"Stuck" primers?

[flycaster]

Hi, all. I've been loading for quite a number of years now. Things have gone pretty smoothly, thank heaven. But I have had a long-standing problem with .38 Special brass. I use a Lee Turret press. The top of the decapping pin is flush with the top of the die. But far too often- say, 2-5 times in a box of 50- the primer won't drop out of the primer pocket. By that I mean the base of the spent primer will be distorted, pushed down, well below the level of the brass base, but just won't leave. I have to remove the brass holder and brass from the press, then bang out the primer with a hammer and punch. And I mean "bang"! Sometimes they give up fairly easily, other times I have to wail on the punch. I have never once had this happen with the countless thousands of 9mm's I've reloaded. It gets to be a real bother, interrupting loading rhythm and speed. Have any of you experienced this? Oh- and the brand of primer doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

Chuck

[Edge40]

I would just lower the decapping pin a little more.  Had a similar issure a few times with 45... lowered the pin and the problem was gone.  I can't imagine that a 38 special primer would hold on that hard but who knows.

[Service Desk]

If the cases have been wet and left for a while that can happen. I would extend the pin a bit and see how it goes.

[flycaster]

That's what I was considering. It seemed kind of weird that this should be happening, though. Thanks for the input.

 

Chuck

[tcoz]

It's fine for the decapping pin to be below flush with the top of the die so just lower the pin a bit.  It probably won't take much.

[OzzieDoc]

On 25/09/2016 at 1:18 PM, Service Desk said:

If the cases have been wet and left for a while that can happen. I would extend the pin a bit and see how it goes.

A friend of mine who is a commercial reloader developed this problem when he went to wet tumbling brass which still had the primers.

After drying he would leave them, often for weeks before running a large batch through an automated reloading machine.

Found that he had a significant number of .primers that refused to budge but just had the decap pin punch a hole through them.

He surmised that the wet cleaning had somehow caused corrosion that bonded the primer to the pocket.

This was a machine that had no trouble decapping crimped primers.

[bwikel]

If you wet tumble brass with the primers in and don't get them dry before  you store them the primers will corrode in the primer pocket and stick. Often you will see the bottom of the primer punch out and leave the inside ring of the primer stuck in the pocket.

[dillon]

Another possibility is that the spent primers are getting stuck onto the end of the decapping pin, and being pulled partially back into the primer pocket as the handle is lifted.

Use medium grit sandpaper or a scotchbrite wheel to round off any sharp, square edges on the tip of the pin.

[flycaster]

I dry tumble not wet. And the appearance of the stuck primers makes me doubt that it's sticking to the pin. They protrude WAY out of the pocket. I'm just going to lower the pin some before my next round of .38's, and then see if all is good. Thanks to everyone for your input.

 

Chuck

[Sarge]

Based on what I'm reading I agree with Dillon. If the primers don't have a hole in them and the press cycled normally they had to get pushed out and pulled back in.

 If the press is stopping short or putting holes in the primer then they must be corroded in there. Still I would think there is enough leverage in your press to push them out or poke a hole trying.