Harvey Deprimer

[cstone]

I picked on of these up about a month ago: http://harveydeprimer.com/

I know it isn't for everyone, but rather than just sitting in front of the TV or otherwise wasting time, I pull out a bag of brass and keep my hands busy decapping. It is getting to be habit forming and almost therapeutic. The tool is so simple you can't help but think "why didn't I think of that?"

I'm just starting to reload and keeping my eye out for deals on reloading items. My plan is to decap, tumble, size, prime, and store till I'm ready to reload in batches. I am always open to suggestions. At some point, I wouldn't mind sitting down with someone else in the Thornton/Northglenn area and picking up some pointers.

While I would like inexpensive and accurate ammunition, my real goal is just to have something to do when I'm not working or shooting.

So far, the harvey deprimer has been a good first step. YMMV [Beer]

[SideShow Bob]

You must be ankle deep in popped out primers around your couch by now ![ROFL1]
That is neat, think I might pick one of those up.
Thanks for the information. [Beer]

[cstone]

You must be ankle deep in popped out primers around your couch by now ![ROFL1]
That is neat, think I might pick one of those up.
Thanks for the information. [Beer]

They pop right into a coffee can on my lap. I did get in trouble for reaming primer pockets to get rid of the crimp. I would never have noticed those tiny little brass shavings, but the wife did [ROFL1]

[enthusiast]

Thanks for the info. I am going to order one as well. Maybe we could get a couple to save on shipping.

[SideShow Bob]

Thanks for the info. I am going to order one as well. Maybe we could get a couple to save on shipping.

Just sent the company an email about shipping costs on a single and two units sent to one address to see what kind of savings there will be.
I'll keep you informed.

SSB.

[4gunfun]

So it pushes out crimped in military primers too? [Weight]

[rondog]

This...
My plan is to decap, tumble, size, prime, and store till I'm ready to reload in batches. is a good plan. I have buckets of brass prepped just like this. When I start filling them up it goes very fast.

[SideShow Bob]

So it pushes out crimped in military primers too? [Weight]

Go to the website, it shows the unit punching through a dime.

[cstone]

So it pushes out crimped in military primers too? [Weight]

No to the crimp. I still have to ream the crimp out which I only find on my LC brass. Maybe someday I will get a Dillon super swager.

The odd brass that I've run into is the Korean surplus .30-06. I get the primer half out and then it is stuck. If I take a pair of channel locks to the primer I can get it out, but it doesn't give me much confidence in this stuff as reloadable. The primer pockets appear to be smaller than the LC brass in .30-06. I will probably wind up sticking with my Greek surplus of this caliber brass.

Anyone else seen this in the Korean brass?

[Not_A_Llama]

Looks like a nice tool.

I'd suggest another way for people to get the same kind of functionality:

A Lee hand press ($39):
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=650614

with a Lee Universal decapper die ($9):
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=136543

This way, you also get a "utility" hand press, which is useful in its own right. You wouldn't want to do a run of 1000 9mm (...ask me how I know...), but for learning, in-field experimental loads, or general tweaking when you don't want to mess with the big press, it's nice to have.

It looks like the Harvey decapper pin is pretty damn sturdy, but I've also gone 10k+ on the same Lee decapping pin without issue.

[4gunfun]

Hey cstone does your Korean brass have KA on it I've been reloading some of that, it's ok. Not a llama the Lee hand press says it's discontinued.

[cstone]

Hey cstone does your Korean brass have KA on it I've been reloading some of that, it's ok. Not a llama the Lee hand press says it's discontinued.

The headstamp is KA. The brass itself looks fine. Maybe a little too reddish brown, like the copper washed Mosin ammo, for my taste, but it just doesn't deprime as easily as the LC brass, and as I said, the primer pockets just look smaller. I will try reloading it anyway, just to see if it is worth keeping around.

I guess the other nice part of reloading is the growing pile of scrap brass from the primers, bad cases, and lots of .22lr cases. Not enough to support myself on, but it will buy me a cup of coffee [Coffee]

[Not_A_Llama]

Not a llama the Lee hand press says it's discontinued.

Sorry, had an old link from a blog - Lee has actually improved it with their Breech Lock quickchange die system:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=650614


Widener's has it in stock:
http://wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000141&dir=

[Zombie Steve]

I'm not sure I get this. Even with something you're only going to neck size, you still have to run it through a resizing die, and that decaps at the same time. By the way, I resize / decap after tumbling so I don't have to go back and poke the media out of the flash hole.

[rondog]

I'm not sure I get this. Even with something you're only going to neck size, you still have to run it through a resizing die, and that decaps at the same time. By the way, I resize / decap after tumbling so I don't have to go back and poke the media out of the flash hole.

Not necessarily. I rarely deprime with my sizing dies any more. I usually deprime first with my Lee Universal Decapping die, which simply pokes out the primers, no sizing involved. I do this because I like to clean the primer pockets if they're really sooty, I also have a tool for deburring the inside of the flash holes on rifle cases. My Lyman case trimmer also needs the empty primer pocket to align and clamp the rifle cases so I can trim them to correct length, although I have a Giraud for my .223's.

So, there's many reasons for decapping in one step and resizing later in another. And tumbler media in the flash hole ain't nothing, it's not going to stop the primer fire from reaching the powder, I guarantee that. Besides, when I resize, the decapping pin in the sizing die will poke it out anyway.

Reloading is pretty simple, involving the same basic steps. But there's nothing that says those steps have to be done in precisely the same fashion, it's all up to the individual. Some guys use single-stage only, others will only use progressives and consider all others to be fools. I prefer my turret press, with some operations done single stage and others as a turret.

Works good for me.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/ammo%20and%20reloading/DSC_0402.jpg

[SideShow Bob]

I'm not sure I get this. Even with something you're only going to neck size, you still have to run it through a resizing die, and that decaps at the same time. By the way, I resize / decap after tumbling so I don't have to go back and poke the media out of the flash hole.

Two trains of thought on using this tool,
First if used before cleaning you can use a primer pocket scraper, then Clean.When sizing, the depriming pin in the sizing die will clean the flash hole.
And second, if used after cleaning, you can use a primer pocket scraper to clean out any carbon or residue in the pocket before sizing in a progressive setup.

[Zombie Steve]

To each his own. I'll uniform the flash holes on new rifle brass, but cleaning out primer pockets is a waste of time IMHO.