S&B .38 Special, tight primer pockets

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DanK3Pos

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Oct 20, 2019
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I've got a lot of once fired S&B .38 Special range brass. Originally I tried loading it on my progressive, but I was having too much trouble with crushed primers. Well, I tried again this morning, but hand priming with an RCBS universal priming tool this time. I can easily feel the primer lining up with the primer pocket and I seat the primer, with the results you can see in the picture below. I did try reaming the primer pocket on the cartridge second from the left. It made no difference. Not the first time I had tried reaming the primer pockets, but it was the first time using this priming tool.

Oh, by the way, yes, I've tried different primers. I actually was finally able to acquire some S&B primers and I thought that would certainly be the solution, but no joy. The primers in the picture are S&B.

I'm ready to scrap this brass. I'm tired of wasting primers and time on it. And I really don't want one going 'bang' while I'm hand priming.

This is a lot of brass. Has to be more than 1,000 pieces.

Any suggestions?

PXL_20231216_144809541.jpg
 
DanK3Pos said:
I've got a lot of once fired S&B .38 Special range brass. Originally I tried loading it on my progressive, but I was having too much trouble with crushed primers. Well, I tried again this morning, but hand priming with an RCBS universal priming tool this time. I can easily feel the primer lining up with the primer pocket and I seat the primer, with the results you can see in the picture below. I did try reaming the primer pocket on the cartridge second from the left. It made no difference. Not the first time I had tried reaming the primer pockets, but it was the first time using this priming tool.

Oh, by the way, yes, I've tried different primers. I actually was finally able to acquire some S&B primers and I thought that would certainly be the solution, but no joy. The primers in the picture are S&B.

I'm ready to scrap this brass. I'm tired of wasting primers and time on it. And I really don't want one going 'bang' while I'm hand priming.

This is a lot of brass. Has to be more than 1,000 pieces.

Any suggestions?

View attachment 1184763
Click to expand...
They are not crimped but they have no chamfer on the primer pocket. This is one of the many times I love my rcbs military crimp remover. I give it a twist or two and they prime as easy as the rest. S and B was the primary ammunition sold at my previous range so I have collected and dealt with buckets of it.
 
All S&B brass has tight primer pockets, in my experience. I got used to it and have few issues with it anymore.
 
DanK3Pos said:
This is a lot of brass. Has to be more than 1,000 pieces.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

There are many here that will say it is perfectly fine for reloading. Like you, I don't care for it. (although, I have found the 9mm and 45ACP cases to be more accepting)
I would suggest seeking one of them out and make a trade...
 
I have some .45acp casings that I had to cull from other once fired by me brass.
No love from the 650 for them so I set them aside.
 
Thanks for bringing this up. I have quite a bit of S&B .38 brass, but haven't gotten around to trying to load it yet.

Most of my experience with S&B brass has been with 9mm. I usually sort it out and group it with any military cases in the batch I'm sorting. Just as routine, I swage these cases before loading. Haven't encountered any issues...and I'm using Ginex metric primers in them.

I'll remember to run the S&B .38Spl cases through the Lee APP swager before I try priming them
 
I just did about 100 S&B .38 Special and the primer pockets were a bit tight, tighter than the other .38 brass I was loading at the same time. My check tool started in the pockets and that is close enough for me. I found I had to use more finess making sure the primer was started in the pocket correctly with limited force, and then seat it - I'm doing this on press so - it is really easy to put too much force into it. It was a bit annoying to hold the press arm and keep moving the case a little until I could tell it was started, and then the force required to seat it was a bit more than the other headstamps, but not crazy and I was doing several, Magech, Winchester, other not sure, but several. So, yea - for whatever reason the S&B pockets are a bit tighter, maybe the cases will last longer ...
 
