Primer seating

[Steve Marshall]

Take this for what it's worth. I received a Type 53 in a trade. The guy I got it from had never shot it. So I decided to reload a few and do the string pulling the trigger thing. For small reloading tasks I use a Lee hand primer. Trouble is they don't list a shell holder for 7.62x54 so I used one out of the pack that kinda sorta fit. But it didn't seat the primer all the way and it wouldn't fit the RCBS shellholder either. So I decided to shoot the primer in the rifle. Just before I did so that troublesome lightbulb went on. I chambered the primed brass and rather than shooting it, extracted it. SOB, the primer was flush! Holy headspace Batman.

I do not recommend this as a regular loading procedure but as a quick way to look at headspace, not too shoddy. It'll get you in the ballpark. Headspace gages for all the cartridges I could reload would be cost prohibitive. I'll settle for down and dirty over guess and by golly every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Flame away you jealous, why didn't I think of this, bastards.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Lee #16 should suffice. Seems to me it worked just fine on Winchester, Sako, Lapua, Prvi and surplus (Russian, Albanian) cases.
I don't think I have the older style hand primer shell holder, but I have a couple for the ram-prime set-up and newer style hand primers. They should be available at any decent gun shop or online retailer.
If you ever get into reloading the Albanian brass, you can simply place the .217" berdan primer on the cup of the priming device and send it home; it won't fit into the standard large primer tool.

 

[knfmn]

Take this for what it's worth. I received a Type 53 in a trade. The guy I got it from had never shot it. So I decided to reload a few and do the string pulling the trigger thing. For small reloading tasks I use a Lee hand primer. Trouble is they don't list a shell holder for 7.62x54 so I used one out of the pack that kinda sorta fit. But it didn't seat the primer all the way and it wouldn't fit the RCBS shellholder either. So I decided to shoot the primer in the rifle. Just before I did so that troublesome lightbulb went on. I chambered the primed brass and rather than shooting it, extracted it. SOB, the primer was flush! Holy headspace Batman.

I do not recommend this as a regular loading procedure but as a quick way to look at headspace, not too shoddy. It'll get you in the ballpark. Headspace gages for all the cartridges I could reload would be cost prohibitive. I'll settle for down and dirty over guess and by golly every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Flame away you jealous, why didn't I think of this, bastards.

So, what's the issue? You tried chambering some brass that the primer wasn't seated correctly in? You used a bolt action and after it was chambered, the primer was flush? I wouldn't recommend doing that as a way to prime brass, but it seems pretty normal to me. The brass is going to sit against the face of the bolt. It seems logical that if the primer wasn't seated all the way, the bolt pushing the case into the chamber would seat it.

Maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding.

 

[Steve Marshall]

If headspace was excessive the primer wouldn't have seated flush.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Doesn't the 54R headspace on the rim?

 

[jhrosier]

When folks look at shellholder dimensions, they sometimes forget to allow for rim thickness.

This is most important for primer seating.

If you have an older Lee priming tool, the link (pot metal) is probably worn out.

The Lee ram priming tool will probably work with just about any usable shell holder and is relatively inexpensive.

Jack

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

If headspace was excessive the primer wouldn't have seated flush.

You misunderstand what headspace is.

 

[mac1911]

You misunderstand what headspace is.

Not so much......if your primer is hanging out the back of the case it will essentially act like a no go gauge....if the bolt closed on a raised primer and doesn't "seat" or move the primer I would suspect excessive headspace.....no. headspace is measured from bolt face to a,point per specs in a chamber. Be it a rim seat shoulder or neck.

 

[Steve Marshall]

Yes, the headspace on a 7.62x54 is measured on the rim. If a primer, not fully seated, is fully seated by the bolt, then the headspace is perfect with that cartridge. Further, headspace is, vastly overrated. Take a look at some of P.O.Ackley's work and then go to the indispensable Hatcher's Notebook. That's not to say you can ignore headspace, just that some don't worry about it as much as others. You want to violate headspace? Fireform almost any non Ackley Improved bottleneck case. "Headspace? We don' need no stinkin' headspace".

 

[highscore]

Take this for what it's worth. I received a Type 53 in a trade. The guy I got it from had never shot it. So I decided to reload a few and do the string pulling the trigger thing. For small reloading tasks I use a Lee hand primer. Trouble is they don't list a shell holder for 7.62x54 so I used one out of the pack that kinda sorta fit. But it didn't seat the primer all the way and it wouldn't fit the RCBS shellholder either. So I decided to shoot the primer in the rifle. Just before I did so that troublesome lightbulb went on. I chambered the primed brass and rather than shooting it, extracted it. SOB, the primer was flush! Holy headspace Batman.

I do not recommend this as a regular loading procedure but as a quick way to look at headspace, not too shoddy. It'll get you in the ballpark. Headspace gages for all the cartridges I could reload would be cost prohibitive. I'll settle for down and dirty over guess and by golly every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Flame away you jealous, why didn't I think of this, bastards.

Last line sounds like an outstanding tag line...

 

[Nickle]

Doesn't the 54R headspace on the rim?

It does.