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Posted: 2/21/2009 6:47:21 PM EDT
| What's the best decapping die to use on crimped 5.56 brass and staked 5.56 brass? |
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First one I got years ago was the RCBS Universal decapper - it works, but lots of corners and such on that spindle that seem to snag case mouths if they aren't just perfectly aligned. I had the opportunity to pick up a Lee, which works pretty well - other than that sliding frickin' mandrel drives me nuts. It's supposed to be a 'feature', where if it hits something too hard the mandrel slides up instead of bending things. Good idea, but when dealing w/ tight primers (decapping Lapua rifle brass) it keeps wanting to slide instead of decapping the damn case. I can only imagine what it would do with staked/crimped primers. It still has a tendency to catch on the case mouth a fair bit, which slows things down considerably. The Dillon decapper, being designed to run on a progressive like their other dies, tends to have more rounded surfaces and doesn't catch as much - but the decapping tip seems fairly soft and bends easily if it hits an off-center flash-hole (or a Boxer primed case). If they used a standard tip like a Redding or RCBS it wouldn't be a big deal, but instead they use a one-piece lower tip that incorporates the tip and the rounded portion that goes up to main diameter - so if you bend/break the tip, you have to order a new one (or have one on hand already). The good news is if you only tweak it a little, they are fairly soft and can be bent back into shape pretty easily w/ a vise - well enough to make do until Dillon gets you a new one on the way.
YMMV, Monte |
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Quoted:
First one I got years ago was the RCBS Universal decapper - it works, but lots of corners and such on that spindle that seem to snag case mouths if they aren't just perfectly aligned. I had the opportunity to pick up a Lee, which works pretty well - other than that sliding frickin' mandrel drives me nuts. It's supposed to be a 'feature', where if it hits something too hard the mandrel slides up instead of bending things. Good idea, but when dealing w/ tight primers (decapping Lapua rifle brass) it keeps wanting to slide instead of decapping the damn case. I can only imagine what it would do with staked/crimped primers. It still has a tendency to catch on the case mouth a fair bit, which slows things down considerably. The Dillon decapper, being designed to run on a progressive like their other dies, tends to have more rounded surfaces and doesn't catch as much - but the decapping tip seems fairly soft and bends easily if it hits an off-center flash-hole (or a Boxer primed case). If they used a standard tip like a Redding or RCBS it wouldn't be a big deal, but instead they use a one-piece lower tip that incorporates the tip and the rounded portion that goes up to main diameter - so if you bend/break the tip, you have to order a new one (or have one on hand already). The good news is if you only tweak it a little, they are fairly soft and can be bent back into shape pretty easily w/ a vise - well enough to make do until Dillon gets you a new one on the way. YMMV, Monte +1 My lee decappers don't decap crimped cases very well at all. I even had to tighten one to the point that it stripped the threads before it would grab the rod. If I wasn't nearly done with decapping my crimped brass, I'd pay money for one that doesn't "slide". I know that crimped brass isn't going to bend my rod, so I'd take a permanently fixed rod. |
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