Review of the Hornady Lock-N-Load Single Stage Primer Pocket Swage tool in .223
I have a large amount of military crimped 5.56 brass. I've been trying to make the K&M Primer Pocket Correction Tool work for me and I have had fairly consistent bad results with it no matter how carefully I use in conjunction with my drill. When attempting to prime brass "corrected" by this tool, I can immediately feel resistance and if I continue to to attempt to seat the primer, I get crushed and/or near sideways primers. The press I used for these attempts is a Dillon 550.
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When Hornady released their primer pocket swaging tool for single stage presses, I was immediately hopeful given that this tool swages with hydraulic force as opposed to cutting material out. Less room for error is the result as the swaging tools based upon cutting action leave much discretion up to the end user. Also, the well known Dillon 1050 press's and Dillon 600 swaging solution use hydraulic force to swage with near universal good reviews.
I ordered the "Hornady Lock-N-Load Single Stage Primer Pocket Swage tool in .223" from Amazon but shipped and sold through MidwayUSA for $59 shipped. I mounted it first to my RCBS Special 2 single press and then to my recently acquired 1967 vintage RCBS Jr2 single stage press. Set up and operation on both was identical and easy.
Installed the included shell holder onto the ram, raise the ram all of the way up to maximum height and thread the actual swaging die in until makes contact with the shell holder, then back the swage die off 1/2 of a turn, and tighten it. Then insert a crimped .223/5.56 case onto the included "swage support anvil", slide said anvil with case onto the shell holder, and raise the ram until the case makes contact with the die. With the swage adjust screw (knurled nut on top of the swaging die) backed nearly all of the way out, turn the swage adjust screw slowly until you encounter resistance, then lower the ram 1" and turn the swage adjust screw 1/2 of a turn. At this point, the Hornady instructions say this is when you can go ahead and raise the ram all of the way up and complete the swaging operation, but for me on both presses, I had to do about 1.5 more turns on the swage adjust screw in order to actually swage the primer pocket. I know that it is properly adjusted when I feel the swager engage at the near end of the stroke, the effort gets harder, and then completes. Watch/feel for this! Hard effort, then a stop. There will be no effort required until the near end of the stroke.
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Priming the now swaged brass is without drama. The pockets are uniform and easily primed. Note the bright ring around the eye of the pocket, that is from the Hornady swager and a sign that it successfully swaged the primer pocket.
I feel that this is the best primer pocket swager available for the cost if you have a single stage press sitting around. It's the only that has consistently worked well for me.
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