What do you .17 Remington shooters use to debur your flash holes? My trusty RCBS only makes the pilot guides down to .22. --Mykal

OK, can you tell me why you deburr the flash holes? I chamfer and debur the case mouths, I clean the brass, I clean the primer pockets, but after a zillion rifle and pistol rounds I've never deburred a flash hole. Is that something specific to a 17 calibre?

Bob,
Bench rest type of case prep for uniform ignition. Results typically cannot be seen in anything but a bench rest rifles or long range (1000 yard) target rifles in the hands of a top shooter, doubtful even there from my perspective with all the other things that can cause innacuracy. Goes along with uniforming the primer pocket, separating cases by weight, etc. etc. Basically a last ditch effort to see that nothing that the loader can control can cause a detriment to accuracy. The smaller and more finicky the casing, the better the odds it can help accuracy, or so it's claimed. The RCBS tool also reams the flash hole to a uniform size which is probably the more value part of the process than the deburring. Not something you would typically do to your hunting ammo.

Mykal,
I'm pretty sure there is a tool that isn't caliber specific in the collar like the RCBS unit is but the maker doesn't come to me right now. The tool has a tapered collar that is adjustable as to where it rests on the cutter shaft. Lyman makes one of this style (much more cost effective if you shoot lots of calibers) but I'm not sure if it works with the .17 or not..

Faucettb: the flashholes of most brass is punched out, leaving little burrs that can cause inconsistant ignition. I don't really shoot "benchrest" as I just have more or less stock rifles (Remington 700's in a variety of calibers and configurations). But even with these rifles at 100 yards, I believe flash hole deburring of new brass does make a difference in accuracy, as does uniforming and cleaning the primer pockets after every loading, when shooting from a benchrest.

kciH: I had high hopes for the Lyman tool, but only works for .22 to (I think) .45. Thanks for the response, anyway. --Mykal

You are correct. I have the Lyman tool, and the minimum caliber it will work on is 22. You would need a tool with a smaller diameter shaft to get inside one of thos 17 cases. I'm sure someone must make a smaller one with the 17's and now the 204 out there.

amndouglas

Russ Haydon lists the K&M .17 flash hole deburring tool.
http://www.shooters-supply.com/reloading_equipment.html

Seems there's 1 or 2 cases in most boxes that need deburring bad, while the rest are OK. I like my Lyman, but as noted above, it does .22 and larger.

Bye
Jack

Jack: That"ll work (K&M). Looks much like the Lyman tool. Thanks. --Mykal

Mykal, most often I uniform the flash holes first .083 wire drill, this usually helps as it is a little larger than most flasholes but not by much. It will make them uniform by drilling from the outside while cutting the burrs loose on the inside. The K&M tools looks like the better bet though.

The K&M tool just came in the mail today. It really works well and is just about perfectly designed for the job. Problem solved! --Mykal

A little advice on flash hole sizes from Mr. Gates.
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tips/archive_tips.htm/62

Bye
Jack