far into the chamber of a rifle and effectively be crimped between the bullet and the chamber wall which will in turn create a pressure spike higher than the same load would with a case of the proper length. How much a case stretches is largely dependent on the case design and the pressure of the load. In general, high velocity, tapered, bottleneck cartridges will stretch their cases faster than low pressure, straight walled cartridges.  Some cartridges will never need trimming while others may need to be trimmed between each loading/firing. It is important to measure your cases after resizing and trim the whole batch if you find any that are over length.

There are a variety of different case trimmers available ranging from simple trim dies to electrically powered miniature lathes. The most common type of case trimmer resembles a miniature lathe. One end of the trimmer holds the case by its base while the other end holds a sharp cutting head. On some trimmers, the case rotates while the cutter remains stationary while on others the opposite is true. Trimmers are adjustable to accommodate a wide range of cases and trim lengths. Once the trimmer is set up, it will trim all of the cases to the same length.

Most case trimmers are manually powered by hand, but some feature electric motors to make the process quicker and easier. Many manual trimmers come with an adapter that allows them to be powered by a cordless drill or screwdriver. Whether you choose a manual or powered trimmer will be dictated by your preference and how many cases you need to trim at a time.

Deburring Tool

After cases have been trimmed, the mouth will be cut square leaving sharp burrs on the inside and outside of the case mouth. These burrs need to be removed so that they don’t shave the bullet as it is seated, or hang up on the inside of the seating die or the rifle’s chamber. A deburring tool is a simple hand-held cutter that removes the burr and slightly chamfers the inside and outside of the case mouth. The simplest and least expensive deburring tools are used by hand, but manually cranked and motor-driven deburring tools are available. As with a case trimmer, the type of deburring tool you choose will be determined by the number of cases you need to deburr at one time.

Primer Pocket Cleaner

A primer pocket cleaning tool uses a brush or sharp head to manually scrape residue from primer pockets after they have been deprimed. As with trimmers and deburring tools, there are both manual and powered primer pocket cleaning tools available. Some reloaders believe that it is important to clean primer pockets between loadings, while some do it once every few loadings and others don’t do it at all. The common thinking is that cleaning the residue from primer pockets helps the primers to seat better and more consistently. It is also thought to improve accuracy. Many reloaders clean rifle cartridge primer pockets, but don’t clean primer pockets in handgun cases. Whether you choose to clean your primer pockets or not is up to you.

Case Neck Brush

Before resizing cases, it is a good idea to clean out the inside of the case neck. This is easily accomplished by the use of a case neck brush. Running a brush in and out of the case neck a few times will remove any excess powder residue or cleaning media that is left in the case neck. There are nylon brushes made specifically for this purpose, but the same result can be achieved, perhaps even better, by using a bore brush of the same caliber that you are loading. Case neck brushes can be operated by hand, used with a powered tool, or chucked in a drill and powered by the drill.

Case Tumbler

Cleaning cases between loadings is an important step in the reloading process. Clean cases resize easier and function in firearms more smoothly. Only running clean cases into your dies will greatly enhance the longevity of your dies and help to prevent cases from getting stuck. There are a variety of ways to clean fired cases, but by far the most common is to tumble them with cleaning media in a vibratory case cleaner. Vibratory case cleaners, commonly called “tumblers,” consist of a plastic bowl with lid mounted on top of an electric motor. Cleaning media, such as ground corncobs or ground walnut shells, is placed in the bowl of the tumbler along with the brass to be cleaned. The motor then shakes the bowl in such a way that the cases and media are turned over and over which allows the media to scrub the cases clean. Depending on how dirty the cases are, cleaning in a tumbler can take anywhere from a half hour to several hours. One of the nicest things about a tumbler is that once you fill it up and turn it on, you can simply walk away and let it do its job. Various types of dry or liquid polish can also be added to the tumbling media which will speed up the process as well as make the cases extra clean and shiny. Cases need only be clean for proper function, but many loaders like to polish them simply for aesthetic reasons. After tumbling, cases can be removed from the media either by hand or through the use of a media separator which is similar to a colander and allows the media to fall out while keeping the cases inside. Once cases are separated from the media, they are immediately ready for reloading.

There are other ways to clean fired cases such as washing or cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner. These methods are effective as well, but the main drawback to “wet” case cleaning methods is that the cases must then be allowed to dry before they are ready for reloading. Decapping cases before using wet cleaning methods both allows the primer pockets to be cleaned as well as allowing them to dry out faster after cleaning.

Primer Pocket Uniforming Tool

A primer pocket uniforming tool is designed to re-cut the primer pocket in a piece of brass. Performing this operation to all of the cases in a batch of ammunition insures that they all have primer pockets of the same depth and dimensions. These tools consist of a sharp cutting head and a stop or shoulder which prevents them from cutting too deep. Primer pocket uniforming tools are sized specifically to one primer size, so a large rifle cutting head can only be used on cases using large rifle primers. Uniforming the primer pockets in your ammunition can decrease group size. Some reloaders use primer pocket uniforming tools to clean residue out of the primer pocket between firings. Once a primer pocket has been uniformed, it will remain that way for the life of the case.

Flash Hole Deburring Tool

The Flash hole is the hole that passes from the primer pocket, through the web, to the interior of the case. The flame from the primer travels through this hole to ignite the powder charge and fire the cartridge. When cases are manufactured, the flash hole is mechanically punched rather than being cut, so oftentimes the hole is rough with burrs around its edge. Any burrs that may partially obscure the flash hole can cause the primer to ignite the powder unevenly which can significantly influence group consistency and accuracy. A flash hole deburring tool is designed to be inserted down into a case where it will evenly cut and remove any burrs or rough spots from the flash hole. A flash hole deburring tool looks like a long thin screwdriver with a small cutting head on the end with an adjustable pilot stop on the shaft. The pilot stop serves two purposes as it centers the cutter in the case while also preventing it from cutting too deeply by stopping once it hits the case mouth. Due to the broad range of case lengths, the pilot stop must be set at the proper length for the cases you will be deburring before use. Some flash hole deburring tools feature a built in depth stop on the cutting head while others do not. Either way, the pilot will need to be adjusted. Flash hole deburring isn’t necessary to reloading safe and effective ammunition, but reloaders who seek to achieve the very highest levels of accuracy consider it a worthwhile step in the case preparation process. Unlike most other reloading operations, flash hole deburring only has to be performed once during the life of a case.

Case Lube

Case lube really isn’t a piece of equipment, but it is a definite necessity for reloading. Sizing cases, particularly full-length sizing, creates a lot of friction as a case is forced into the die by the ram of the press. Without sufficient lubrication, a case can become stuck in the die rendering it unusable until the stuck case can be removed. Case lube reduces the friction between the case and die so that cases can easily be run in and out of the die. There are a variety of case lubes available on the market which can be sprayed on, applied with fingers, or applied with the use of a case lube pad. Using liquid case lubes that aren’t of the aerosol spray type, requires the use of a lube pad. A lube pad is a dense pad to which lube is applied and then the cases to be lubricated are rolled across by hand. Which lube to use is a matter of personal preference and preferred application method. For lubing a large number of cases at once, spray lubes seem to be the quickest and most popular.

Click Here to continue on to Reloading Equipment part IV (Priming)