SlvrDragon50 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 I am planning to transition over to decapping prior to sizing, and I was wondering if there is specific placement for the expander ball on my RCBS die or if I can just remove the decapping pin and be good to go. Or would people recommend another sizing die in this setup? I am currently using a Lee decapping die, but I am hoping to eventually move to my FW Arms die (currently interferes with my Hornady case feeder). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) Just remove the pin. Depending on how precise you want to get, you could also use a Redding S die with the bushings. Then you won’t need an neck expander. A bit more $$ and figuring but doesn’t work the brass as much. If your just loading to blast then just remove the pin and keep the expander at the same height. Edited March 24, 2022 by Farmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltdmstr Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 What farmer said. I use a Redding bushing style sizing die and Wilson neck mandrel for final sizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 I am just blasting, rarely shoot past 200 yards. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyPayload Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Bushing dies are goat in my opinion. I still feel “new” to reloading, but have been reloading pistol ajd 223 for about 8 years now. I recently got into precision rifle, and a buddy showed me the benefit of bushing dies (brass life, better neck tension, not overworking brass). They work really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Forgot to mention the Redding carbide neck expander ball. It replaces the standard expander on the decapping rod and makes things much smoother. Also helps from pulling the shoulder forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted March 29, 2022 Author Share Posted March 29, 2022 Thanks for the input! I'm planning to reload all my stuff and selling my press since I'm moving somewhere for a year, but I'll have to revisit new dies once I move to a more permanent place after that. I think I do want to upgrade all my dies now that I have a dedicated decapping die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 Soo... the expander ball got absolutely trashed. Any idea what caused this? I am contemplating just buying another die since I seem to be chewing through these RCBS decapping pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 (edited) By your pic it appears you have the stem adjusted too low and it’s hitting the bottom of the shell case. The nose of that should be at least a 1/4” up from the bottom of the die. With a good stem installed you should be able to insert a sized case fully into the die. Screw the decapping stem down until it touches the bottom of the case and then back it out three turns and lock it down. If it won’t de-cap adjust down in small increments until it will but don’t go past 2 1/2 turns. Edited April 4, 2022 by Farmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Farmer said: By your pic it appears you have the stem adjusted too low and it’s hitting the bottom of the shell case. The nose of that should be at least a 1/4” up from the bottom of the die. With a good stem installed you should be able to insert a sized case fully into the die. Screw the decapping stem down until it touches the bottom of the case and then back it out three turns and lock it down. If it won’t de-cap adjust down in small increments until it will but don’t go past 2 1/2 turns. Hmm, I wonder if maybe it walked on me then. I had it setup per the manual for the decapping pin and then just pulled the decapping pin so it should have been set at the correct height. I'm using the FW Arms popper before so I don't need the decapping capability so I am wondering if maybe the expander ball is weakened without the pin leading to torqueing on the expander ball? I think it's gonna cost me at least $15 to get another decapping unit so I am contemplating just paying another $45 to get a Dillon or Redding sizing die. edit: Oh looks like the Forster decapping unit fits the RCBS so I'll give it a try since it has the expander ball further up on the unit compared to the RCBS. Edited April 5, 2022 by SlvrDragon50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) 35 minutes ago, SlvrDragon50 said: Hmm, I wonder if maybe it walked on me then. I had it setup per the manual for the decapping pin and then just pulled the decapping pin so it should have been set at the correct height. I'm using the FW Arms popper before so I don't need the decapping capability so I am wondering if maybe the expander ball is weakened without the pin leading to torqueing on the expander ball? I think it's gonna cost me at least $15 to get another decapping unit so I am contemplating just paying another $45 to get a Dillon or Redding sizing die. edit: Oh looks like the Forster decapping unit fits the RCBS so I'll give it a try since it has the expander ball further up on the unit compared to the RCBS. Contact RCBS and see if they’ll send you one. They’re generally pretty good about it. If your decapping before just leave the pin in place and let it go for the ride, it’s not hurting anything. Edited April 5, 2022 by Farmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 Just now, Farmer said: Contact RCBS and see if they’ll send you one. They’re generally pretty good about it. I feel kinda bad because I feel like it's operator error haha. I've gone through like 3 decapping units in the past month although 2 of them were from stuck cases and not enough lube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 8 minutes ago, Farmer said: Contact RCBS and see if they’ll send you one. They’re generally pretty good about it. If your decapping before just leave the pin in place and let it go for the ride, it’s not hurting anything. Just saw your edit, I can't leave the decappin pin in place as there's no hole for the pin so I would have to raise the decapping unit quite a bit to not hit the subplate which I was not sure would be okay or not with the expander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 24 minutes ago, SlvrDragon50 said: Just saw your edit, I can't leave the decappin pin in place as there's no hole for the pin so I would have to raise the decapping unit quite a bit to not hit the subplate which I was not sure would be okay or not with the expander. Got it! Think we were typing @ same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlvrDragon50 Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 13 hours ago, Farmer said: Got it! Think we were typing @ same time. Gave RCBS a call since I wanted to confirm that it was okay to run the expander ball without the pin (which it was), but it seems like the threaded rod likely walked on me which caused the expander ball to get torqued. And as you mentioned, RCBS is sending me a new one even with all this! I already ordered a Forster sizing die since I was reading a lot of positive reviews on the neck runout and whatnot and wanted to try the EZ expander ball, but I'll give the RCBS another try. I decided to pass on the bushing setup since it seems like bushing is reliant upon matching headstamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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