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Posted: 8/8/2013 3:49:28 PM EDT
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I ordered a Universal decapper so I can deprime dirty old brass and prep it for wet tumbling without having to use my nicer dies. I make it to about the 5th piece of 45acp and the decapping pin breaks.
The case has normal looking flash holes but you can see inside were the pin was clearly off center. I ordered 3 new replacement pins and today attempted to get back to decapping. This time I was more aware of "the feeling", when you are about to break something. All three pins gave me issues of not finding center in the cases. I checked the shellholder, the LNL AP bushings, reset the die multiple times, all to no avail. All the pins appear to be perfectly straight and in proper condition. I tried filing the end of the pins down to a nice point, but still no dice. I took the whole die out and looked inside of it and the best I can tell is that the collet at the top is not holding the pins on center. Happens with all 3 new pins. Has anyone had this issue before? Is there a good fix or is a call to Lee needed? BTW, reloading on a LNL AP. ETA: I attempted about 50 different cases and almost all had problems with the pin being way off center. Cases were properly centered in the shellplate. |
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You are not using it properly. You shouldn't break ANY pins. The decapper comes from the factory very tight. Loosen up the top slip nut and experiment with the tightness of the slip nut. Any cases you come across that raise the pin, put them aside and perform decapping on those last. You may have to adjust pin tension on those cases.
Take an empty case and lower the pin into the flash hole to make sure the pin is on center and tighten the slip nut. |
| When using a case feeder, I have found that the LNL press has a tendency to angle the brass or not allow it to fully set in to the shell holder slot on station 1. This is the only time I break pins(but never a Lee), when not paying attention and cycle the press. Have you ensured the brass is set properly in the shell plate when you are breaking pins? |
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Quoted:
You are not using it properly. You shouldn't break ANY pins. The decapper comes from the factory very tight. Loosen up the top slip nut and experiment with the tightness of the slip nut. Any cases you come across that raise the pin, put them aside and perform decapping on those last. You may have to adjust pin tension on those cases. Take an empty case and lower the pin into the flash hole to make sure the pin is on center and tighten the slip nut. I have kept the die/rod/collet loose and centered it inside a flash hole. I tighten it up and as soon as the case is lowered, the rod/pin go back to being off center. Only pin I broke was the first one. The collet is now allowing allowing the pins to slide up and down. My problem is the pin is not even making it into the flash hole. It is striking the web of the case anywhere from the very edge of the flash hole to almost a whole millimeter away, towards the side wall. I have held the case perfectly straight in the shellplate with my fingers and the pin will still not clear the flash hole. I'll clarify what I stated earlier. I took the die out and looked at it through the bottom. The whole rod is off center. You can spin the die and see the pin and rod wobble about 1-2mm as the die is turned. Rod and pin are perfectly straight. It seems the collet is not holding the rod center in the die. |
| I'm also astounded. I have a Lee hand press with a bushing set up for my universal deprimer and it works great. Only popped the pin once, which was my fault -- brass was off-center. But it simply popped the pin up, got two wrenches and adjusted it back down. Done it on both 5.56 (milsurp and commercial) and .45, and even a few 9mm cases with no issues. |
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Sounds familiar. I had the same issues with two separate Lee Universal Depriming dies. I finally just gave up on them.
Pokes new flash holes in .223 and 9mm at a minimum. Ended up breaking the pin in one. The pin had pushed out of the collet as designed a couple of times, but after maybe one to two hundred cases it broke. I had a number of cases that came out with "figure-8" flash holes. I load rifle ammo in two steps on a Dillon 650. I size, deprime, and trim with the first toolhead. Then I throw the cases in the tumbler to remove the lube. I had intended to use the decapping die in the first station to clean any media out of the primer holes. Now I just use the decapping pin without the die and poke out the flash holes by hand before loading the sized brass. 
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