Targa said:
That much brass I would consider a primer pocket swaging tool and just run the brass through it before a reloading session. I have thought about one from RCBS.
Click to expand...
I've got the one from RCBS, the PRIMER POCKET SWAGER COMBO-2, which looks like a die. I haven't thought to try it for this brass, though. I can go throw it in the single stage and give it a shot, I guess.
 
film495 said:
I just did about 100 S&B .38 Special and the primer pockets were a bit tight, tighter than the other .38 brass I was loading at the same time. My check tool started in the pockets and that is close enough for me. I found I had to use more finess making sure the primer was started in the pocket correctly with limited force, and then seat it - I'm doing this on press so - it is really easy to put too much force into it. It was a bit annoying to hold the press arm and keep moving the case a little until I could tell it was started, and then the force required to seat it was a bit more than the other headstamps, but not crazy and I was doing several, Magech, Winchester, other not sure, but several. So, yea - for whatever reason the S&B pockets are a bit tighter, maybe the cases will last longer ...
Click to expand...
My primer pocket check tool would start after reaming, but it would not fully seat. It was the same with the hand primer, I had to apply gentle pressure and wiggle it around to get it started correctly.
 
One turn of a countersink would be fine, unless your just dying to spend money just to spend... why not spend 200 on the Dillon super swager because sending good money after bad is the way. Free is the right choice here....
 
I have several dozen each of S&B 9mm and 38/357 brass that I’ve had same issue with. They are all in the oddball brass can.
 
Reeferman said:
I have several dozen each of S&B 9mm and 38/357 brass that I’ve had same issue with. They are all in the oddball brass can.
Click to expand...
Fiocchi and S&B, both in .38Spl work just a little easier in the FA hand primer tool after a quick twist from the Lyman’s pocket uniforming tool. Yes, I know it removes material. No, I don’t care. Yes, I know all about reaming, countersinking, tooling and the like. No, I don’t really need to be told again. Been there. Done that. Tossed the T-Shirt in the rag bin.
 
dartor said:
I have tried reloading S&B brass with their tight primer pockets. Found they're not worth my time. They take up space in my scrap bucket.
Click to expand...
Not to be rude or anything but, you could always send them to me. 😁
I’ll reimburse you for the shipping.
Primer pockets aside, it’s really good brass, especially for shooting 9mm (.355”) bullets in a .38Spl.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Not to be rude or anything but, you could always send them to me. 😁
I’ll reimburse you for the shipping.
Primer pockets aside, it’s really good brass, especially for shooting 9mm (.355”) bullets in a .38Spl.
Click to expand...
Shoot me a PM with the calibers you need (rifle and handgun, I don't save any of it. I'll start setting it aside for you. I'm able to gather a five gallon bucket of brass every weekend. Not all S&B, of course.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Fiocchi and S&B, both in .38Spl work just a little easier in the FA hand primer tool after a quick twist from the Lyman’s pocket uniforming tool. Yes, I know it removes material. No, I don’t care. Yes, I know all about reaming, countersinking, tooling and the like. No, I don’t really need to be told again. Been there. Done that. Tossed the T-Shirt in the rag bin.
Click to expand...
Preach it brother!
 
What a coincidence! I am right in the middle of processing a bunch of 38 spl brass. I don't discriminate and run a uniformer through all pockets:
20231216_093514.jpg 20231216_092816.jpg 20231216_092828.jpg 20231216_092456.jpg

That should solve the problem. And, as one poster has mentioned, it is a one-and-done proposition.

I also trim all to min length (done yesterday and friday), chamfer in and out, deburr the flash hole and run an .080" drill bit through the flash hole.

I plan on shooting a lot of 148 hbwc out of my revolvers in the foreseeable future and like em as accurate as possible.

luck,

murf

more pics:

20231216_093550.jpg 20231216_092527.jpg 20231216_093210.jpg 20231216_095544.jpg 20231216_093233.jpg
 
murf said:
What a coincidence! I am right in the middle of processing a bunch of 38 spl brass. I don't discriminate and run a uniformer through all pockets:
View attachment 1184848View attachment 1184849View attachment 1184850 View attachment 1184857

That should solve the problem. And, as one poster has mentioned, it is a one-and-done proposition.

I also trim all to min length (done yesterday and friday), chamfer in and out, deburr the flash hole and run an .080" drill bit through the flash hole.

I plan on shooting a lot of 148 hbwc out of my revolvers in the foreseeable future and like em as accurate as possible.

luck,

murf

more pics:

View attachment 1184852View attachment 1184853View attachment 1184854View attachment 1184855View attachment 1184856
Click to expand...
Three pounds of Bullseye, st 2.8 grains that's like a lifetime supply.
 
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