Shallow Primer Pockets

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Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Wm.Traynor » 29 Aug 2021, 2:50 pm

Is there a tool that deepens primer pockets? The Winchester cases of mine are barely deep enough for the primer to sit flush with the head, let alone "just below", as my manual says. The rifle functions and performs perfectly OK. Call me pedantic but they aren't supposed to be so shallow and I would like to fix it.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Apollo » 29 Aug 2021, 2:58 pm

Yes, a Primer Pocket Uniformer. They are set to an industry standard cutting depth BUT have no cutter on the side so do not enlarge the diameter.

https://www.brtshooterssupply.com.au/pr ... uniformer/

Also useful cleaning the crud out of dirty fired pockets.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by bladeracer » 29 Aug 2021, 3:29 pm

Apollo wrote:Yes, a Primer Pocket Uniformer. They are set to an industry standard cutting depth BUT have no cutter on the side so do not enlarge the diameter.

https://www.brtshooterssupply.com.au/pr ... uniformer/

Also useful cleaning the crud out of dirty fired pockets.


You can also buy adjustable ones.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Apollo » 29 Aug 2021, 3:52 pm

bladeracer wrote:
Apollo wrote:Yes, a Primer Pocket Uniformer. They are set to an industry standard cutting depth BUT have no cutter on the side so do not enlarge the diameter.

https://www.brtshooterssupply.com.au/pr ... uniformer/

Also useful cleaning the crud out of dirty fired pockets.


You can also buy adjustable ones.


The KM is adjustable if you think you can set it better than the industry standard depth they are preset to. Small Rifle/Pistol is set to 0.122" Depth.

https://kmshooting.com/product/premium- ... -selector/
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by straightshooter » 29 Aug 2021, 4:15 pm

Generally the primer pockets aren't too shallow but have somewhat rounded corners and some primer brands may be more difficult to seat flush without applying what feels like too much force.
You should be able seat them flush without any danger even if it feels like you are using excessive force.
On the other hand uniforming your primer pockets has considerable advantages for seating primers consistently to a uniform depth and seating force. The payoff is more uniform ignition.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by bladeracer » 29 Aug 2021, 4:36 pm

Apollo wrote:
bladeracer wrote:
Apollo wrote:Yes, a Primer Pocket Uniformer. They are set to an industry standard cutting depth BUT have no cutter on the side so do not enlarge the diameter.

https://www.brtshooterssupply.com.au/pr ... uniformer/

Also useful cleaning the crud out of dirty fired pockets.


You can also buy adjustable ones.


The KM is adjustable if you think you can set it better than the industry standard depth they are preset to. Small Rifle/Pistol is set to 0.122" Depth.

https://kmshooting.com/product/premium- ... -selector/


It's more a matter of making the bottom of the pockets all uniform, the actual depth doesn't much matter.
I use adjustable ones.
The best one I have I bought from a machinist in the US that made them.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Wm.Traynor » 29 Aug 2021, 4:48 pm

Crikey that was Quick! :D
Did not expect so many replies so soon :o As some of you might already have guessed/deduced, I am not a very sophisticated reloader and had no idea :? Will have a look at Apollo's suggestion and thank you everyone :thumbsup:
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Apollo » 29 Aug 2021, 5:18 pm

Well, I don't agree that the primer pocket depth doesn't matter much. If it's too deep then you are likely to have ignition problems from firing pin lite strikes. Curved edges are likely to not allow the primer to seat properly and again firing pin problems.

I've seated many thousands if not ten thousands of primers and over the decades never had one failure.

I also like my many competition friends use a KM Primer Seater, load one primer at a time and feel it actually seat to depth in the primer pocket. One friend was using the 21st Century Primer Seater and suffered numerous misfires. On examination most all his primers were not seated to the pocket bottom and proud of the case head. He didn't read the instructions properly and had not set the tool correctly so it wasn't travelling far enough.

I absolutely hate the idea of using a Press to seat primers, very little actual feel as to when the primer has seated correctly, very easy to crush a primer cup with too much force... Bit like the Lee and RCBS Primer Seaters....lack of feel and adjustment.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by bladeracer » 29 Aug 2021, 5:35 pm

Apollo wrote:Well, I don't agree that the primer pocket depth doesn't matter much. If it's too deep then you are likely to have ignition problems from firing pin lite strikes. Curved edges are likely to not allow the primer to seat properly and again firing pin problems.

