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Tired of broken decapping pins


David Sinko

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I'm tired of breaking decapping pins, especially when resizing .223 with crimped primer pockets. If I have my own pins made using S7 steel and properly heat treated, does anybody think this would solve my problem? S7 is a highly shock resistant steel but I'm not sure how it would behave as a decapping pin.

Dave Sinko

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Maybe somethign else is going on? I've never broken a decapping pin on .223.... Crimp primers, I don't even notice them..

:blush: +1 almost. I've broken one but as a result of having a bent decapping rod. Other than that I've not had any trouble. Look in the case through the neck with a light and see if you have damage around the flash hole opening. If so, the problem is more likely a bent rod or some other misalignment. What kind of equipment are you loading on ???? :blush:

Bob

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Maybe a year or two ago I had a terrible problem with broken decapping pins.

Turned out the spring which held the case in place was not "snug" enough and was allowing the brass to move just slightly.

I "snugged" it up some and no more problems.

Which press are you using.

al

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What dies are you using? In 9mm, RCBS dies snap pins like pretzel sticks for me, while the Lee and Dillon and other designs keep on truckin. It's not the hardness of the pin material-- that's way up there, it's how they get to being just a little bent or off-center (the stem bends like taffy too), then the next case, it's 'snap'.

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I broke yet another one yesterday using heavily crimped PMC brass. I am using an old turret press that my brother refurbished and gave to me. I think the stations do not line up properly. I suspected a problem when I was loading .45-70 and the mouths did not appear to bell properly. I switched to a Lee hand press and then that problem disappeared. I use mostly RCBS dies and usually the pins break only when using the 550 or 650 if something is stuck inside the case. I do very little single stage loading but it looks like I may need a better press. Loading the .223 is very troublesome and time consuming due to the crimped primer pockets and the constant need to trim the brass. But it seems the problem is definitely with the press. I think it's an old Lyman.

Dave Sinko

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22 rimfire case in the brass does wonders also,

your treating a symptom look for the actual problem

I managed to kill the beast of a decapping pin on my EGW U-die like this on Saturday. It had bent bent just enough to finally shear off the end. Ended up shooting Blazer factory on Sunday :blink:

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22 rimfire case in the brass does wonders also,

your treating a symptom look for the actual problem

I managed to kill the beast of a decapping pin on my EGW U-die like this on Saturday. It had bent bent just enough to finally shear off the end. Ended up shooting Blazer factory on Sunday :blink:

Here's my collection, all from .40S&W.

HPIM1258.jpg

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I've never had a problem breaking decapping pins either - I use a Rockchucker and don't notice crimped vs. noncrimped primers when decapping/resizing with RCBS dies.

You should investigate the RCBS X Die if you want to minimize time trimming cases. I loaded 223 on a standard set of RCBS 223 dies for years and got sick of the trimming too. The X Die works as advertised. See here:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/...&t=11082005

Allan

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use Hornady 223 dies with my 550b and it says on the box that they are made to stand up to crimped primers. Sure it's just something it says on the box, but I have never had a problem with them. Check out Hornady.

Irate

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I now have 8.

OK...you have me beat by 6 :rolleyes: You can have the title of "decapping pin killer". I killed my second one in a week while in the midst of a reload-a-thon. It didn't shear the entire tip off, more like 60% of it. Just enough to piss me off and make me place my last replacement one in the die. I think I'll order a dozen instead of a pair for the longer reloading sessions.

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