375supermag
06-18-2014, 04:30 PM
...at least for me.
I have been reloading (mostly handgun calibers) for 35+ years and have never broken or even bent a de-capping pin.
That covers quite a few tens of thousands of reloaded cartridges.
I don't have an exact count, but for the last 8 years I have reloaded at least 6,000 handgun rounds in various calibers annually with the exception of 2012 when I had a second bout with cancer.
At any rate, I bent a de-capping pin while de-priming/re-sizing a batch of .357Mag cases this morning. That particular RCBS die has re-sized at least 30,000 cases over the years.
I not only didn't have any spare de-capping pins, but quickly realized I didn't even know how the de-capping pin stem was removed from the die body. It was pretty easy to figure out, but took two trips to the LGS to get the correct de-capping pin. The gunsmith at thr gunshop sold me a pack of small pins, so I had to make a second trip to get the large pins. The gunsmith assumed that a cartridge that took a small primer would require a small pin,but the RCBS die is designed to use large pins.
I suppose that is because the .357Mag was originally designed with large primers(at least,that is what I have read).
Has anybody else ever loaded that many rounds without breaking/bending a de-capping pin?
Just curious...
PS...I never took a re-sizing die apart before because I usually clean them with a couple squirts of Gun Scrubber and a swipe with a q-tip.
I have been reloading (mostly handgun calibers) for 35+ years and have never broken or even bent a de-capping pin.
That covers quite a few tens of thousands of reloaded cartridges.
I don't have an exact count, but for the last 8 years I have reloaded at least 6,000 handgun rounds in various calibers annually with the exception of 2012 when I had a second bout with cancer.
At any rate, I bent a de-capping pin while de-priming/re-sizing a batch of .357Mag cases this morning. That particular RCBS die has re-sized at least 30,000 cases over the years.
I not only didn't have any spare de-capping pins, but quickly realized I didn't even know how the de-capping pin stem was removed from the die body. It was pretty easy to figure out, but took two trips to the LGS to get the correct de-capping pin. The gunsmith at thr gunshop sold me a pack of small pins, so I had to make a second trip to get the large pins. The gunsmith assumed that a cartridge that took a small primer would require a small pin,but the RCBS die is designed to use large pins.
I suppose that is because the .357Mag was originally designed with large primers(at least,that is what I have read).
Has anybody else ever loaded that many rounds without breaking/bending a de-capping pin?
Just curious...
PS...I never took a re-sizing die apart before because I usually clean them with a couple squirts of Gun Scrubber and a swipe with a q-tip.