Flash hole sizes

[indygunguy]

So I'm de-priming and resizing a huge bucket of 223/556. On about 2 out of every 100 pieces of brass my depriming rod gets stuck in the flash hole... and with Redding dies, that means the rod comes out of the die, and stays in the brass. So I have to get out a hammer and a punch to get the rod out of the flash hole, take the die apart, reinstall the rod, reassemble, and readjust the die.

Pain in the a**.

But I think I figured out why this is happening. The offending brass seems to have much smaller flash holes than the others.

I can't be the only one dealing with this... so what you you guys do about it? Just ID what headstamps have the small holes and...?

This was a difficult picture to take, but it shows good ole' Lake City Brass on the left and the stupid "HB" headstamp on the right with the small hole:

Any thought or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[DownByTheTracks]

Sort the HB stamped brass and do it in a separate batch. Once you decap them, buy a Lyman flashhole uniforming/deburring tool to open up the hole.

Flash Hole Uniformer Tool

 

[Brownie]

You could thin down part of the decapping pin? Not tried it but it may work..

 

[Aszerigan]

Get yourself a Lee universal decapping die. Punch the primers, then resize. Sometimes offset flash holes will do the same, or worse - they'll break your pins.

 

[msd]

Good thing about the Lee die is too much pressure and it'll pop the decapping rod, then you know you got a tight one. Reset, 10 sec later back in business.
I've had a few from some brass I bought at a gunshow last fall where the flash holes were a tad off.
Luckily I use the Lee decapper and saved myself alot of time and headaches.

 

[fireball168]

Get yourself a [STRIKE]Lee[/STRIKE] universal decapping die.

What he said, except I've found the Lyman to be much nicer if you are doing any sort of production.

Afterwards, I run the offenders on a Sinclair flash hole deburring tool setup with enough chamfer to send the depriming pin in the right direction on future sizing events.

 

[Leo]

+1 on the decap die. Also, even the regular Lee dies do a fine job on the odd sized holes. If anyone remembers the old "lee Loader" kits, you can deprime with nothing more than a small hammer and punch with the brass over a hole in a block of wood.

The only way I know to get around working on brass is to pay the price for new brass. But of course new brass is up to ten times the money, so I figure the prep time is like working for cash. If I am saving 90% I feel better about it. The brass that is giving you trouble will only be trouble the first time, just like the primer crimp on Nato spec brass. Good luck.