First time event...

[375supermag]

...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.

[EDG]

I buy mostly used die sets and have had to repair 10 to 12 dies with broken or missing pins and even badly bent decapping rods. I have broken one on my own. I once bought a set of .35 Rem dies at a much reduced priced because the guy said the depriming pin was bent. The pin was bent and the decapping rod was also bent. Even with as new rod it would not go to center. The bushing was drilled and tapped at an angle. I replaced the bushing and installed the new rod and decapping pin and wound up with a perfectly new set of dies for $10.

[Grizzly Adams]

I buy mostly used die sets and have had to repair 10 to 12 dies with broken or missing pins and even badly bent decapping rods. I have broken one on my own. I once bought a set of .35 Rem dies at a much reduced priced because the guy said the depriming pin was bent. The pin was bent and the decapping rod was also bent. Even with as new rod it would not go to center. The bushing was drilled and tapped at an angle. I replaced the bushing and installed the new rod and decapping pin and wound up with a perfectly new set of dies for $10.




I had a very similar experience, I broke 3 pins (2 in one evening) all on one die before I smartened up and looked further to find a bent stem. I'm slow but I get there:-)

[LenH]

I broke one several years ago and was a bit of a dumb move on my part. Somehow a .22 brass wound up in my brass catcher and found its way in to a .45 AP brass.
It got stuck in the .45 brass along with some polishing media. And thus you have a broken de-capping pin.