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Posted: 12/7/2008 11:11:19 AM EDT
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I made a real newbie mistake last week. I deprimed and resized about 50 .308 cases.
I didn't measure them and went ahead and primed them. I now realize they are too long and will need to be trimmed back. The primers are already in them. I have a lee case trimmer and the case guage goes into the primer hole. Any safe way to trim them after they are primed or should I just shoot the rounds with only the primers in them and start over? |
| To be completely safe, you could fire the primers and start over or you could deprime them with your press. Just push them out slow and make sure to wear safety glasses. There's a chance the primers might pop, but in the many I've done in the last 30 years, I've never had one go. |
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Quoted:
To be completely safe, you could fire the primers and start over or you could deprime them with your press. Just push them out slow and make sure to wear safety glasses. There's a chance the primers might pop, but in the many I've done in the last 30 years, I've never had one go. Make sure you add some heavy duty leather gloves to the equation and you should be okay just go slow. |
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If you punch the primers out, inspect each one to make sure the anvil is okay. If it's missing, toss the primer.
I wouldn't deprime unless you're using a LEE type trimmer. What I would do is trim, then either blow the shavings out of the case with compressed air or fish it out with a Q-tip, and check to make sure the flash hole is clear. A fuzzy Q-Tip will grab the loose pieces of brass and fish it right out. |
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Check It Out, Yo!
If you are using the Lee Trimmer, you must have the locking shell holder/drill chuck adapter. So chuck the case in a power drill, and take a file to them. You can take .010" off in a second. Yeah, they won't be even, some will be a couple thou longer or shorter, but they will shoot just fine. After firing, you can trim them properly to a consistent length. This will save you the hassle of depriming. |
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Quoted:
Check It Out, Yo! If you are using the Lee Trimmer, you must have the locking shell holder/drill chuck adapter. So chuck the case in a power drill, and take a file to them. You can take .010" off in a second. Yeah, they won't be even, some will be a couple thou longer or shorter, but they will shoot just fine. After firing, you can trim them properly to a consistent length. This will save you the hassle of depriming. I've done this a few times! |
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Quoted:
Check It Out, Yo! If you are using the Lee Trimmer, you must have the locking shell holder/drill chuck adapter. So chuck the case in a power drill, and take a file to them. You can take .010" off in a second. Yeah, they won't be even, some will be a couple thou longer or shorter, but they will shoot just fine. After firing, you can trim them properly to a consistent length. This will save you the hassle of depriming. Or instead of using a file. You could just remove the guide rod from the LEE trimmer and use the cutting head to take off that little bit. If you go this route, I'd go slowly, taking a small amount off then measuring and repeating as neccessary until I got right to that length. 
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You could fire them off then de-prime. You could also just de-prime then inspect the primers. They aren't THAT expensive. That's probably about $2.00 at most worth of primers. Reuse them if you think its worth it.
If you aren't going to go through firing all of those primers just wear a glove for the press hand and some safety glasses when you de-prime. Keep your other hand clear when pressing. The real dangers in primers are when your hands are real close when you're de-priming or when they are in the box with the other 99 or 999 primers. One going off could set all of the others off hurting you. One primer going off with the proper protective gear will be just fine. Your ears just might ring for a bit. |
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