Lee universal decapping die rods

[44magLeo]

I was just on the Lee website checking on something I read about on another thread and spotted something.
They had a listing for Heavy Duty Guided Decappers. I thought What are those. So I looked them up.
Some complain about breaking or bending the rods in the universal die. I think it can happen because the case isn't quite all the way into the shell holder. This allows the pin to hit the case beside the flash hole.
Lee designed new rods that help prevent this. The rod looks more like the expander rod in a regular die. It has the shank large enough to slip into the neck. As the shank slips into the neck it's tight enough fit to move the case so it is more inline with the pin. This should prevent the pin from going anywhere but in the flash hole.
So if you do have problems breaking pins these should help.
They make them in 8 sizes. At $3.50 each it's not a bad deal if it help to not break a pin. Most don't like such an interruption in the process, even if only long enough to replace the rod.
Just thought I'd bring this to the attention of the folks here.
Leo

[lightman]

I broke the original pin in mine due to a small rock being in the case. That plus being in a hurry! I just ordered a new one and a couple of spares from Midway. There are some good aftermarket ones for sale. Squirrel Daddy is one, I think.

[la5676]

Cool beans. Was not aware of those. Looks like the bees knees for what it's intended to do.

Thanks for the head's up

[tomme boy]

They are for the new APP press.

[6bg6ga]

The Lee de capping die my experience... I bent the pins three times no misalignment no debris inside the case. I replaced the stock pin with a hardened pin from a guy on ebay and it works fine. The stock pin was extremely soft and would not remove a primer without damaging itself. The hardened pin from I believe Squirrel Daddy is harder than heck. Its a simple case of poor quality material being used. I'm still on my first hardened pin. I will add the ONLY thing from Lee that I actually like after the pin replacement. I wife likes to come out in the garage and decap 9mm for me so I let her do it.

[onelight]

I have bent one of my RCBS pins but never bent one in anything else , I have had my Lee pin slide up in the the collet when I did not have it tight enough .

[la5676]

They are for the new APP press.

But, it is a 7/8" x 14 die, hence will fit any press. I don't know why this won't work anywhere else. The new APP looks cool, but I've already got two 1000 presses, and thought I'd just let the case ride some extra mileage after decapping. Don't really need any more equipment on the bench.

[ulav8r]

Got one of the Lee universal decappers that I have used just a little bit. The first time I used it on some 9mm brass. Several time the rod slipped up on some primers that were hard to remove, they may have been washed before I got them. Finally got the nut tight enough to keep the rod in place.

About 2 weeks ago I deprimed about 1600 9mm purchased as once fired. Found 3 cases with undersized flash holes. The depriming rod swaged the holes large enough to to get it back out once I put enough pressure on the press handle (RCBS RS press). As long as everything is lined up correctly, it seems to be plenty strong enough.

[6bg6ga]

Reading thru this thread this morning I remembered the instances with my Lee Universal decapping pin. I was in one instance decapping some 45acp large primer brass and bent the pin to the point of being a throw a way. No problem I thought as I drove across town and bought a new one. The second instance was military 223 brass. Bent another pin. This time Squirrel Daddy on ebay had some replacement hardened pins so I bought several and haven't looked back. For the record... I make sure that in any operation on my presses that the cases are lined up correctly. The Lee my opinion is they use a cheap grade steel decapping pin where they should be using a hardened pin just to save a little money. I actually like the Lee piece as it is versatile and I simply leave it in my Lyman-T- Mag press all the time.