De-rimming .22LR - One pushes out the other...

[pertnear]

I'm using RCE dies in a Sea Girt press. The directions I received say the jacket/case should be pushed through the short draw section of the die, then back-off, insert the extension rod to finish pushing the case all the way through the die. If you use the next case to push the previous case through, you can damage the mouth or base of the jackets. In everything I've read or seen on YouTube, the operator just keeps push cases through, taking about 3 to clear the die. I've tried the "case-against-case-method" & indeed I did slightly damage the mouth on some Federal cases. But using the extension rod really is slow in comparison. I guess that is another reason to NOT anneal before de-rimming(?) What does everyone do & what is your experience with this?

BTW: This newbie just shot his first batch of bullets & I am really excited about my results!

TIA

[customcutter]

I made my own de rimming die. I push one through after the other. As you said, don't anneal them until you are ready to insert and seat cores.

[rolltide]

I have RCE press and dies as well. It is easy to mistakenly mount the die upside down in the press. Something similar to what you describe could result.

Roll Tide

[tiger762]

I have RCE WalnutHill and derimming die. I push through one against the other. I have done over 12,000 and the only sign of wear is the tip of the punch has a discoloration from the abrasive effect of the fine glass dust leftover inside the brass.

Any damage you do to one shell will likely get ironed out once you compress/seat the lead core in it. The firing pin indentation, for example, is something that for me requires a magnifying glass to see where it used to be.

The reason to not anneal before derimming is you need the springback of work-hardened brass so that the brass stays in the derimming die when you withdraw the punch. On the one hand, it's a little harder to derim although using a real swage press makes it manageable. On the other hand, if you anneal, probably 50% of them will stick on the punch. I made that mistake *once*.

To make derimmng a pleasant experience, I adjust the die height such that the punch pushes the brass into the die just enough to derim it, but for the most part, a good bit of brass is visible out the bottom. The next brass is definitely pushing the first one the rest of the way through. It never occurred to me that there is any possibility of damage. I can't think of why I'd use an extension UNLESS this was on a reloading press with less mechanical advantage. Using an extension would then be in lieu of constantly adjusting the die height.

[pertnear]

Thanks for the good responses. I'm sure I have the die right side up as the labeling is on top, per the instructions. I sorted my cases prior to derimming & all the cases that had slight mouth damage were Federal. I rejected them but as tiger762 said, they really weren't that bad & would probably have straighten out in subsequent steps. I was worried about a fold during core seating or a jagged meplat on the final bullet. I'm learning that although I may strive for perfection there will probably always be a few rejects left for the real "plinker bucket" when processing a batch. When "pointing" only the Federal jackets produced about 10% nose wrinkles. All the other brands were near 100%. Note that all the cases I used (CCI,Fed,Eley,Rem,Win & other?) were annealed identically. Interesting...

Thanks again!

[SAndy37]

I experimented a bit with the height of my top die (Corbin CSP2) when I was getting a lot of damaged straightened cases. I also made my own stems- replacements are cheap enough in the US, add postage etc and it's not that cheap out here at the end of the earth. I have just finished straightening near 400 000 cases with almost none damaged, that I can remember. Adjust the depth you seat to, and DONT anneal before straightening. Ymmv but it has worked for me.