I am loading for my 223 bolt gun. The brass I am using is from Federal and it has not been reloaded before. This was ammo that was fired through my departments AR15's. So when I seat the primers they are waaaay to loose in the primer pocket. I started using CCI primers, then tried CCI Benchrest and now I am using Federal primers. They all are seating way to easy. So I am wondering if I can seal the primers in the pockets so they dont back out while firing ? I will then trash the brass and not load it again. Any thoughts??

Not worth the time imo it especially with .223 range brass being dirt cheap

Loose primers= trash can.

what head stamp is the brass?

seems very odd , on Militarily brass I am usually removing the crimp and beveling them to get them to take primers

do they go in and stay in ? just with less pressure than you are used to?

if they go in and stay in and your shooting from a bolt gun a little primer sealer just to make sure that no moisture or oil gets in around them

if you need to glue them in to keep them in place without backing out I would gently push the primers out and re-use them in other brass.

I guess the test would be seat a primer then smack the rim of the case on the table hard and see if they back out at all if they don't back out , sealer and shoot

if they blackout I don't think I would shoot them or if I did I would single feed them into that bolt gun and not load them in the mag you don't want to have them back out under recoil even if recoil is very minimal.

I run across 9mm brass that has loose as in the primer seems to take half or less the normal push to get them in and seated , but they also do not come out either under recoil or banging them on the table

so in but not in as hard as other primers or falling out or backing out?

Federal is notorious for primer pockets loosening up quick.

You can get a primer pocket gauge and if the NO GO doesn't fit you can reload and shoot them... But honestly that might get you through this time and then they'll be trash. Better off to save your components and use them to load test a new batch of brass.

Mike

ABSOLUTELY. Especially any sort of self-loader.

I had a student on my range experience an out-of-battery discharge in an AR-10 due to a loose primer and wrecked his rifle. VERY lucky not to have been hurt and only random placement of his support hand and wearing shooting glasses prevented injury.

During cycling, the loose primer turned in the pocket and was pinched sideways when the bolt closed. The primer was detonated before the bolt went into battery and ignited the powder. The cartridge case was mostly destroyed, but we could see the primer lodged sideways in the case head.

After the event and our examination of the damage, the shooter admitted to having "a few loose primers", but wanted to get 'one more reload' out of his worn-out brass. Obviously NOT a great economic strategy.

Any brass with loose primer pockets get thrown.

Buy IMI brass, only thing I will use now

Since you said bolt action my guess is hunting? Buy some new brass. Anneal it. Will last awhile. Cheap factory ammo with FMJ is 50 cents a piece now and probably not what you want for hunting. (new brass not reman). Get a hunting bullet and they start at a buck fifty. With new brass you will still come in under the price of factory hunting ammo with the high price of primers and powder figured in. The brass should last for several loadings.

Thanks for the responses and information. I pulled a pack of CCI small rifle primers off of my shelf and the price sticker was $1.19 lol my how things have changed!!

I just ran out or 1.99 primers and on to 3.49 primers with 4.59 6.99 and 7.78 primers sitting on he shelf it hurts but it beats not shooting

i find bad brass here i take a hammer and seal the case mouth so i aint temped to try and use it one more time.

Don't forget to scrap the brass, worth a buck or 2!