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Posted: 2/4/2011 8:25:09 AM EDT
| I'm starting to reload for 5.56 and .308 and I have a lot of military cases with the crimped primer pockets. I have looked at several different tools and I was wondering if the RCBS pocket swager works well. I have a Lee classic turret press and a lee hand press that I am currently using. I was thinking of using the hand press to resize and then swage brass while watching TV etc. Has anybody used this tool? Any idea if it would work well with the presses that I have? Are there any other tools out there around the same price ($20-40) that work better? |
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I've used one for the last twenty years or so, done tens of thousands of cases with it; it works, but it's work.
you pop the case off the swager button on the downstroke and sometimes the cases stick so even with a bench mounted press you got to pop the handle to knock some cases off. the way I found to be the easiest is I use frankfort arsenal or dillon spray lube on the cases to size/deprime, then I leave the lube on when I swage the pockets, then tumble off (another way if you don't spray the cases is to put a little lube on the button every twenty cases or so). one thing is, if you size the cases (instead of just decapping) before you swage, then you need to polish/size down the 22 cal mandel a bit so that it fits into the sized case mouth, plus if you don't adjust the mandrel correctly they bend, they'll still work, but not as well. |
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I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. I was working on military crimps with a Hornady Reamer chucked in a drill press for a long time and I decided I wanted out because it was hurting my fingers to work through 100+ pieces of brass in one sitting.
I came on this forum, and a member near me loaned me their RCBS Swage Kit to try out. After doing about 20 rounds on it (.223), I found that it was just too slow for bulk processing. Much slower than what I could do with a reamer. However, I never did experience the stuck case problem that some people mention. In the end, I caved in and bought the Dillon Super Swage 600 for $95 off of Graf's. Probably the best decision ever... Super fast, no stuck cases, and nice uniform swaging of the primer pocket. I might catch some flak for this, but I've found that a lot of brands of brass (Hornady, PMC, LC, Fed) have the same swaging depth requirements, and I don't need to change the swaging rod depth between these types of brass. Finocchi seems to be the only brand that requires an adjustment of the swaging rod. |
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Quoted:
I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. I was working on military crimps with a Hornady Reamer chucked in a drill press for a long time and I decided I wanted out because it was hurting my fingers to work through 100+ pieces of brass in one sitting. I came on this forum, and a member near me loaned me their RCBS Swage Kit to try out. After doing about 20 rounds on it (.223), I found that it was just too slow for bulk processing. Much slower than what I could do with a reamer. However, I never did experience the stuck case problem that some people mention. In the end, I caved in and bought the Dillon Super Swage 600 for $95 off of Graf's. Probably the best decision ever... Super fast, no stuck cases, and nice uniform swaging of the primer pocket. I might catch some flak for this, but I've found that a lot of brands of brass (Hornady, PMC, LC, Fed) have the same swaging depth requirements, and I don't need to change the swaging rod depth between these types of brass. Finocchi seems to be the only brand that requires an adjustment of the swaging rod. I am planning to buy a Dillon 600 and set it up like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaZHeSUqQbk Dane |
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Especially if you plan to do this while watching tv. Pay the extra money and get the dillon. I am not a big advocate of dillon products but his one is great.
Mount it to a board that sits across your lap. Put unswaged brass on one side of you, and swaged brass on the other side. You can do HUNDREDS in an evening. Just dont get color blind in the process. |
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Quoted:
The RCBS swager works fine, but do note that the cup that pops the brass of the swager will not fit over the ram on the Classic Turret press. You'll have to pull them off by hand and it makes your fingers really sore after a while. Classic Turret = no (or you have to make a bigger dia cup to work) Lee handheld press = no (not enough space between ram and frame) Lee Turret = yes it will work on this one (smaller dia ram) I use the rcbs swager alot. Sort by Headstamp! |
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Quoted:
In the end, I caved in and bought the Dillon Super Swage 600 for $95 off of Graf's. Probably the best decision ever... Super fast, no stuck cases, and nice uniform swaging of the primer pocket. I might catch some flak for this, but I've found that a lot of brands of brass (Hornady, PMC, LC, Fed) have the same swaging depth requirements, and I don't need to change the swaging rod depth between these types of brass. Finocchi seems to be the only brand that requires an adjustment of the swaging rod. For 16 years I used the Hornady reamer, first by hand, then in a RCBS Trim Mate. This Christmas, I got a Dillon and just looking at it sitting in its box, made my fingers and hands feel better! I've yet to 'hook' it up, but I can't wait to use it. Chris |
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Quoted:
Is there any reason why there couldn't be a shell holder and cutter made for a giraud to ream pockets? The Giraud indexes off the case shoulder when trimming. Probably the best person to ask that question to is Doug. I think he keeps pretty busy making his trimmers. |
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I understand it would take a completely different shell holder for the Giraud. It would have to be relatively caliber specific, IE, anything in the 223 case head family. It wouldn't be completely precise due to the fact that the only positive contact you'd have is the case head sitting against the shell holder. But it'd still have to be more precise than using a cutter on the trim mate like I'm doing now. You'd still be able to set the cutting depth just like you do for the case mouth by running the shell holder in or out.
I did ask him shortly after I bought my trimmer but never got a response. |
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