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Posted: 8/16/2009 7:11:47 PM EDT
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I am sick and tired of breaking my Dillon decapping pins. I know that crimped brass can be hard on them, but I am getting sick of it. I processed 2500+ pieces of 223 last Thursday and I broke 3 pins in that session alone. I also damaged the decapping pin/expander ball holder. (the little bronze colored inner part of the die) This part may be worse than the actual decapping pin. It seems to be made of some very week pot metal and it bends quite easily. After damaging this inside piece, I put my spare one in. (I had a spare one left from the last time they replaced it under the "NO BS" warranty). My spare was damaged only slightly less than the one I ruined that day......well my spare only lasted a couple hundred rounds and it got all bent out of shape as well.
I know that it all begins with the decapping pin being weak, and once it bends slightly, then the holder is soon to go when the pin misses a flash hole. I am not perfect and please don't think I am attacking Dillon. I absolutely love 90% of everything about Dillon products......but there has to be a set of dies with a better decapping system. PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! |
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Please don't offer advice on my technique as I know I am not perfect ......but there has to be a set of dies with a better decapping system. PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! You cannot be helped. There is no decapping system in the world that cannot be damaged or broken by misuse. Rant all you want, it will change nothing. I was about to type in some advice on techniques to avoid the problem, but you said you didn't care to read them. |
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Please don't offer advice on my technique as I know I am not perfect ......but there has to be a set of dies with a better decapping system. PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! You cannot be helped. There is no decapping system in the world that cannot be damaged or broken by misuse. Rant all you want, it will change nothing. I was about to type in some advice on techniques to avoid the problem, but you said you didn't care to read them. OK, if there really are technique issues, please share them with me.....I was just really frustrated. 
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I don't understand the problem with broken decapping pins. I have decapped thousands of crimped rounds in .223, .308 and .30-06 and never have had any broken or bent pins. I use RCBS and a lot of Lee dies. Lee uses roller bearings and they are held with a screw in collar that allows the pin to slide up if it hits something hard. Try Lee or try slowing down enough that you aren't slamming the pin around so hard. Crimped primers should not be so hard to remove they break a dang pin. You must be getting the case off center and the pin is not hitting the flash hole and instead is slamming against the case head. Reloading is not a race with a prize for the fastest press. |
| I have never bent or broke a decapping pin either after a few K pieces of LC brass, they all push right out using the sizing die(Hornady or Lee) or the universal decapping die(I use this because I like my brass primed before cleaning prior to sizing, it aids in cleaning the primer pocket also before sizing and preparing). |
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PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! Lee, not indestructible but pretty close. (people have broke them but it takes talent) The decaping pin is integral to the expanding stem, and is held in place by a collet. If you hit something hard the pin is designed to slide upward and out of the way. Just tap it back in place and retighten. |
| Make sure your pin is centered in the die. With the die out of the press, look into the bottom. With the jam nut loose rotate the stem and usually the tip of the pin moves around in sort of an elliptical pattern. When the pin is centered then tighten the nut to hold it then put the die in the loader. This may not help you but it seems to help keep the pin centered on the primer. Also I have encountered an occasional piece of brass that has the primer flash hole drilled off center which doesn't help either. Also make sure your shell holder is not obstructed or if on a Dillion the shell holder plate has all the cutouts correct so the cases are aligned with the die. Good luck, I hope you get it working. |
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I have a whole box (50Rd's) of Fiocchi .223 ammo that shoot very well, but when I broke down and cleaned, polished, trimmed, & started to do the primer pockets and flash hole work I noticed every single case had the flash hole off centered, and I don't mean a little bit some were .030" from one side of the primer pocket and .060" from the other side. So that's pretty bad, almost .015"+ off centered.
So I sit them to the side for some later use since the brass is so nice, it held it's shape very well and is heavier than most brass weighing on avg 98.8 Gr's but some as heavy as 99 .9 and on the low side was 98.1-2 Gr's, so if it will reload with any accuracy the brass should last a while. |
I use a Lee universal decapper. So far it hasn't given me or had any problems, except one time..... I wasn't being too bright at the time and tried to decap a berdan case  the decapping pin just slid into the mandrel. Otherwise I have decapped quite a few crimped primers and some were a tad stubborn but they came out just fine. YMMV
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I am sick and tired of breaking my Dillon decapping pins. I know that crimped brass can be hard on them, but I am getting sick of it. I processed 2500+ pieces of 223 last Thursday and I broke 3 pins in that session alone. I also damaged the decapping pin/expander ball holder. (the little bronze colored inner part of the die) This part may be worse than the actual decapping pin. It seems to be made of some very week pot metal and it bends quite easily. After damaging this inside piece, I put my spare one in. (I had a spare one left from the last time they replaced it under the "NO BS" warranty). My spare was damaged only slightly less than the one I ruined that day......well my spare only lasted a couple hundred rounds and it got all bent out of shape as well. I know that it all begins with the decapping pin being weak, and once it bends slightly, then the holder is soon to go when the pin misses a flash hole. I am not perfect and please don't think I am attacking Dillon. I absolutely love 90% of everything about Dillon products......but there has to be a set of dies with a better decapping system. PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! RCBS universal decap dies are pretty good. I've also found that Hornady dies handle the crimped primers well. I've been using a Lee 223 sizer/decap die. I've done about 1000 rounds on it so far and it's worked beautifully. Time will tell if it's gonna hold up, but so far I'm quite happy with it. |
