Igman brass for 6.5x55 issues

[browningautorifle]

I'd just stop using that brass. Obviously you have a problem with it. Without us actually seeing it, we're guessing.

[HIGHRPM]

UPDATE. Well, I finally received some spare decapper pins and did some measuring. The Lee universal decapper pin has a dia. of .061 and fits slightly loose in all the other calibers that I tried, but no chance in hell with this Igman stuff I have. I hand sanded and polished the decapping pin until it just slipped into the primer flash hole and it measured a very tight .054, and to fit the same as the standard boxer holes it was reduced to .051. I can see why it wouldn't work, no chance in hell. I have read on other boards where people were mentioning small flash holes, offset flash holes, exactly what I got. They must be a Friday production lot as other people have not had any problems, go figure. So with this lot of brass, I have decapped, drilled out primer flash hole to proper boxer size, uniformed primer hole, which was all over the place, and then deburred the inner part of the flash hole to remove any debris from the drilling process. Now they are good to go. Very strange, but that is what I found

[RBruce]

I don't know the process for forming the primer pocket and flash hole when new brass is being made, but I wonder if your batch was made with an improper tool. Since it was once fired, Igman somehow was able to insert the primers. Is there a different caliber with a smaller primer pocket and/or flash hole?

[HIGHRPM]

Well, I bought the brass once fired, so I guess everything was ok at the factory, but with what I have read, I am not the only one who experienced this. All the other calibers I have all have the same size primer flash hole and large rifle primer pocket. When I was uniforming the primer pockets some were very easy to get the tool in some were very tight, some had only a very small amount of brass removed to clean up the pocket, some had a ton of material removed to clean it up.. This brass should not have left the factory unless they don't care about quality, but I would assume they do. Once I rework all of this brass I am sure everything will be ok, but what an adventure !

[RBruce]

When I replied to this thread earlier, I had grabbed a couple of once fired Igman 6.5x55 brass that I had. I popped the primers out and measured the pockets.

Today I decided to reload some 6.5x55 rounds for a range trip. I grabbed a whole box of once fired Igman brass and began decapping them. The first two or three worked fine. Then, I ran into a couple that would not release, and actually lodged in the shell holder with the primers part way out. I managed to break them loose. Thinking that my decapping setting was incorrect. I tightened it up a bit so it would push the primers completely out. That worked with some coaxing and further adjustment. However, on the next round the decapping pin stuck in the case, and when I pulled up extra hard, it pulled out of the decapping die and remained in the primer hole. I had to Dremel the case to get the pin out.

That reminded me of this thread. I did a bunch of reloading several years ago with this Igman brass when I had a 6.5x55 AI. I never had a problem with decapping until now. The flash holes in the Igman are definitely smaller in my current batch of brass. I hate to throw the brass away, but I don't know an easy way to remove the primers so I can drill out the plash hole.

Any ideas?

[HIGHRPM]

Glad to have company, lol ! Do what I ended up doing and you save the brass. I first of all ordered two spare decapper pins(very cheap) and sanded one down very slowly till it fit loosely in the flash hole, then I reassembled the die and punched out and resized the brass. The next step I did was messure a normal boxer flash hole with small drill bits till I found the right size and I drilled out all the very small flash holes. I ran a Lyman primer uniformer tool in the primer pocket just to make sure the sizing was right. Some pockets were ok some were very tight. I think some batches were made when their punches were worn out, because the quality I noticed was terrible, yet some say they never had an issue, go figure. So, follow those steps and you get to use the brass. These forums are a blessing for issues like this !

[RBruce]

Another thing I noticed about the Igman 6.5x55 brass was that there appears to be a circumferential crimp on the primer. Also, when I primed the decapped brass I would often find a quarter- moon shaped piece of brass in the primer holder that was sheared off the pocket.

[ptf18]

You might try and find a 6.5x55 "hydraulic depriming" setup. Ive got one to deprime my Swiss Berdan primed brass I reload. Works like a champ! Once deprimed you could "modify the pocket to your needs.

[pr4runner]

OK, so there is a lot out there about this Igman brass. I have the answer in full. First, yes the flash hole was smaller and the primer pocket too, back then. How to fix. 1. sand down your decapper pin a decent amount, but still thick enough to be strong. 2. Decap. 3. Drill out the flash hole w/ a 0.078" drill bit. 4. Debur the inside of the case flash hole w / something like a flash hole deburing too. Next, 5. I used an RCBS military crimp tool. The one that grinds the brass away. Primers still did not fit after that process, so onto the Dillon super swagger they went. After all that, I saved the $0.75 piece of brass from going to the scrap yard. They shoot the same, velocities are the same and I felt it was worth it since the brass was given to me as an experiment. About 150 cases saved for the fight. Win.

---------- Post added at 01:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 AM ----------

If any of you have this brass and don't want to go thu this process, I will gladly take it off your hands and pay postage.