Decapping on the cheap

[Sphpkr]

I'm still pretty new to reloading. I've run 3k pistol rounds thru my 550. I'm considering decapping cases as a seperate operation. I don't like cleaning up all the spent primer crap from all over my shiny blue press every couple hundred rounds.

Does anyone else do this? Equipment recommendations?

Thanks!

[VeryBadshot]

Welcome!

You know what I hate that too, but it keeps me up on cleaning the press. I guess you could do it as a seperate operation, however would'nt that defeat the reason of getting a Dillon? I keep a SS brush handie for the primer seater and plastic for everything esle.

[amlevin]

The only time I de-cap as a separate operation is when I have a bunch of once fired military 5.56mm brass and I have to swage the primer pockets. I use an old Lee progressive with a universal de-priming die for this operation. When the brass is de-capped, swaged, and cleaned, it then goes into the XL-650 I just bought to replace the old LEE Progressive.

As for the spent primer crap, I haven't found that to be a big issue with all the other rounds I have loaded on the 650. I use a cheap paint brush and an air hose from my compressor (I reload in my garage/shop) to keep everything clean and neat.

[yoshidaex]

i have a single stage el cheapo Lee cast pot metal press i use to decap or pull bullets with the collet puller installed. very handy but like VeryBadshot mentioned, the whole reason behind the progressive press is multiple steps with one stroke.

[LPatterson]

I don't like to have to keep changing primer feed between large & small so I deprime/resize everything on a Rockchucker Jr. Then I reprime while watching TV using a RCBS hand primer that is almost 40 years old. I am only interested in making quality ammo not in setting some speed record for number of rounds produced.

[Sphpkr]

Thanks all for the tips and ideas!

I still intend to size and re-prime with the Dillon. Just looking to clean things up a bit. I'm leaning towards an el-cheapo Lee with a universal de-cap die to abuse. For now, I'm only reloading small pistol.

ATB

Kelly

Edited September 17, 2007 by Sphpkr

[mjbine]

1050!

[Jim M.]

Although I reload on a progressive press, I decap on a single stage press as a separate operation.

I reload both .38 Special and .45 ACP brass that is fired in autoloaders, and that brass sometimes gets case mouth dings from hitting the bench or the concrete floor at the range. Also, I clean all my cases before I load them, to keep the finished ammunition up to my standards. Since I tumble cases in an RCBS Sidewinder with water and liquid dishwashing detergent with lemon (for the citric acid, which removes corrosion from the brass), I want the fired primers out first.

I use a single stage press. I suppose any single stage press would do, but I use an RCBS "Big Max", also known as the A-4 press. That press has a hollow ram, and the spent primers drop right through the ram. The press originally had a small bottle attached to the bottom end of the ram to catch the primers, but I replaced that with a rubber hose that runs directly into the trash can below the bench. No primer mess, ever.

There are a few decapping dies on the market, but the best solution I have found is to use one of the decap/case neck expand and flare dies that were originally included in die sets before the days of progressive presses. Those old die sets had three dies. The first was a size die only, with no decap. The second die was a neck expand and decap die. The third was a bullet seating die, which usually also crimped. It is that second die that you want to use for this purpose. I used to see them at most gun shows for a very low price ($1 to $5 each). I haven't looked recently, since our former congresscritter and former governor conspired to ruin the gun shows in Colorado, and they aren't even worth going to anymore.

Install this #2 die in your single stage press, and adjust it so that it doesn't flare the case, but just expands the case mouth enough to iron out any case dents, and decaps the case. Run all of your cases through and decap them. This is also a good time to do a quick visual inspection of each case and cull out any with case neck splits or other problems. If you are an old time reloader and have mastered the art of "the three finger shift", so that you can remove one case and insert the next case quickly, depriming and inspecting 1,000 cases takes only about a half-hour. Then, you can dump those deprimed cases in the tumbler and wash them. Once they have tumbled for about a half-hour to an hour, rinse them in the laundry tub (or the kitchen sink, if you have a more modern house without a laundry tub) and either run them through a media separator for about thirty seconds or pour them back and forth between two cardboard "flats" like the small boxes that contain 12 cans of dog food, or beer, whichever is you are most likely to find around your house. That gets most of the water out, then the cases can be set out in the sun in the cardboard flats to completely dry.

Many of you who load on progressive presses will want to avoid this second operation, since it seems like it is going backwards. Well, Okay! But I see it as having several advantages. 1. I avoid the mess from fired primers on the progressive reloading press; 2. Any case mouth dents from use in an autoloader are straightened out before the case mouth is folded over and ruined in the sizing die; 3. It gives me a chance to focus attention on each case and look for split necks or other defects before that case is in the progressive press; 4. It makes it a lot easier and faster to get the cases (including the primer pockets) clean and shiny; 5. It really doesn't take long.

That is my solution to the decapping problem, in case anyone finds anything useful here.

Jim M.