I've seated many thousands if not ten thousands of primers and over the decades never had one failure.

I also like my many competition friends use a KM Primer Seater, load one primer at a time and feel it actually seat to depth in the primer pocket. One friend was using the 21st Century Primer Seater and suffered numerous misfires. On examination most all his primers were not seated to the pocket bottom and proud of the case head. He didn't read the instructions properly and had not set the tool correctly so it wasn't travelling far enough.

I absolutely hate the idea of using a Press to seat primers, very little actual feel as to when the primer has seated correctly, very easy to crush a primer cup with too much force... Bit like the Lee and RCBS Primer Seaters....lack of feel and adjustment.


I'm not talking about millimetres deeper :-)
It's probably one or two thou at most, so the primer is just below flush. It is certainly better to have them all seated to the same depth than to seat them to whatever depth the manufacturer's tolerance leaves the pockets at. The uniformer also takes out the radius at the bottom of the pocket.
I doubt you'd see light strikes from seating primers a thou deeper, far more likely to see light strikes from a primer pushing into the pocket when struck because it wasn't cut uniformly.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by Apollo » 29 Aug 2021, 8:32 pm

I don't think anyone was talking about millimeters depth wise but there is an ideal depth and it certainly is below case head a thou or few maybe. Considering also that not all primers are the same height, nor diameter or even cup hardness especially Small Rifle Primers. Yes, the bottom of the primer pocket edges ideally needs to be square not curved which helps to seat every primer the same.

The OP is probably not talking about OCD Accuracy for Benchrest but I reload everything I do with that in mind even for my non competition reloads. I really doesn't take that much more effort or time trying to get everything spot on as best I can. Most everything I shoot is capable of at least 1/2 MOA accuracy, competition well way more accuracy is required to stay at the top in Benchrest. My problem is getting way too old so I'm the failing part.

I don't scrimp on any components and buy the best I can afford including custom made bullets.

I get pretty upset if I go out looking to cull some varmints and have even one miss. Take 10-20 rounds out and get the same amount of kills. Maybe that Rabbit out at 300m might be a challenge on a real windy day but one can always decide to not take the shot and save it for another day. Advantage being at home and picking your conditions to have a bit of fun.
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Re: Shallow Primer Pockets

Post by bladeracer » 31 Aug 2021, 3:35 pm

Apollo wrote:I don't think anyone was talking about millimeters depth wise but there is an ideal depth and it certainly is below case head a thou or few maybe. Considering also that not all primers are the same height, nor diameter or even cup hardness especially Small Rifle Primers. Yes, the bottom of the primer pocket edges ideally needs to be square not curved which helps to seat every primer the same.

The OP is probably not talking about OCD Accuracy for Benchrest but I reload everything I do with that in mind even for my non competition reloads. I really doesn't take that much more effort or time trying to get everything spot on as best I can. Most everything I shoot is capable of at least 1/2 MOA accuracy, competition well way more accuracy is required to stay at the top in Benchrest. My problem is getting way too old so I'm the failing part.

I don't scrimp on any components and buy the best I can afford including custom made bullets.

I get pretty upset if I go out looking to cull some varmints and have even one miss. Take 10-20 rounds out and get the same amount of kills. Maybe that Rabbit out at 300m might be a challenge on a real windy day but one can always decide to not take the shot and save it for another day. Advantage being at home and picking your conditions to have a bit of fun.


I also have zero interest in chasing sub-minute accuracy, but I do try to prep my brass as consistently as possible, which includes cutting all the primer pockets to be the same. I spend thousands on bullets, but I don't buy expensive target bullets as I have no use for them. Probably the most expensive bullets I use are Barnes TSX and TTSX, which cost $2 to $2.50 apiece. I want these purely for deer, so the number I might use (after load development) makes the price per shot fairly irrelevant. For anything else that I might shoot 50+ rounds in a fun shooting session, a buck a shot is getting too expensive to be fun anymore :-)
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