Depriming tool

[abunaitoo]

I deprime on my reloading press.
Looking for something handheld.
I have a Lee and Huntington hand press, but their kind of big.
I'm looking at the one from Frankford Arsenal.
Anyone use one????
Good or not so good????

[Green Frog]

What caliber(s) of brass do you want to deprime? Rifle or pistol? What kind of volume? There are so many different tools for this, your possibilities are nearly endless.

One strategy that comes to mind is a 310 tool with the universal decapping die... that would handle a wide variety of cases without changing anything at all. I have a friend who shoots BP cartridges and wanted to decap them before washing. I put one of those dies into some random set of handles I had under the bench and it worked out great for him. He decaps the brass as soon as he comes off the line and throws it into a plastic jar of soapy water. Problem solved!

Froggie

[Minerat]

I use the Frankford Arsenal one and like it. Just won't work for 17 Hornet, that tiny rice grain size neck is just too small for the primer punch. I use it for everything from 300 wby to 223 and all pistol cases while watching TV. The punch is stout enough to keep from bending if you get a piece of cleaning media in the primer, also helps that you can feel the resistance before pushing it to the breaking point.

One consternation is the little plastic cup has a tendency to fall off unless you keep pushing it snug. I have read somewhere on here that there is a way to make an adapter that stops that, but have not messed it yet.

FYI, their customer service is first class. I had one of the adapter sleeves break and contacted them about buying a replacement, I got a complete set in the mail shortly there after, no charge.

[country gent]

I made a very nice one from copper tubing and fittings even catches and holds all the spent primers in the handle tube. I use them mostly at the range with my BPCR rounds. It is comfortable quick and easy to use and takes up little room on the range box

[MrWolf]

I use the Harvey deprimer and like it a lot. Good luck

[44magLeo]

I have the 310 tool sets for all the cartridges I load for.
When I use those to deprime cases I hold it over a large cake pan in my lap or on the bench when opening the handles to catch the primers.
It works very well. Never bent or broke a pin or rod yet.
Leo

[JimB..]

I’ve used the FA one for tens of thousands of rounds. I removed the little plastic cup and just point it at a bucket. Little spring in the handle eventually broke, but I’m sure I could get a new one if I wanted. I do suggest wearing a glove and be aware of the possibility of repetitive stress type injury to your hand.

[Ickisrulz]

https://harveydeprimer.com/

[JimB..]

https://harveydeprimer.com/

Doesn’t look very ergonomic, but I really like the packability. Thanks for the link.

[MrWolf]

It's a lot easier to use than it looks.

[Walks]

Somebody Please school me on this.

Other then Black Powder Cartridge at the range before you drop the fired/decapped cases in the big plastic Mayo jar full of soapy water.

Why do you decap only ?

To me if you're going to decap on a press using a die/shell holder set-up, why not just use the Size/decap die ? It just seems a waste of time to decap on the press and then come back to the press to resize the case. Why repeat the process over again ?

I dump all my fired brass into a tumbler with corncob media as soon as I get home from the range. Then do case inspection when it comes out of the media.

So What Is the deal ?

[HeavyMetal]

depends on how many case's you want deprimed, 10 I do by hand but after that I go to my Lee Pro 1000 that I have a Lee depriming only die in.

With the case feeder I can deprime a lot of case's very quickly and, depending on the case I can do 1000 in 15 to 20 minutes.

Keep an eye out on E bay and you can get a deal on an old style Pro 1000 if you bid your time and not rush.

Good Luck.

HM

[abunaitoo]

At the most I will deprime 50 cases at a time.
Mix of pistol and rifle.
The Harvey looks good.Frankford is chaeper.
I deprime before I clean the cases.
This way the primer pockets get cleaned.
Probably not nessery, but been doing it this way from the start, so no sense in changing now.
Any other hand depriming tool out there???

[country gent]

I decap hand for a couple reasons (Not always at the range though). 1) I like the feel it fives me and control. 2) When I put them in the polisher the pockets get cleaned with the brass. 3) I can feel the primers coming out, if a primer slides out easily or falls out chances are a new one is going to be loose also. 4) I can do this in the living room watching listening to tv or what ever. 5) sizing and depriming brass before cleaned runs a lot of crud thru the die.
Its more a personal preference than anything when how you decap. My homemade tools do a great job and control the primers well. Sitting in the easy chair with a bucket of brass on one side and an empty bucket on the other and a lot of brass can be done in an evening.

[edp2k]

I use the Harvey deprimer and like it a lot. Good luck

+1000
https://harveydeprimer.com/

It doesn't look like much, however once you get it in your hand you can tell a lot of thought and
smart design went into it.
It works very easy and the ergonomics are great, you can build up a rhythm and deprime quickly, easily, and smoothly
its all metal and comes with a replacement decapping pin.

The Frankfort Arsenal once is 99.9% plastic and a lot of guys reviewing it here were either "meh, its ok" or
it didn't work well for them at all.

I have no dog in this hunt just a very satisfied Harvey customer for over a year.

[edp2k]

Why do you decap only ?

I hand decap with a Harvey so when I SS pin tumble them the primer pockets come out sparkling and
the insides of dry completely and a lot faster.

[GhostHawk]

I love my FA hand depriming unit. I normally deprime everything in the shooting bag after a session.
Very quick and easy to change sizes. Once deprimed I citric acid wash, run a brush through the primer pocket, check each case for faults.

Cases get resized clean, no wear and tear, or grit and grime on my dies.

I would say it was one of my better tool investments.

[uscra112]

Ideal nutcracker tools do mine. Hold a flat box on my lap to catch spent primers. Being a cheap Scot, I don't burn ammo at 1000 rounds per day. At most I'm doing 100 or so at a time.

[JimB..]

+1000
https://harveydeprimer.com/

It doesn't look like much, however once you get it in your hand you can tell a lot of thought and
smart design went into it.
It works very easy and the ergonomics are great, you can build up a rhythm and deprime quickly, easily, and smoothly
its all metal and comes with a replacement decapping pin.

The Frankfort Arsenal once is 99.9% plastic and a lot of guys reviewing it here were either "meh, its ok" or
it didn't work well for them at all.

I have no dog in this hunt just a very satisfied Harvey customer for over a year.

My FA is all metal except for the plastic bushings, the rubber o-ring, the clear plastic cup, and the paint. Maybe it has changed.

[RKJ]

Somebody Please school me on this.

Other then Black Powder Cartridge at the range before you drop the fired/decapped cases in the big plastic Mayo jar full of soapy water.

Why do you decap only ?

To me if you're going to decap on a press using a die/shell holder set-up, why not just use the Size/decap die ? It just seems a waste of time to decap on the press and then come back to the press to resize the case. Why repeat the process over again ?

I dump all my fired brass into a tumbler with corncob media as soon as I get home from the range. Then do case inspection when it comes out of the media.

So What Is the deal ?

I use the FA one and like it. I use it because it makes water tumbling so much easier. The brass is clean and shiny and no junk in my press. I know shiny brass isn't required but I sure like it.