PPU stamped cases

[MegaWatt]

Has anyone else run into primers not popping out of PPU cases? (9mm) I use mostly range brass and I've noticed many times the primers don't come out of these cases, they just sort of dimple outwards and cause the shell holder to bind up. I extended the primer de-cap pin out a little and it helps but there are still some it just doesn't knock out. I've even used a small drift pin to knock them out with a little hammer and takes a lot to get the primer out. I've re-reloaded PPU cases with primers I had put in and it works fine.

[BobCat]

Just guessing - I have no experience with that headstamp - but are the primers crimped in?

Military brass often has crimped primers that are slightly difficult to extract, and the primer pocket needs to be "chased" with a deburring tool to remove the crimp before a new primer will enter the pocket cleanly.

Watching this thread for more answers. Best of luck.

Regards,
Andrew

[MoJo]

Do the cases reprime OK? Look at them carefuly and be sure they aren't crimpes as BobCat said. They may have some kind of sealant on them that makes them hard to deprime. I've loaded lots of PPU brass in 9mm, 40S&W, and 223 with no problems.

[MegaWatt]

The new primers go in no problem. They don't appear to be crimped and I don't de-burr them. A friend of mine who is new to reloading happened to tell me he was having trouble with some cases that look like the primers are dimpled out but not knocked out. I asked him what kind of cases there were and he said PPU. PPU is Privi Partizan from Serbia, which may explain some of it. Academy sells it as Monarch. I've had military crimped brass before and this doesn't look the same.

[MoJo]

Are we sure these are boxer primed cases? It is starting to sound like you are trying to decap Berdan primed cases. Take a bright light shine it into the case and see if you have a single flash hole in the center or two or three around the center. One central hole good two or three bad. If I were having as much difficulty depriming as you are I'd decap them all with a hammer and punch providing they are boxer primed.

[MegaWatt]

Are we sure these are boxer primed cases? It is starting to sound like you are trying to decap Berdan primed cases. Take a bright light shine it into the case and see if you have a single flash hole in the center or two or three around the center. One central hole good two or three bad. If I were having as much difficulty depriming as you are I'd decap them all with a hammer and punch providing they are boxer primed.

They are not Berdans. There's one hole in the middle. I have used a small drift pin punch on some and they're even hard to knock out with that. Not all PPUs do this but the only cases I have trouble with are PPU. If you know what I mean.

[MoJo]

Are we sure these are boxer primed cases? It is starting to sound like you are trying to decap Berdan primed cases. Take a bright light shine it into the case and see if you have a single flash hole in the center or two or three around the center. One central hole good two or three bad. If I were having as much difficulty depriming as you are I'd decap them all with a hammer and punch providing they are boxer primed.

They are not Berdans. There's one hole in the middle. I have used a small drift pin punch on some and they're even hard to knock out with that. Not all PPUs do this but the only cases I have trouble with are PPU. If you know what I mean.

Yes I do. S&B cases are hard to reprime the first time after that they are good to go. Maybe that's the case with the Privi brass too.

[NcongruNt]

I've never had that problem with PPU-stamped 9mm. My 9mm loads use Federal primers, which I'm told are on the soft side, so that may make a difference.

As MoJo mentioned, S&B cases tend to have issues. The primer pockets seem to be a bit inconsistent. About 2/3 of them load OK, but another 1/3 of them range from a little tough to seat to very difficult to the point that the primers deform a bit and flatten. Again, I use Federal primers in 9mm, so this may not be quite so bad of an issue with harder primers like CCI or Wolf.

[MegaWatt]

Once I finally get the factory primer out of the PPU case, I have no trouble putting another primer in it. It's getting the original one out that's a problem. I'll try to get a close up picture of one and post it.

[sskimber]

Well I have not had that issue on the PPU in 9mm, I have had the issue with 45 PPU brass, I think the primer pockets are just tight or they have an adhesive on them. They shoot fine once you get the new primer in. Are you using "new style" Dillon dies with the spring loaded decapping pin? it is supposed to make a difference.

Kevin

[CDH]

Extend your depriming pin more. They can protrude quite far before the stem begins to hit the case inside. There is no reason to keep the pin only sticking out 'just enough'.

I have had a couple pop the center out of the primer and leave the sides in the primer hole, but maybe one in 2 hundred and they looked like they had a little corrosion starting in the seam between the primer and case.

[MegaWatt]

Extend your depriming pin more. They can protrude quite far before the stem begins to hit the case inside. There is no reason to keep the pin only sticking out 'just enough'.

I have had a couple pop the center out of the primer and leave the sides in the primer hole, but maybe one in 2 hundred and they looked like they had a little corrosion starting in the seam between the primer and case.

I have extended it some and it helps but I'm cautious about having too much pin sticking out because you run the risk of bending or breaking it.

[NcongruNt]

Extend your depriming pin more. They can protrude quite far before the stem begins to hit the case inside. There is no reason to keep the pin only sticking out 'just enough'.

I have had a couple pop the center out of the primer and leave the sides in the primer hole, but maybe one in 2 hundred and they looked like they had a little corrosion starting in the seam between the primer and case.

I have extended it some and it helps but I'm cautious about having too much pin sticking out because you run the risk of bending or breaking it.

Which brand of die is it? The lee dies have the decapping pin in a collet mechanism that will pop out if too much pressure is exerted on the decapper, so that it's very unlikely that the decapping pin will break or bend from a stubborn primer or accidental use on a Berdan primer. If it does pop out, it can be easily reset without damage to the die or pin.

[Rifleman55]

I also have a problem with PPU brass, I use a Dillon sdb and there is no adjustment onthe decapping pin, the first time it happened to me I managed to reseat the fired primer and didn't catch it until I tried to fire the round. I now check the headstamps of range brass and soart them out, I then deprime them with a hammer and pin punch.

[ea40ss]

I had the same problem with the PPU brass when using RCBS dies and 9mm. What was happening in my case was that the primers are so tight in the case that the primer was pushing out but it was getting stuck on the de-priming pin and pulling back into the case. So when I tried to seat the new primer it pushed the old primer completly back into the case. I removed the pin and rounded off the tip a little. The RCBS pin is a little bigger at the tip. I just took a file and took the mushroom off. No problems now. Previously I had tried extending the pin as well.
I use Dillon dies for .45. With the spring loaded die, I've had no trouble at all with the ppu brass.

Try sorting some PPU brass and after de-priming find a way to look at the depriming pin before or while coming back up with the handle and you'll see if that is the problem.

Thanks,
Eric