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http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=636747 Not high volume but have never broke one and have not meet a case that could not have been decapped. |
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I am sick and tired of breaking my Dillon decapping pins. I know that crimped brass can be hard on them, but I am getting sick of it. I processed 2500+ pieces of 223 last Thursday and I broke 3 pins in that session alone. I also damaged the decapping pin/expander ball holder. (the little bronze colored inner part of the die) This part may be worse than the actual decapping pin. It seems to be made of some very week pot metal and it bends quite easily. After damaging this inside piece, I put my spare one in. (I had a spare one left from the last time they replaced it under the "NO BS" warranty). My spare was damaged only slightly less than the one I ruined that day......well my spare only lasted a couple hundred rounds and it got all bent out of shape as well. I know that it all begins with the decapping pin being weak, and once it bends slightly, then the holder is soon to go when the pin misses a flash hole. I am not perfect and please don't think I am attacking Dillon. I absolutely love 90% of everything about Dillon products......but there has to be a set of dies with a better decapping system. PLEASE TELL ME THE SET OF DIES TO BUY THAT HAVE A "BULLET PROOF", "INDESTRUCTIBLE" DECAPPING SYSTEM!!!!! WOW..........where are you when the BLUE KOOL AID crowd is saying how perfect everything from Dillon is suppose to be made? Or send it back for a FREE replacement. LOL. So...........IMHO.......stuff happens (DILLON, RCBS, LEE, etc.). Some, abuse their equipment (not saying that you have). Some, have Bad Luck. A brand that I might suggest is the LEE universal decapper (#90292). The decap rod is suppose to slide up instead of breaking/bending. Or, slower but tough.............is the LEE military de-capper (#90102-.30 cal., #90103-.22 cal.). It's the old hammer and anvil method. But......someone actually reported breaking one the other week. And, yes.........I've bent my decapper rod and have had broken pins with my RCBS. I figure........$%^* HAPPENS. Aloha, Mark |
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+1 to Lee
I know Lee typically has a reputation for cheaper equipment, but their decapping system just plain works. I can't even count how many reloads I've done on my .223 dies but its at least 10K mostly crimped and haven't had any broken/bent pins. Same on my .308 dies, I think I've done around 3K LC brass and not a problem. |
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+1 to Lee I know Lee typically has a reputation for cheaper equipment, but their decapping system just plain works. I can't even count how many reloads I've done on my .223 dies but its at least 10K mostly crimped and haven't had any broken/bent pins. Same on my .308 dies, I think I've done around 3K LC brass and not a problem. I don't understand the Lee reputation. I've got some of their stuff (dies and a Classic Turret press for my handgun ammo) and it all works just fine for me. I still use my RCBS single stage to size my 223 before loading on the Turret, and I also use the Rock Chucker to do all the loading for my 7mm Remington Magnum, 8mm Mauser, and any 223 I intend to load for competitive accuracy. |
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Another vote for the Lee universal die... used one this past week to deprime just shy of 5k .223 pieces of mixed headstamp... about 1/2 was crimped.
Not a hiccup. I did about 800 with the Lee carbide .223 resizer/decapper as well... it worked fine also, just a bit stiffer to get the piece done if the primer was crimped. The universal die made it much faster and easier. |
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How did a plains zebra end up in India or a blind tiger end up in Africa?
Nothings wrong with your eqiupment. It's just not to remove crimped primers. Unless it's adjusted correctly and then it's not 100% You think 5.56 is a pain, try .50 BMG. Or worse Berdan primers 458 |
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+1 to Lee I know Lee typically has a reputation for cheaper equipment, but their decapping system just plain works. I can't even count how many reloads I've done on my .223 dies but its at least 10K mostly crimped and haven't had any broken/bent pins. Same on my .308 dies, I think I've done around 3K LC brass and not a problem. I don't understand the Lee reputation. I've got some of their stuff (dies and a Classic Turret press for my handgun ammo) and it all works just fine for me. I still use my RCBS single stage to size my 223 before loading on the Turret, and I also use the Rock Chucker to do all the loading for my 7mm Remington Magnum, 8mm Mauser, and any 223 I intend to load for competitive accuracy. I certainly didn't mean crappy equipment. I have some Lee equipment and I am very satisfied with it. Its just cheaper. The one piece I have that is noticeably cheap is the powder measure. Its nearly all plastic, and it works fine for plinking loads, but the consistency just isn't there when you want to load something precise. I'm not bashing Lee at all, just stating that their equipment has its time and place (just like most any equipment) and sometimes Lee isn't the best for the job. However, to reiterate, their decapping system is nearly bullet-proof. I've never broken a pin. |
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I've broken/bent a couple of decap pins on my Dillon 223 dies.
My universal decap die from Dillon was bad from the factory - the bronze insert that actually holds the pin has bad threads and won't actually stay tight, and thus won't stay plumb. That reminds me, I need to call Dillon and order parts/complain about that universal die. TR |
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I have the Lee Universal decapper. Works pretty damn good. I put a berdan piece in one time to see if it really would work as advertised (I bought a couple spares) and it slid right up in the mandrel.
The bad about it is that the shaft the decapping pin is in is very thick, with the shitty Lee shellholders, I have to guide the 223 brass in over the shaft. The only Lee equipment I own. If my sizing dies don't have a headed decapping pin (RCBS pistol dies) to keep them from coming out, I take them out so as not to loose one in a case. |
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I've broken/bent a couple of decap pins on my Dillon 223 dies. My universal decap die from Dillon was bad from the factory - the bronze insert that actually holds the pin has bad threads and won't actually stay tight, and thus won't stay plumb. That reminds me, I need to call Dillon and order parts/complain about that universal die. TR I think this is the root of the problem on both of mine. That bronze mandrel insert is a piece of SHIT. Dillon makes great equipment, but they really need to rethink that mandrel piece. It is made of really soft pot metal and they bend very easily. The threads don't stay tight in the die, and the decapping pins don't stay tight in the mandrel. I am actually considering having my buddy in the machine shop at work make me a new one out of stainless. |
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