Popping the old primer out doesn’t remove the crimp. If you try to put in another primer without taking care of that crimp, your primer might not sit properly, or it could damage the primer when inserting it. The key tenants of reloading are safety, consistency, and accuracy. Removing the military crimp on your 556 and other military brass is a vital way to accomplish that.
Hand Tool
If you can turn a screw driver, you can work the hand tool. It’s simple and doesn’t fail. I honestly think everyone should have a hand reamer or hand case prep tool on your reloading bench. This is simple, and time consuming, but it works. You’ll end up with really strong forearms if you’re trying to use this for big batches of 556 or 223 cartridges. It has the reamers and deburring tools for both large and small primers. It’s the most cost effective and simple solution. Is it the best solution? Goodness no. But its the least expensive, it works, and can lend itself to other more effective options that I’ll discuss below. This is the one I’ve had on my bench for years. It’s also the one my reloading mentor had on his bench.
Lyman Case Prep Multi Tool
RCBS Press Tool
This pushes out the primer pocket, but doesn’t cut material. This works most of the time, and there is no risk of enlarging the primer pocket. What can occur though is that the tool compresses some of the brass from the crimp in the primer pocket, meaning you’ll have either an uneven, or a primer that is not fully seated.
Some people like this option in a multistage press. The nice thing about this one is that its hard to mess up. You don’t really have to think at all about this one. You just crank that press and it does its job. If you like to zone out or watch a show while reloading, this is one that you may want to consider. There are probably other brands, other than RCBS that do this same thing. I personally don’t like this style. There are better, faster options, and I prefer to cut away the crimp rather than just to press it. That said, its fast, and it has a 4.7 star rating on Amazon, so there are plenty of people that do like it.
RCBS Primer Pocket Swager
Primer Pocket Hand Tool Bits in a Drill
The hand tool is inexpensive, and most people have a drill. It makes it into a power tool. It’s efficient and cost effective. To be frank though, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. The first time I did this, I would just grab the cartridge in my hand and then drill into the pocket. Doing the primer pocket this way I actually had the bit catch the cartridge and the case mouth sliced my hand. It might sound like I’m a bit of a clumsy person, but I’m not (he types with a Band-Aid on his hand and scars on his fingers). It’s just hard to maintain a grip like that for a lot of cases. I like to shoot a lot of 556, so I need to reload a lot of it. After 100 or so, my grip wasn’t as good. If it catches, the mouth of the case can slice the palm of your hand. It’s not fun. Trust me, its not fun.
I then put on a leather glove. It worked, and I didn’t get cut. It was hard to pick up the cases with the glove though. I would have one gloved hand and one ungloved hand. I would pick up the cartridge with the bare hand, put it in the gloved hand, ream the primer pocket, and drop it in the “finished” bin. Luckily, there’s a better way.
Putting the cases in a wooden jig
I stumbled across the video below when I was looking into different ways to remove the military crimp from my 556 brass. I had been just using a drill, but I was holding the case in my hand. I had considered clamping the case in a vise, but that would have taken way too long to individually clamp all those pieces of brass, and I was worried about deforming the brass in a vise. But, because the 556 cartridge is tapered, being .3772 at the primer end and .3543 before the neck, if you’ve got a hole that is somewhere between that size, you’ll be fine, and friction will keep the cartridge from spinning.
I’ve tried just about every way to remove the crimp, and this way is the quickest. It’s probably not the most precise, but I’m not going for extreme precision out of my 556 loads anyways.
Tips- I would strongly recommend using a good hardwood for this. I initially tested the drill bit size on a scrap piece of pine, just as a proof of concept, but it was too soft, and I could actually push the cartridge much further through the pine. I then tried some oak and it worked perfectly. It looks like in the video he ended up using a bit that was 23/64.
Now, there are some electronic case prep tools. I think these tools are a bit more precise, but I don’t actually think they’re faster. If you’re going for extreme precision, you’ll want one of these electronic case prep stations. If you’re wanting to pump out some plinking ammo, using the drill and the board is a bit faster, and when you’re reaming thousands of cases, a bit faster here and there really adds up over time.
Electronic Case Prep Tools
This is a convenient all in one tool. There’s still the chance to slice your hand, but its more precise than a hand drill usually, and you have more control. Additionally you can take care of your case mouth, not just your primer pocket. This is the precision convenient tool. The most popular tool on the market is the electronic case prep tool by Lyman. It has all the tools that can spin, so you’re not changing out your bits. It’s got about 5x the amount of reviews as the next most popular product, and the reviews are raving about this one.
Lyman Case Prep Xpress
Frankford Arsenal Case Prep System
RCBS Brass Boss Case Prep Center
Which Method of Removing the Military Crimp Should You Pick?
I like the Frankford case prep tool for an all around option. I prefer using the board jig for my 223 and 556 military crimps though. I am generally mass producing my 556 and the board is just faster. In fact, I just knocked out 150 cases right before I wrote this. I’m using it. It’s fast.
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