DanM
03-16-2007, 05:07 PM
I have been making some good reloads with 7.5 Swiss GP11 brass, but using the RCBS decapper required some experimentation before achieving consistent results. Mine had no instructions, so I thought I would pass along some info. The best thing to do with the mandrel (holder) part is lock it in a vise. It is made to hand hold, but my results improved greatly after I tried clamping it, straight up, in my bench vise. The main problem is getting the decap pin adjusted just right. If it is wrong, it breaks. I broke two in this process. There are two allen screws on the business end of the decapper. One is a lock, and the other controls the length of exposed pin. Start with the pin adjusted obviously too short, and place the point in the primer dent. Try hooking the hook edge under the rim. When the pin is too short the hook won't make it over the rim. Gradually lengthen the pin by turning in the adjustment screw, one rev at a time. Retighten the lock screw with each adjustment. Notice the pin has an angled point. Always be sure that the long tip end of this angled point faces the direction of travel. You are digging this sharp tip into the spent primer at the dent. As you lengthen the pin the hook will slip over the rim. When you can just easily slip the hook over the rim with the pin tip in the primer dimple, adjustment is right. If you get the decap pin adjusted out too far it will break with no warning. Push down on the handle, and the primer will be scooped out of the pocket. I found that when holding the mandrel in hand, the berdan anvil would sometimes be damaged during primer removal. Locking the mandrel in a vise cured that problem, and made the whole process faster and more consistent. I mentioned using GP11 brass, and I have also done 7.62x54R brass which required a different adjustment of the decap pin. The RCBS gadget will also decap boxer primed brass if you want to remove those primers before cleaning.