To swage or not to swage . .

[Texanreloader]

I don't use military brass, so is there any reason to have a swage tool?

 

[bullseye308]

You can swage the occasional piece of brass with a chamfer tool if necessary or even a knife.

 

[Nature Boy]

I don't use military brass, so is there any reason to have a swage tool?

I wouldn’t.

Keep in mind some commercial .223 and .308 is also *crimped but if you only come across it rarely you could either scrap those or use a Philips head screw driver and cut it out

*typed swaged meant crimped

 

[Varminterror]

As @Nature Boy pointed out, some 223 and 308 commercial brass will have crimp, but that doesn’t mean you can’t simply sell or trade those if you gain a substantial volume somehow.

The ONLY reason I own a swage kit is 1) it’s cheap and easy to have my 8yr old boy run a bunch through the Lee APP, and 2) I/we pick up several hundred range brass every year, which my boy processes and sells. Without those two things, I couldn’t be bothered to swage/ream.

 

[FROGO207]

All my new to me 223/308 brass are swaged wether needed or not. It is easier than looking to see. I use the CH4D swager on the top of my press and it takes no time at all in the scheme of things.

 

[entropy]

I don't use military brass, so is there any reason to have a swage tool?

Buy an RCBS (L.E. Wilson) chamfer/deburring tool; it's all you'll need for the occasional piece of brass. It's actually all I use, and I have swaged many .223 cases with them. I have two of them.

 

[Texanreloader]

Buy an RCBS (L.E. Wilson) chamfer/deburring tool; it's all you'll need for the occasional piece of brass. It's actually all I use, and I have swaged many .223 cases with them. I have two of them.

I have the Lyman’s Unique Case Prep Multi-Tool, works great.

 

[Austin Albright]

As @Nature Boy pointed out, some 223 and 308 commercial brass will have crimp, but that doesn’t mean you can’t simply sell or trade those if you gain a substantial volume somehow.

The ONLY reason I own a swage kit is 1) it’s cheap and easy to have my 8yr old boy run a bunch through the Lee APP, and 2) I/we pick up several hundred range brass every year, which my boy processes and sells. Without those two things, I couldn’t be bothered to swage/ream.

 

[Austin Albright]

Oh my gosh...slave labor dad.

 

[Varminterror]

Oh my gosh...slave labor dad.

He has insisted on dragging muddy brass home from every range trip we take together for years, regardless, and he wants to sell them, so he evolved an unproductive kid hobby into something relatively productive. He’s cleaning up our ranges and recycling brass back into the supply chain.

A lot easier work than stacking firewood or fixing fence, which he commonly gets roped into now that he’s large enough to be useful. He’s almost handy with a wrench these days too.

 

[AK Hunter]

These days even commercial ammo is coming in crimped.

 

[noylj]

Sometimes there is an over run of military cartridges produced and sold on civilian market. You can sewage or ream. I've used my chamfer tool, a slotted screwdriver, and a pocket knife. All worked well for rare occasions.

 

[kalielkslayer]

He has insisted on dragging muddy brass home from every range trip we take together for years, regardless, and he wants to sell them, so he evolved an unproductive kid hobby into something relatively productive. He’s cleaning up our ranges and recycling brass back into the supply chain.

A lot easier work than stacking firewood or fixing fence, which he commonly gets roped into now that he’s large enough to be useful. He’s almost handy with a wrench these days too.

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Raising him right. Self reliance is a great thing!!!

At 62 I’m still learning stuff I wish I was taught as a kid. But just learning the “how does this work, and how do I fix it” mindset is huge, and a confidence builder.

When others say “awe ****!” But you think “I got this” it’s a good thing!!!

 

[N555]

I'm finding a lot of range pickup 223/5.56 brass that has crimped or staked primers.
Probably 80% to 90% of what I find is crimped or staked.

 

[thump_rrr]

Every single reloading tool, press, die that I've purchased 10 years ago is worth much more now than it was then.
As long as you're not over paying or can get a deal on one I'd pick it up.
I have both the older RCBS primer pocket swager and the Dillon Super Swager

 

[mdi]

My first thought was, nope. Would you change a tire if it ain't flat? But I haven't found many commercial cases with primer crimps and 90% of my reloading has become handgun loading (occasionally/rarely a 9mm case I find is crimped)...

 

[eyeshot]

Always good to have those "pocket mechanics" around for those tight places. Two daughters, no such luck.

He has insisted on dragging muddy brass home from every range trip we take together for years, regardless, and he wants to sell them, so he evolved an unproductive kid hobby into something relatively productive. He’s cleaning up our ranges and recycling brass back into the supply chain.

A lot easier work than stacking firewood or fixing fence, which he commonly gets roped into now that he’s large enough to be useful. He’s almost handy with a wrench these days too.

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[Soonerpesek]

Always good to have those "pocket mechanics" around for those tight places. Two daughters, no such luck.

My two daughters, albeit grown women now, Have/had NO problem with diving in to any project..

 

[rocirish]

I have two daughters who are the same way.

My two daughters, albeit grown women now, Have/had NO problem with diving in to any project..

 

[redcon1]

I don't use military brass, so is there any reason to have a swage tool?

You may eventually need to use military brass.

 

[deadeye dick]

I have the Lyman’s Unique Case Prep Multi-Tool, works great.

Me too

 

[WestKentucky]

Always good to have those "pocket mechanics" around for those tight places. Two daughters, no such luck.

3 daughters. The least is not quite 2 yet. My girls have learned to fix stuff. The middle daughter is a bit prissy and doesn’t like to get dirty but will do it to fix her bike when the chain pops off. The oldest is 11 and is pretty handy. I gave her my first toolbox and a bunch of harbor freight and various other low end tools to put in it and she uses them regularly for her projects. She got a lathe 2 christmases ago and got decent with it before we moved. It’s still packed up somewhere but she will use it more when we find it.

 

[Austin Albright]

He has insisted on dragging muddy brass home from every range trip we take together for years, regardless, and he wants to sell them, so he evolved an unproductive kid hobby into something relatively productive. He’s cleaning up our ranges and recycling brass back into the supply chain.

A lot easier work than stacking firewood or fixing fence, which he commonly gets roped into now that he’s large enough to be useful. He’s almost handy with a wrench these days too.

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[Austin Albright]

My son never was interested in my shooting and reloading hobbies....my daughter on the other and used to sit on my lap pulling the handle on my old R.C.B.S. Jr. press. She was about 3 at the time. 34 now.
Kelli really likes to shoot some of the bigger calibers too. Her favorite is the old Ruger 3 screw 44 Super Blackhawk loaded with a H&G 240 grain lead cast bullet and 10 grain of Unique. That is about the only load that gun has fired since the 1970's.
She also likes my old series 70 1911 Colt in 45 acp. My friends remark on how well she shoots... makes old dad proud.
Seems like just yesterday she was a baby sleeping on dads chest on my Sunday afternoon nap.

 

[JEBruns]

The reason I upgraded from a Dillon 650 to an 1100 last summer was the swaging station. I was running into a lot of crimped 9mm brass during the pandemic. Now that I've gotten into 223/556 loading, I'm super glad I have the swaging station, as a lot of that brass is crimped. But if you don't get many of them and they don't hold you up reloading, probably not much sense getting into the swaging game.