.308 Case Prep With The RCBS Case Prep Center

This video includes many elements of a couple of my other case prep videos (sorry for the repeated info), but hopefully in a more concise format and with the addition of the flash hole uniforming and deburring.

I added a few accessories to the RCBS Case Prep Center. I drilled and tapped the base of a Lee cutter to accept an 8-32 stud to attach it to the Case Prep Center, and I used the Lee case length trim gage, shell holder and lock stud. The case length trim gage and shell holder are caliber specific and are sold as a set.

I use a Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer to remove military primer pocket crimps and make the primer pockets a bit more uniform.

I use a Lyman flash hole uniformer to drill the flash holes to the same diameter and countersink and deburr the inside edge of the flash hole inside the case, for consistent powder ignition and maximum accuracy.

All the accessories I added are available from online retailers such as MidwayUSA dot com.

NOTE ABOUT THE MODIFIED CUTTER:

After I adapted the Lee cutter to use on the RCBS Case Prep Center, Lee started selling pretty much the same thing, so I definitely recommend buying it from Lee rather than making your own.

I drilled and tapped one cutter for me and it was a little hard but not a problem for a sharp high speed steel drill on my little mill-drill. I did one for a friend and it was very difficult. The steel cutter was very hard. I think Lee makes the cutters from a tool steel that they subsequently induction heat treat, and I think my initial cutter wasn't properly heat treated which probably explained why it dulled so quickly cutting brass.

I eventually used a cobalt drill, low RPM and a lot of pressure to drill the hardened steel. I used a much larger center drill to start the hole because the #29 tap drill for 8-32 would walk long before drilling. The center drill is much shorter and fatter and therefore stiffer. Once I had a divot started, I drilled the tap hole. I almost broke a tap, so I drilled a larger hole for much less thread engagement and tapped that larger hole. I think the thread engagement was so little that I epoxied the stud in place?

I now recommend getting a scrap chunk of aluminum or plastic, drill a #29 hole all the way through the center, use that as the pilot hole to drill a much larger hole part way through that's just barely large enough for the cutter body and epoxy it in place after tapping the #29 hole on the base and screwing in a #8-32 screw from the inside so the threads stick out the bottom by 3/8" or so.

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