by John Markwell | Contributing Editor
The Swage Kit from CHD4 has only three components; large and small primer pocket swages and the shell holder die.
Serious varmint hunters probably go through more ammo per year than most folks; the majority of it handloads. One of the reasons the .223/5.56 is one of the most popular varmint rounds out there is the availability of cheap GI cartridge cases which, when purchased by the thousand, can be had for as little as $.04 each. It does, however, take some extra effort to get these economical cases ready to load; especially getting the crimped primer pocket squared away to accept new primers. We recently came across a handy tool from CH4D (PO Box 889, 711 N. Sandusky St., Dept. TGM, Mt. Vernon, OH 43050; phone: 740-397-7214) for swaging primer pocket crimps. Previously, the best method we had found for removing crimps in primer pockets involved cutting them out with a deburring tool mounted in a drill press. This works well but is hard on the hands and fingers. Also, we have had conspicuously poor success with all the other “big name” primer pocket swaggers we have tried.
The shell holder die installed in the turret of a Redding T-7 press with a RCBS #10 shell holder (for .223 cases) in place. The swage punch can be seen protruding up through the shell holder. If a case was in the shell holder the swage punch would be in the primer pocket.
The CH4D Swage Kit easily and quickly gets rid of those pesky crimps making re-priming the cases consistently easy. Whether reloading just a few cases or a large batch of ammo for prairie dog shooting on a progressive machine, the initial preparation of a batch of cases with crimped-in primers is the same. First the cases need to be de-capped. This can be done while re-sizing the cases, or not, as one sees fit. Once the primers are punched out of the cases the crimps must be removed to facilitate re-priming. This is where the CH4D Swage Kit comes into play.
The entire Swage kit is visible here ready to get rid of those pesky primer pocket crimps.
The Swage kit is pretty simple in principle and can be used on any standard reloading press. The CH4D Swage Kit has only two components; a shell holder die and a swage punch (actually two punches, large and small). The shell holder die screws into the top of the reloading press (like a regular die) and accepts any industry standard snap-in shell holder.
The swage punch snaps into the ram of the press like a standard shell holder. After the shell holder die is properly adjusted, a de-capped case is placed into the shell holder on top of the die and the swage punch is run up into it just like a case being sized.
The tapered tip of the swage punch is forced up into the case’s primer pocket and smoothly moves just a bit of metal, thus swaging out the primer pocket’s crimp. Shipped to your door the CH4D Swage Kit will run about $35. We’ve found this tool to be a great addition to our reloading bench and highly recommend it for those who process a lot of cases with crimped in primers.
